사이프러스 경찰직협, 경찰노조 전환 진행 중이네요.

[경찰개혁연대]

사이프러스경찰

단계적으로 노조전환 진행중이네요.

현재 단계로서

사이프러스 법무부 유권해석은

다음과 같이 나왔네요.

"경찰관 개별적으로

공무원노조에 가입할 수는 있으나,

경찰직장협의회 그 자체가

하나의 단위로

공공노조연맹에 가맹할 수는 없다"

 

Police take steps to become unionised

By Elias Hazou Published on September 3, 2010

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IN AN act of open defiance toward their boss, the Chief of Police, the Cyprus Police Association (SAK) yesterday took its first step to becoming a fully-fledged trade union.

The association will hold a vote in early December to approve proposed changes to SAK’s articles of association enabling it to join PASYDY, the civil servants’ blanket union.

“Today, the green light was given for SAK’s integration into PASYDY,” association spokesman Andreas Symeou told newsmen.

SAK’s spiralling row with the Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou was triggered by a disagreement over the work timetable. The Chief has ordered that from now on all police officers, no matter where they are stationed, must work eight-hour shifts, back to back.

The association says traffic police prefer to work 12-hour shifts every other day because many of them live far from their workplace and waste a great deal of time – and gasoline – commuting.

With neither side willing to budge, the dispute has escalated in SAK’s bid for greater autonomy from the chain of command.

The association’s general assembly will convene on 5 December to put to the vote the motion to join PASYDY.

Symeou yesterday accused the Police Chief of seeking to sabotage the association’s efforts, for example by omitting to publish, in his weekly memo, a draft of the proposed amendments to SAK’s articles of association.

This was nevertheless inconsequential, Symeou claimed, as the association only needs to publish the amendments in two high-circulation newspapers to serve notice.

On 10 September the association’s plenum is staging a demo outside police HQ in Nicosia to protest the Chief’s action.

Symeou said the Chief was shunning the association by refusing to talk with them despite repeated calls for dialogue.

Another grievance concerns back pay for overtime for policing football matches. SAK announced it has agreed to a compromise formula, whereby police officers would receive just 50 per cent of overtime pay owed, and to be compensated with time off for the remaining half.

On the mandatory eight-hour shift, Symeou said it caused family problems for many policemen “whose wives and children do not get to see them sometimes for 20 days a month.”

Back in July, some 500 off-duty officers demonstrated at the Presidential Palace against the decision enforcing the eight-hour day.

Symeou said the association is planning to go ahead with a demonstration outside the House of Representatives in October, on the first session of parliament after the summer recess.

By law, members of the police force are not entitled to strike, though SAK is considering a legal opinion by the former Attorney-General Kritonas Tornaritis, which restricts right to strike but does not prohibit it completely.

Responding to SAK’s announcements, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said yesterday that while the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus both safeguard workers’ right to organise, in both cases there are restrictions.

He said a committee of experts, appointed by the Police Chief, has already concluded that SAK is not entitled to join PASYDY.

“However, if the state allows this, its decision will be respected,” he added.

“No one is above the Law,” said Katsounotos, “be it the Chief of Police or the Cyprus Police Association, and everyone must operate within the bounds set by the Constitution, the laws and regulations.”

Sat, September 4th 2010 at 00:24

Anndee from Paphos comments:

I'm happy that the police get unionised.
I'm happy for them to get a good wage for good work.
I'm happy for them to earn the respect of the public they are employed to serve.
I'm not happy that the Constitution limits the number of policemen, to 5,000(??). That might have been ok in 1960, but population and societal changes since then must surely justify a larger, but better trained and efficient police force.
I'm not happy that the police select their own work shifts, which enable them to do other work on their days off.... which must effect their efficiency.
I'm not happy that they put overtime before serving the public.
I'm not happy that they are so invisible, except when they blitz a road.
I'm not happy when they blatantly ignore offenders as they are passing in their cars.
I'm not sympathetic when they have to travel so far, pay petrol money and can't spend as much time with their families as they think they should.
Most of us have no choice in the matter; we get on with it, so why are you such a special case?

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Fri, September 3rd 2010 at 17:44

Bert from Paphos comments:

Good for you Coppers, but stay independent so you can push for better work situations

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Our View: Police force cannot and should not be unionised

Published on August 8, 2010

IT APPEARS that the Cyprus Police Association (SAK) is gradually developing into yet another militant, public sector union, hell-bent on imposing its wishes on the force. The support it was given by the rest of the public sector union bosses, has cultivated the SAK leaders’ arrogance and they are now behaving as if they are in charge of the police.

On Tuesday the Association held a general meeting which decided to hold another protest, to follow the march to the presidential palace last month. Officers would, this time, march to the House of Representatives during the first session of the plenum, after the summer recess. Will the marchers be off duty officers in civilian dress again, or will the Association be more daring this time and stage a mini-work stoppage so that more policemen attend the protest?

