Two-thirds of the bus drivers at the Zenon bus company who recently went on strike in Larnaca are earning relatively high salaries between 1500-1800, in some cases over 2000 Euros, said Transport Minister Marios Demetriades.

Since Zenon is 92% financed by the state, the concern is to prevent unreasonable wage rises so that the taxpayer isn’t the sucker in the whole scenario, he said in comments to the state broadcaster.

The strike has been ended and negotiations between the SEK union and transport ministry have resumed, but the minister said he refuses to add any more costs to the taxpayer’s bill. Instead, the wage adjustments will be done internally, balancing out cuts on higher salaries with increases on lower salaries, he said.

The minister said it is time to put some limit on wages on directors, and limit the number of directors allowed in these state-subsidised companies.

Demetriades is one of a handful of ministers in the history of the Republic who has talked more about the taxpayer than about the perks and benefits for state employees. If there were more like him, there would be a better balance between the state and private sectors, and more efficiency and opportunities created in the economy. He had the courage to close down the hugely loss-making Cyprus Airways, as difficult as it was, because it was a massive drain on the country’s resources at the end of the day, due to mismanagement and the lack of adaptability to new market conditions. Other companies subsidised by the state should be encouraged to put the public’s interests first, instead of their own - after all, without the taxpayer’s hard-earned money contributing to the state’s operating costs, they wouldn’t exist.

The mentality of ‘it will all be paid by the taxpayer’ needs to adapt to the new reality in our economy. The crisis has hit all the economic participants hard, so it would be good to see some responsibility and civic duty from employees in the state. After all, we’re talking about bus drivers with already-high salaries going on strike for more money when there are 45,000 people unemployed. But mainly, what’s needed is balance between the agendas in the public and private sectors, and that comes from expert fiscal management.