News websites are set to join the general strike over the cost of living allowance (CoLA) on Thursday after the journalists union said on Monday it was part of measures and called for no reporting to be carried out between 12 noon and 3pm.

The only exception to this, the union said, is reporting on the strike itself.

The general island-wide work stoppage has received support from all major workers unions in both the private and the public sector.

CoLA is a tool for restoring workers’ incomes in the face of the ever-increasing price hikes and inflationary pressures, the union said, adding that the existing agreement of partial CoLA at 50 per cent is not considered satisfactory.

The unions have expressed the common position that full restoration of the cost-of-living adjustment and its extension to all workers is the only right way forward.