Employers’ organisations OEV and Keve on Monday reaffirmed their positions on the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA) during a joint meeting, and said their negotiating teams will handle Thursday’s meeting with the labour and finance ministers “appropriately”.

The two organisations said they “approved the strategic handling of the negotiations”.

In the meantime, OEV and Keve will continue to refrain from making any statements.

Sources said the organisations would want any new proposal in writing so that they could take it to their boards.

Unions from the private and public sectors staged a three-hour strike on September 11 calling for employers to return to the full payment of CoLA, a position the employers have downright dismissed.

Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou has proposed CoLA for all on a sliding scale according to salary.