Unions meet to discuss government’s CoLA proposal

A slew of meetings are underway this week to discuss the government’s compromising proposal on the cost of living allowance (CoLA). On Tuesday, four trade unions were having a joint review session, where three of the unions have already said the proposal is not good enough.

Tuesday’s meeting will be between Sek, Peo, Deok and Pasydy unions at 2.30pm. The executive branches of Sek, Peo and Deok have already discussed the latest compromise proposal submitted by Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou and described it as unsatisfactory.

The proposal specifies renewing the 2017 interim agreement for another three years and increasing CoLA to two-thirds of the Consumer Price Index. This would mean CoLA will go up to a 66.67 per cent share from the current 50 per cent.

Pasydy union’s executive committee will be meeting on Wednesday at 9.30am to make a decision.

Where employer’s organisations are concerned, the Cyprus chamber of commerce’s (Keve) 35-member board will be holding a meeting at 4pm while the Employers and Industrialists Federation (Oev) will hold a meeting on Thursday at 4pm.

The unions and employers are set to meet with the labour minister on Friday at 10am.

During an event held in light of international labour day on May 1, Panayiotou expressed the hopes that all parties involved will try to find a solution for CoLA.