The President of the Republic’s announcements about swiftly and timely processing applications for employing foreign personnel, aimed at addressing labor shortages, appear to have finally triggered the trade unions’ discontent.
They demand a change in the current strategy for employing third-country nationals.
Therefore, as announced yesterday, the trade union organizations SEK, PEO, and DEOK, in a joint press conference to be held on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the SEK building, will express their strong concern and reaction regarding the licensing process of employees from third countries and “the bypassing by the Government of the social dialogue that tends to lead to dangerous paths.”
The unions did not hide their annoyance when last year the previous Government, on the eve of the end of its term, approved a new employment strategy for foreigners from third countries.
Discussion on the issue, which recently took place within the framework of the Tripartite Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the Strategy for the Employment of Third-Country Nationals in Cyprus, ended in a deadlock due to the diametrically opposed views of trade unions and employers’ organizations, which also press for decisions to address the labor shortage, which has worsened after the recent decisions to effectively exclude asylum seekers from the labor market.
A key demand of the unions is the reinstatement of the tripartite technical evaluation committees for applications that operated in the past, better documentation of the needs of each business, and the regulation of the terms of employment of foreign workers through collective agreements.
As mentioned, there are complaints from the employers’ side regarding the strategy, insisting that delays in the processing of applications for foreign personnel continue to be observed, at a time when the needs continue to increase and undermine the economic development trajectory.
In yesterday’s presentation of the governance planning for this year, the President recognized the needs in the labor market and announced faster processing of relevant applications, further stating that consultations are underway with specific countries to secure the necessary labor force through intergovernmental agreements expected to be signed within 2024.
