Labour unions call for suspension of work stoppages

Labour unions Pasydy, Sek, and Peo announced on Wednesday that they have requested members to suspend any work stoppages. They stated that the collective agreement, reached last month for low-wage civil servants, will be finalised and signed in a meeting the following day.

The agreement, concluded on October 31, pertains to public sector employees on the A2-A5-A7 pay scales.

In a joint announcement, the three unions reiterated that addressing the issue of low-wage employees in the public and wider public sector is their priority. They expect and demand that the agreement be signed, ensuring its inclusion in the 2024 budgets.

Simultaneously, they emphasised that the inclusion of continuous service in the same tasks on the A1 scale is a condition they insist on and any attempt to exclude it is deemed unacceptable.

The unions also urged that the ongoing dialogue conclude in the next few days to incorporate the agreement into the proposed 2024 budgets, currently in the final stages of examination before voting.

Given that the dialogue is in its final stages and is still running through fixed meetings, at a high level, “taking strike action in the current conditions is not beneficial for the workers,” they added, calling on their members not to participate in any announced strikes, and for affected workers to await notification of the results of future meetings.

The three unions finally said that they look forward to signing an agreement in the next few days, to avoid being forced to make decisions that may lead to a labour crisis, especially considering that resolving wage disputes concerning low-wage civil servants has been declared as a political commitment of the president and the finance minister.