Trade unions announced on Wednesday that hourly paid government employees will stage a nationwide 24-hour strike on September 17 unless the government submits a revised pay proposal before then.

After rejecting the state’s latest offer, the unions said the proposal for a new collective agreement covering 2025 to 2027 offered “zero increases” over the three-year period despite what they described as strong economic growth and rising living costs.

The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the civil servants’ union branch (Oekdy-Sek), the democratic labour federation (Deok) and the construction workers brancher of the worker’s federation (Pasyek-Peo), which together represent around 7,500 hourly paid government employees, approximately 1,700 workers employed by the state health services organisation (Okypy) and more than 3,000 school staff.

Oekdy-Sek secretary general George Constantinou said workers had rejected the proposal submitted on July 21 and were giving the government until September 17 to present an improved offer.

“It cannot be accepted by us or by the workers we represent that there is zero increase, at a time when the country’s economy is experiencing very good and positive growth rates,” he insisted.

Constantinou said the unions expected the committee to reconsider the proposal and submit a second offer capable of leading to a consensus.

He argued that hourly paid workers had received just a 1.5 per cent pay rise over the past 17 years while also enduring wage reductions during the financial crisis.

“If all economic data is taken into account, our demands are fully justified and will help the workers we represent to survive with dignity,” he said.

He added that the unions were not seeking disruption but forewarned that many essential public services would be affected if the strike proceeds.

“The responsibility lies with the government to submit a proposal that can be acceptable and improve wages,” he said.

Deok secretary general Andreas Antoniou likewise denounced the government’s proposal as having failed to address the financial pressures facing workers.

“Some of these employees earn as little as €867,” he remarked, further commenting that certain cases reviewed with ten years of service earned only around €1,170 net per month.

“There is no lower salary in our country today than that received by hourly-paid government staff,” Antoniou stressed, adding that workers had decided to proceed with a nationwide strike unless a better offer was made.

Pasyek-Peo secretary general Stavros Andreou said the proposal did not meet workers’ core demand for general salary increases.

He said many entry level employees earned less than €1,000 a month despite carrying out essential work across the public sector.

“The increases given to date for this particular group of staff do not at all correspond to the high growth rates recorded by the economy in recent years,” Andreou said.

The dispute follows a 24-hour nationwide strike in June, when hourly paid workers marched to the presidential palace demanding higher wages and the renewal of their collective agreement after unions argued that pay had failed to keep pace with the cost of living.