Unions criticised the director of Cyprus Post before parliament’s transport committee on Thursday over the employment status and working conditions of postal delivery staff, after he proposed setting delivery rounds in urban areas at 137.
The hearing examined understaffing at the service, pay disparities and their effect on its operation and on service to the public.
DIKO parliament member Panikos Leonidou, one of those who put the issue on the agenda, said there was disorder in the postal sector and that a group of workers was affected by “the director’s bizarre decisions”. He also raised the different categories of staff: hourly-paid, indefinite-term, permanent, and those hired through service contracts. Finance Ministry figures presented at the hearing show 96 civil-service delivery posts, of which 81 are filled, along with 165 indefinite-term and 38 hourly-paid delivery staff.
The department’s case
Marinos Kortas of the Department of Postal Services said the volume of letters had fallen by around 50 per cent since 2015. The department therefore decided to reassess delivery rounds against European standards so that staff could be managed better.
He said the union had asked for talks before any measurements were taken, so that decisions on cuts would be made jointly. The talks were held and the director then submitted a proposal to the union.
Rounds may be reduced, Kortas said, but the department cannot dismiss delivery staff or make them redundant. Any surplus staff will either be given other duties or transferred elsewhere in the public service.
Unions’ objections
Petros Savvides of the Pancyprian Public Servants’ Trade Union (PASYDY) confirmed that the director had sent a proposal to restructure the delivery network and had invited the union to talks on Monday, October 12. He said rounds stood at 199 a year ago and were cut to 181 eight months ago.
“He keeps changing the instructions to staff,” he said.
Savvides also criticised a lack of replacement staff, saying Limassol was three people short.
Antonis Panayi of the Isotita union showed photographs of the volume of mail that delivery staff carry each day, which he said put them at risk. In one case, he said, a postman’s bag caught fire while he was out on his round.
Panayi said the director had never received the union at his office. He pointed to pay disparities and a growing workload, saying that in the end “the citizen pays the price”, as people have to collect their own parcels from the post office rather than have them delivered. He called for overtime pay, safe equipment and working hours that protect staff from the weather, among other things.
A Limassol postman told the hearing that staff faced daily pressure that most could not bear, and constant changes made without consultation. He said a third of staff were on light duties because of age or health problems.
Committee chairman Sotiris Ioannou said the issue would return to parliament in early November, when the director of Cyprus Post and a senior Transport Ministry official will be invited to attend.
