Employers and industrialists’ federation (Oev) chairman Antonis Antoniou on Friday expressed his distaste for the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA), saying his organisation believes it “should have disappeared”.

He was speaking after a meeting called by Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou with employers’ organisations and trade unions to discuss the future of CoLA and added that he hopes his organisation’s views will be heard “on how we can improve, modernise an institution which is anachronistic”.

“We believe that it should have disappeared. There are other tools for employees to achieve their progress, but we accept to continue it with some variations, with a modernisation which is consistent with the economic realities of recent decades,” he said.

His views were echoed by Cyprus chamber of commerce and industry (Keve) chairman Philokypros Rousounides, who also described CoLA as “an anachronistic institution, which needs improvement or replacement with a new mechanism”.

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Such a mechanism, he said, must “take into account other parameters” and also “take into account the facts of the era in which we live”.

On the side of the workers, meanwhile, trade union Sek’s secretary-general Andreas Matsas insisted that “for us, the issue of CoLA does not allow for any differentiation in terms of its interpretation, in terms of the role it has played for the benefit of workers, the economy, and stability in labour relations”.

He added that CoLA has helped to “maintain labour peace” and pointed out that it was created “through collective agreements”.

He expressed his hope that there will be an agreement on the matter but noted that “we are ready for everything in relation to the need which arises to safeguard the institution, support employees, and create the necessary conditions for our country’s system of labour relations to be able to continue to operate smoothly”.

Stratis Mattheou, secretary-general of fellow trade union Pasydy, said CoLA has “contributed to labour peace for years” and “protects against the erosion of wages by inflation”.

His union’s position, he said, is “CoLA for all, CoLA at 100 per cent, CoLA in its philosophy”.

Meanwhile, trade union Deok leader said CoLA has “helped workers and the economy to a great extent”.

Panayiotou, meanwhile, was positive about the meeting, saying trade unions and employers’ organisations have “begun the next stage of the discussion on the renewal of the CoLA agreement”.

“I expect that through the constructive contribution of all parties, we will manage to reach commonly accepted results, which will be mutually beneficial,” he said.

He added that in the coming days, private meetings will be held on both sides.

“If everyone demonstrates the necessary constructive attitude, despite the different approaches and divergent positions, it will be possible to reach a commonly accepted agreement.”

“Our country is becoming stronger and more resilient through economic growth and social cohesion … At the heart of economic growth and social cohesion are the people who constitute the labour market’s human resources, and both the protection of workers on low wages and the strengthening of middle-class workers are essential.”

Earlier, he had said that the government has no intention of abolishing CoLA altogether, stressing that “the government’s positions are known and do not include the abolition of CoLA, but, on the contrary, the strengthening and improvement of it”.

He added at the time that the government aims to make it “more effective through modern economic data to protect workers’ salaries from the increase in the cost of living”.