Trade unions Peo and Deok stressed on Thursday that the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA) was not a financial or legal issue, but a social one and as such should be implemented, while Sek called on the government to make up its mind and stop giving people false hopes.

The remarks came in the wake of an employer-commissioned opinion that said regulating CoLA through legislation was unconstitutional.

Sek general secretary Andreas Matsas said in a statement to the Cyprus News Agency that the government must document the legality of its proposal to expand CoLA to cover all workers, even through legislation, by seeking an opinion by the legal service.

“We gave alternatives that could be used in practice to extend CoLA […] It is important to see what the Law Office will say,” he added.

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Matsas said that “the way this issue too is being handled is placing the smooth development of labour relations at risk and this is, unfortunately, confirmed and should be a matter of concern to the government.”

Peo general secretary and Deok president, Sotiroulla Charalambous and Stelios Christodoulou respectively, both said the issue of CoLA should be settled through the existing labour relations system.

They told the Cyprus News Agency that for the trade unions CoLA was a matter of substance and a social one, not legal or financial.

“CoLA for all is feasible and can be achieved through the existing labour relations system, with the minimum wage and through collective agreements. For us, it is the substance that matters,” Charalambous said.

Christodoulou said the interior minister was trying place emphasis on the social issue and that in this context the legal counsel given to the employers was “not in the right direction”.

A trade union meeting with the labour minister is yet to be set.

“We are waiting to conclude our meeting with the labour minister and, when we have a comprehensive and specific picture, we will be able to reach our final positions,” Christodoulou said.

Charalambous said an all-trade-union meeting had not been set but would be scheduled soon.