The dispute between trade unions and employer organizations regarding the employment strategy of foreign labor continued yesterday, in the presence of the Minister of Labour, without specific decisions being reached yet again.
The objections, concerns, and disagreements primarily held by the trade union movement were reiterated in a meeting convened yesterday by Yiannis Panayiotou.
According to reports, the minister assured that dialogue on the issue will continue, without, however, committing to changes in the strategy approved by the previous government, literally at the end of its term and after the second round of presidential elections, which elected Nikos Christodoulides as the new President.
The minister, however, reportedly informed Phileleftheros about his intention to enhance the role of the tripartite monitoring committee for the implementation of the new strategy and that he will propose specific recommendations in this direction at a new meeting next Friday, which will secure further involvement of all social partners in the processes.
This development did not fully satisfy all the trade unions, at least, which reiterated their request for the reactivation of the technical advisory committees that operated in the past.
Representatives of the unions SEK, PEO, and DEOK reiterated their position on the need to specify the employment criteria for issuing licenses to employ personnel from third countries, in order to end the deregulation, as they claim, that the existing process creates in the labor market and the exploitation – they said – of foreign workers, emphasizing the need for the procedures to strengthen rather than undermine collective agreements.
Furthermore, the trade union movement reportedly made complaints yesterday about the violation of the existing procedure by some employers, claiming that there are cases in the hotel industry where entrepreneurs applied for permits for foreign personnel, while at the same time not rehiring staff who were on suspension.
Representatives of the employer organizations OEB and KEVE reiterated their demands yesterday for the expedited licensing procedures due to increased needs and gaps in the labor market.