This may sound exaggerated, but it is only a question of time before SAK starts calling strikes in order to push their demands. There was a suspicion that traffic policemen had decided to work-to-rule, a couple of weeks ago, when press reports suggested that the number of fines had fallen dramatically, but nothing was confirmed by either side. This or some other form of industrial action, is bound to happen sooner or later, given the way the Association’s leadership has been acting.

Panayiotis Panayiotou, the SAK secretary, spoke like a hardened union boss on Tuesday when he told one newspaper that he expected the police leadership to proceed with the satisfaction of all the Association’s demands. Only in our union-run country would a lowly policeman, publicly issue orders to his superiors, with impunity. What happens to hierarchical structure, the line of command and discipline, all of which are essential for the smooth operation of a police force, when a lowly officer feels he has the right to tell the Chief of Police what to do?

Who is running the police force, the chief or his subordinates in charge of SAK? The three SAK leaders are under disciplinary investigation for violating the line of command in their effort to fight the Chief’s decision for the eight-hour shift. They have been demanding that the investigation is dropped, thus publicly questioning the Chief’s right to perform his constitutional responsibilities. Tuesday’s meeting even discussed the possibility of taking legal action against the Chief, for ‘illegal actions’.

This theme was repeated in a statement issued on Thursday by the Association. In this it accused the chief of “violating the law” with his decision on the eight-hour shift, but also attacked Minister of Justice Loucas Louca, for failing to intervene in the dispute and “restore normality”. It was outraged that Louca did not side with the Association, claiming that his refusal to take a public stand showed support for the Chief’s actions.

This is an indication of the prevailing irrationality. The policemen-turned-union militants expect the minister in charge of the police to publicly undermine the chief and side with them. The situation is out of control, something that has been helped by the government’s disgraceful fence-sitting. Louca might not have taken a public stand against the Chief, but he has failed to offer him any public backing and to tell the militant cops that their behaviour was unacceptable.

Of course Louca’s fence-sitting is perfectly consistent with the government’s pro-union philosophy and efforts to build a proletarian paradise run by union bosses. The government of the communist Christofias cannot back the Chief and be seen to be taking a position against the just –by definition - cause of the workers (policemen). But if the militant policemen take control of the police – which they gradually will do if they are not stopped now – it will be the end of the force. Their next demand would be to have a say in promotions and the appointment of the Chief and before long they would demand the same work hours as in the rest of the public sector and the scrapping of night shifts.

This is why it has become an imperative for the government, to put aside its dogmatic pro-union ideology and give its full backing to the Chief. Organisations that depend on discipline and a rigid hierarchical structure to operate, like the police and the army, cannot be unionised. The government needs to recognise this truth, for the sake of the country.

Tue, August 10th 2010 at 12:02

Denis McLean from Limassol comments:

If only we could get them to work to rule, they would actually do some work!!!!!

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Mon, August 9th 2010 at 22:30

Al from Planet Earth comments:

Without Trade Unions all workers in all sectors will endure slave working conditions and earn a pittance as they did prior to unionisation in the 19th Century. Nevertheless there are certain sectors of the workforce which cannot and should not be unionised, namely the services e.g. the Armed Forces and the Police.

To allow unionisation of the Police will give them carte blanche to blackmail the authorities for every demand they want.

Its madness and no civilised society will ever allow it and neither should we.

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Mon, August 9th 2010 at 11:33

D.B. from Limassol comments:

While Cristophia and his "commie/socialist-mob" are, as mentioned here, are in power, the Unions will rule this island !
The number of unions here MUST be reduced and their "power-of-rule" must be removed.
HEAR THAT Brussels ! Cyprus is one of your "babies", and your, the EU-parental-control, leaves much to be desired in the case of unions.
@ Panayioti. Australia's union rules are almost the same as the German ones.
@ Loriot. You are right, union behavior on Cyprus is NOT the general pattern of unions throughout Europe.

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Sun, August 8th 2010 at 06:33

Panayioti from Australia comments:

This scenario is a mockery to Cyprus, and the unions' power is typical of Europe in general.

A good start would be to get rid of Christofias and his Socialist/Communist mob.

Next, introduce laws that curb unions' power, as we did in Australia in 1998. That is, once a workplace agreement is in place, or whilst one is being negotiated, employees cannot legally strike. Only when an employer fails to negotiate new working conditions once the existing agreement has expired, or when there are serious threats to employees' health and safety, is strike action permitted.

An independent commission that investigates government corruption at all levels, including public servants, and has the power to prosecute those corrupt employees would also be a step in the right direction.

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AG rules police union cannot join PASYDY

Published on October 15, 2010

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IN A LEGAL opinion, the Attorney-general has said that individual members of the Cyprus Police Association (SAK) are entitled to register with PASYDY, the civil servants blanket union.

The AG said that while individuals may join PASYDY, the police association as a whole is prohibited from doing so, although SAK is allowed to register itself as an affiliated branch of the civil servants union.

The police association had sought to join PASYDY following a row with the Chief of Police over work timetables, with the dispute raising questions of chain of command.

It remains to be seen whether the AG’s legal opinion will defuse tensions between SAK and the Chief of Police, after the former warned of industrial action.