The Isotita prison union is preparing action on two fronts over the dismissal of Giorgos Maltezos, an official of its Prison Officers’ Branch. Sources told philenews the first move involves preparing an application to the Labour Disputes Court, arguing that Maltezos’s dismissal by the Minister of Justice and Public Order was unlawful.
The second move concerns a discussion at parliament’s House Labour Committee on an item registered by AKEL over the dismissal. According to philenews’ information, the Prison Officers’ Branch may hold a protest outside parliament on the day of that discussion, with a decision on whether to go ahead expected soon.
Despite reacting fiercely in public statements on conditions in prisons and on the dismissal of its deputy chair, the union has otherwise kept a low profile, avoiding more extreme measures such as a strike or a protest outside the ministry.
The only concrete decision taken so far was to employ Maltezos on a salaried basis with Isotita itself and to promote him from deputy chair to chair of the Prison Officers’ Branch.
The union’s lawyers are preparing the application to the Labour Disputes Court, which will argue, among other points, that the dismissal was unlawful because it was decided by the minister and that Maltezos was not given the opportunity to be heard.
On the dispute between the Justice Minister and Isotita, the minister said in an interview with the Cyprus Mail on Sunday that unionism is a protected right and that the ministry fully respects it, adding that consultation is one thing and decision-making another.
“Unions represent workers and have every right to express positions, proposals and objections,” he said. He added that the administration of the security forces, their operational functioning and their decision-making rest with the competent institutional bodies, which are also accountable for those decisions.
According to philenews’ information, the Public Service Commission is expected to appoint a new prison director next month, replacing Anna Aristotelous, who resigned from the post.
