# Not surprised anymore



## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

I should not be surprised, this is Cyprus.

The unions will destroy Cyprus one day

Rolling power cuts likely as EAC workers go on strike | Cyprus Mail


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Reminds me of the bad old days in the UK when we were often without power due to strikes. Nothing new really.


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## Talagirl (Feb 24, 2013)

Always have candles, torches and battery operated lights on standby as knowing our luck it will happen at night! We're an all electric house so we have a one burner gas device for cooking/heating water. Also have the BBQ so we certainly won't starve! 

As you can tell I was a Girl Guide in the UK and the motto was Be Prepared!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Talagirl said:


> Always have candles, torches and battery operated lights on standby as knowing our luck it will happen at night! We're an all electric house so we have a one burner gas device for cooking/heating water. Also have the BBQ so we certainly won't starve!
> 
> As you can tell I was a Girl Guide in the UK and the motto was Be Prepared!


We also have plenty of candles, torches with batteries and a gas stove so no problems if the leccy goes off for a wile. The only thing we would miss is the telly and computers.


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

Veronica said:


> Reminds me of the bad old days in the UK when we were often without power due to strikes. Nothing new really.


I also remember the power outages, the rotting food at the dockside, the bins being left overflowing for weeks, the dead not being buried and the 3 day working week - all due to industrial action in the UK. Trade Unions made sure that power outages were in Winter when they had the most drastic effect on people and that Air Traffic Controllers and train drivers went on strike during Easter and Summer holiday peak periods when most people would be disrupted. Thankfully, the power of the unions was broken, not purely by Margaret Thatcher, but also by public opinion which rallied against the ransom mentality of the all powerful unions - especially when it came to the nationalised industries.

Maybe Cyprus needs to go through this process to learn the same harsh lessons of economic reality, although unfortunately we may all be affected in the short term.

Governments are there to govern, not to run businesses. 

History has shown us that nationalised industries are inefficient, overstaffed and provide extremely poor customer service due to the 'it's a big firm' mentality. This mentality has justified excessive wage demands, unrealistic pension provisions and silly retirement expectations. People in the private sector see the inequalities and have little sympathy - especially during a recession.

I just hope that the government doesn't take the easy option and cave in.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

It can only lead to better efficiency if the lazy government workers suddenly find they have to actually do a decent days work for their pay. The trade unions have had too much power on this island for far too long and it is time they were brought to heel.


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## expatme (Dec 4, 2013)

Taken from the Cyprus Business Mail


UNIONS representing workers at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) on Thursday called off their planned strike action, after the government agreed to delay the first stage in a process seen as culminating in the power utility’s privatisation.

The strikes that had been announced for Friday, and then from Monday daily, will now not be taking place.

The development follows an intervention by the House commerce committee, which arranged to hold an extraordinary session with all stakeholders on Tuesday, March 31, to discuss the overall issue of privatising the EAC.

On Thursday, the Privatisations Commissioner released a statement saying that a tender deadline for a study on the legal separation of the EAC has been pushed back two weeks, from March 31 to April 15.

In turn, the trade unions said they would suspend any industrial action until April 15, as a goodwill gesture in order not to inconvenience the public.

The Privatisations Commissioner has initiated a tender for the appointment of an independent energy advisor “to provide professional services regarding the preparation of a study for the legal unbundling, the corporatisation and the privatisation of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, and the required regulatory review.”

EAC unions want the tender scrapped, and a new study initiated, to be carried out by them, the EAC and the energy ministry – taking the Privatisations Commissioner out of the loop.

But speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Andreas Panorkos, head of the EPOPAI trade union, warned that if the unions suspect the two-week truce is an attempt by the government to hoodwink them, they will not hesitate to press ahead with strikes.

Earlier in the day, before the breakthrough, the chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Othon Theodoulou, said that the strike measures would lead to outages disrupting economic activity.

Four worker unions, EPOPAI, SIDIKEK, SEPAIK and SIVAIK had said they would hold a 3-hour warning strike on Friday starting at 7am, which they would repeat daily from Monday onwards. Customer service was also to be closed during the time but resume normal service afterwards.

Theodoulou told state radio CyBC that Friday’s strike would generate a 60-megawatt production deficit, expected to rise to up to 120-megawatts next week, “which represents the demand of a single district”.

“I publicly appeal to the unions, while I respect their right to strike, to refrain from measures that will affect the organisation’s ability to smoothly provide electricity,” he had said.

Before news that the strikes were cancelled, the EAC had said that hospitals, tourist hot spots, government services and industries would not be affected.

The power company said it would timely inform the public about areas likely to be affected by outages.

“For this purpose, the EAC appeals to the public to limit power consumption and especially the use of energy-intensive devices during these hours,” the power company said in a statement.

“Persons whose health depends on power supply should take the necessary measures, as the EAC is not in a position to control supply to individual premises”.

The EAC expressed its regret to consumers for any inconvenience and reassured that it was making every effort to resolve the situation.

Under the terms of a state bailout agreed two years ago, Cyprus has to raise €1.4bn by privatising state owned companies, including the EAC, the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority and the commercial operations of the Limassol port. The completion of EAC’s privatisation is set for 2018


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

So union bully boys have won again


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

David_&_Letitia said:


> I also remember the power outages, the rotting food at the dockside, the bins being left overflowing for weeks, the dead not being buried and the 3 day working week - all due to industrial action in the UK. Trade Unions made sure that power outages were in Winter when they had the most drastic effect on people and that Air Traffic Controllers and train drivers went on strike during Easter and Summer holiday peak periods when most people would be disrupted. Thankfully, the power of the unions was broken, not purely by Margaret Thatcher, but also by public opinion which rallied against the ransom mentality of the all powerful unions - especially when it came to the nationalised industries.
> 
> Maybe Cyprus needs to go through this process to learn the same harsh lessons of economic reality, although unfortunately we may all be affected in the short term.
> 
> ...


In this case it is not up to the government. The bailout built on certain terms, privatization of EAC was one of them


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