No results were announced after a meeting on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace on the national minimum wage in Cyprus, with trade unions blaming employers of introducing last-minute changes and the latter arguing they never said what has been discussed so far was final.
After the meeting, under President Nicos Anastasiades, Government Spokesman Marios Pelekanos announced that the dialogue will continue with the aim of introducing soon a national minimum wage. No timeframe was given, however.
Pelekanos said that because during the discussion some differences emerged between the employers’ organisations and the trade unions, the President requested that the dialogue be continued under the auspices of the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Kyriacos Koushos, within the framework of a strict timeframe. He also said that with a demonstration of good will from the parties involved, these differences can be bridged.
At the meeting, trade unions criticised the employers’ organisations for making changes to the framework prepared during the consultations with the late Minister of Labour, Zeta Emilianidou, with the employers countering that they never said that the matter was final.
The Chairman of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Christodoulos Angastiniotis, in his statements, pointed out that the President made it clear that the basis on which the minimum wage will be calculated will be the calculations regarding the median wage in Cyprus, of the Statistical Service which is €1.573 and not of the EU SILC which is €1.727.
He said that aim was for the dialogue to conclude by the end of August the latest.
Director General of the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB), Michalis Antoniou, said they had not seen the proposals of the unions, nor the unions had seen the employers’ proposals, since all sides were to submit them last month just as when the late Labour Minister was admitted to hospital.
The trade union representatives stated that the national minimum wage needs to reflect today’s conditions and not of the past.
PEO General Secretary, Sotiroulla Charalambous said the dialogue concerns establishing “decent” employment conditions for workers and that her union will not agree to wages that are below the poverty line.
Chairman of DEOK, Iosif Anastasiaou said that they expected the conclusion of the dialogue today so that a fair minimum wage would be announced but that the employers’ organisations have raised issues, which essentially overturn the entire discussion.
The General Secretary of SEK, Andreas Matsas said that today, “we have taken steps backwards,” adding that it was clear that there are efforts for a change to the framework that was prepared by the late Labour Minister with the contribution of the social partners themselves.
Source: Cyprus News Agency