Hourly-paid government staff held their first 24-hour strike since the founding of the Republic of Cyprus on Wednesday, demanding pay increases and the renewal of their collective agreement. Workers gathered in the morning outside the Ministry of Finance and then marched to the Presidential Palace, chanting slogans against “poverty wages” and their treatment as “second-class” employees.
The mobilization included workers from various branches of the public sector, including technicians, antiquities conservators, builders, train drivers, cleaning staff and health service workers, forest firefighters, firefighters and lifeguards. The unions argue that hourly-paid workers have received a total increase of just 1.5% over the past 17 years, while a significant proportion are paid wages of up to €1,500.
They chanted slogans against “poverty wages” and their treatment as “second-class” employees.
Representatives of the organizations submitted a memorandum to the Government Spokesperson, requesting the intervention of the President of the Republic to help reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance. They also warned that if there is no substantive response, the mobilizations will escalate.
On the government’s side, Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that dialogue is continuing and that some demands have already been addressed positively by the Ministry of Finance. However, he stressed that the cost of the wage demands is significant, as one of the demands is estimated at around €30 million over a three-year period.
Source: Philenews
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