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Support for our Nicosia colleagues on strike to save their bureau

Thursday 17 October 2024

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The intersyndicale of French trade unions at AFP oppose the closure of the MENA regional bureau in Nicosia as part of a reorganization of the region, and support our colleagues who have voted to go on strike Friday October 18 from 0800 to 1100 GMT.

Splitting up the bureau between Paris, Dubai and Beirut as management plans makes no sense whatsoever and comes as the teams there have been working flat out for the past year. More than 70 people are impacted by the planned reform and many have built their lives in Cyprus and face extreme difficulties to move.

Management’s plan makes no sense from the standpoint of security. Since 1987 AFP’s regional bureau for the Middle East has been located in Cyprus, a member of the European Union since 2004, and a haven of stability for the teams which cover 22 countries, many of which are regularly hit by violent conflicts. With the latest conflict in Lebanon the region is once again plunged into uncertainty: who can guarantee that our Beirut office, located in the middle of the city, won’t be destroyed in an Israeli strike like our Gaza bureau was? No quarter of the Lebanese capital is safe from air strikes – one struck just several hundred meters from the French embassy on October 10.

There is no freedom of expression in Dubai and our staff there will be under threat of being hauled into a police station, arrested or expelled from the country if a story doesn’t please the Emirates authorities. How much freedom will they have to edit text copy, photos and videos on issues such as human rights, Asian domestic workers in Gulf countries or news about countries that have thorny relations with the UAE.

Management’s plan also makes no sense from an editorial standpoint. Splitting apart the text, photo and video desks will drastically slow our ability to get news out to clients and the quality of that information. The teams currently work together in an open space in Nicosia and are in constant communication. They pass along information to one another and discuss out loud the choice of words and images. This is very important in the Middle East where there is hyper-sensitivity concerning many of the stories we cover. Over the years we’ve built up a team in Nicosia that intimately knows the region and whose expertise is indispensable for the Agency. Many of them have naturally put down roots in Nicosia and a move threatens the loss of valuable team members.

A move would have steep personal costs for many working in Nicosia. Many have local attachments like children in schools, a spouse with a job in Nicosia, or mortgages on homes. Some have brought over their elderly parents to ensure their safety. Some have started the process of getting Cypriot nationality. What are these people going to do? And is moving even financially tenable? The cost of living in both Dubai and Paris is much higher. Will AFP hike their wages?

A move from Nicosia raises a number of other concerns. Regional contracts are currently based under Cypriot law which allows permanent labor contracts. Will they be under Emirates law which only recognizes fixed-term contracts? This would give the Agency the possibility to easily get rid of staff with no compensation, and under Emirates law they would lose their work visa and be obliged to leave the country. This is an unacceptable rise in insecurity for staff.

Our Nicosia colleagues are not pawns to be sacrificed! Management has to date provided no feasibility studies concerning its plan. We reject the arbitrary closing of the Nicosia bureau which will have a negative impact on our coverage and our image among clients.

French trade unions insist on being consulted on all aspects of management’s plan, including the social aspects, as the closure of Nicosia will have consequences that are not just limited to local staff.

Paris, October 17, 2024

The CGT-SNJ-SUD-FO and CFE-CGC trade unions