Trade unions met on Tuesday with Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou, in an effort to reach an agreement on the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA). They will meet again on July 8.

Until then, they have decided to extend the moratorium on statements from all sides, in order to keep the perspective for an agreement alive.

Next week’s meeting is expected to be the last, however sources said there did not seem to be a positive prospect, as the sides were not converging.

After next Tuesday’s meeting, the labour minister may request a few days for an agreement to be reached or submit a proposal, which may lead to a deadlock.

Meanwhile, the all-trade union meeting on CoLA scheduled for July 7 has been moved to July 10, to allow the unions to assess the situation and decide on their next steps.