Despite ongoing negotiations conducted by the Ministry of Labour’s mediation service since last year, no convergence has been reached in the process of renewing the collective agreement in the construction industry.
Consequently, trade unions are now formally calling for an impasse.
This development is expected to pave the way for both sides to assert their demands more forcefully, with the labour movement contemplating dynamic mobilizations for some time now.
SEK, PEO, and DEOK unions requested the official declaration of an impasse at the last meeting held before the mediation service on December 4th.
However, the Ministry of Labour’s Department of Labour Relations has requested additional time. The Minister of Labour, Yiannis Panayiotou, intends to mediate in the matter.
According to sources, the Minister will initially engage in resolving the dispute by convening an informal joint meeting with the two sides—namely, the three unions and the Cyprus Federation of Building Contractors (OSEOK).
This meeting, expected to take place before the end of the year, will determine the Ministry of Labour’s subsequent steps. The Ministry is likely to propose mediation to bridge the gap and, by extension, renew the collective agreement in the sector covering around 40,000 workers, which expired in May 2022.
A significant hurdle in the negotiation process, confirmed by a recent publication in “Ergatiki Foni,” the weekly newspaper published by SEK, is OSEOK’s refusal to accept the unions’ request for inclusion in the “Construction Industry Act.”
This law ensures fundamental rights of workers and establishes minimum hiring wages in the sector, agreed upon with each renewal of the collective agreement.
The unions argue that including these minimum wages in the legislation will combat unfair competition, both among contractors and workers.
On the contrary, OSEOK has long proposed the inclusion of a provision in the new agreement, allowing newly hired specialized workers to be employed at the respective national minimum wage.
The unions also demand the “restoration to 100% of the amount deducted from personal salaries based on the special agreement of 2013 for all categories of workers.”
Additionally, they call for an increase in the bonus percentage for all categories of workers to 11%, up from the current 8%, effectively restoring the deducted 3% based on the 2013 special agreement.
