Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou on Sunday reiterated his aim of avoiding a deadlock in negotiations with the hotel industry.

He said he had met with the unions – who on Friday threatened a nationwide strike – and said the mediation process is ongoing “with the aim of reaching an agreement”.

“The joint effort to ensure normality and stability in the hotel industry will escalate in the coming days,” he added.

“Despite any difficulties, I expect that through the responsibility of both sides, the right conditions can be created to achieve a positive result.”

A labour ministry proposal was last week accepted by the hoteliers association and the association of Cyprus tourism enterprises Stek, even though the latter said the proposal favoured the unions.

However both Peo and Sek later said they had rejected the proposal, resulting in them on Friday deciding to take industry-wide measures across the country.