Final showdown for minimum wage set for August 31

Labour Minister Kyriakos Koushos will hold a new joint meeting with employers and trade unions on August 31 in a final effort to reach a consensus regarding the establishment of the national minimum wage.

At the meeting, Koushos will submit his final proposal and listen to the positions of the social partners.

During his last meeting with unions Sek, Peo and Deok on August 9, Koushos had stated that differences remain in the approaches between the employers’ side and the trade unions.

The decision will then be taken to the Council of Ministers for final approval.

Reports suggest there is disagreement between the two sides about the implementation process, with employers reportedly asking for certain exceptions for new hires.

Another thorn is how much the minimum wage should be. Unions and employers’ organisations disagree over the method of determining a median salary, on which the minimum salary would be based.

The median wage calculated by the Cyprus Statistical Service is lower than that calculated by EU-SILC, which the unions want the minimum wage to be based on. Employers’ organisations want the former.

“The effort is to converge opinions as much as possible, because there can be no agreement. The decree will be issued with certainty, regardless of differences,” Koushos said.