A 24-hour strike by more than 11,000 hourly paid government workers, due to begin on Thursday morning, was called off on Wednesday after union leaders met President Nikos Christodoulides.

The meeting, early on Wednesday morning, was attended by Finance Minister Makis Keravnos and brought together the three unions representing the workers, Oekdy-Sek, Pasyek-Peo and Deok-Kdoko.

Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said both sides had agreed to hold a further meeting with the president on September 28 at 11am.

“Among the topics of discussion will be how to improve the salaries of hourly government personnel,” Letymbiotis said.

He added that the unions had “decided to suspend the measures in order to give time to the dialogue to make final decisions”.

The walkout would have hit government departments and services, school boards and the state health services organisation (Okypy).

About 6,500 of those involved are on the state payroll, with the remaining 5,500 employed by Okypy and the school boards.

At issue is the renewal of the collective agreement covering 2025 to 2027.

The unions rejected a written government proposal of July 21, which they said contained no pay increases across the three-year period, and submitted their formal response on August 5.

They accused the government of insisting on its position and leaving them “no choice” but to strike.

The finance ministry on Tuesday put the cost of the union demands at €50 million over the life of the contract, or roughly €23 million a year from 2027.

The ministry also said the median salary for hourly staff stands at €2,113, above the national median of €1,968, and that 68 of about 6,500 hourly employees are paid the minimum wage.

Oekdy-Sek secretary general George Constantinou said workers had received a 1.5 per cent rise over 17 years while enduring crisis-era pay cuts.

Deok secretary general Andreas Antoniou said some staff earn as little as €867, arguing there is “no lower salary in our country today”.