UNIONS SEK, PEO and PASYDY are planning to accept a government proposal for public servants to contribute €70 million to the island’s economic recovery, according to the head of union OIO-SEK yesterday.
In a radio interview, Nicos Tambas confirmed that unions SEK and PEO, as well as public servants’ umbrella union PASYDY, had agreed to accept the government’s proposal in their meeting last Friday. They plan to relay their views during a conference that will take place on Wednesday, with all unions of the broader public sector present.
“The proposal will be put before SEK’s executive committee (tomorrow), where it will be discussed and final decisions will be made,” said Tambas. “But the unions have initially accepted the government’s proposal.”
On Friday however, PASYDY general secretary Glafcos Hadjipetrou and PEO deputy general secretary Soteris Felas told Stock Watch that “all possibilities are open for discussion” on Wednesday.
“The ultimate goal is for us to agree on a common decision over the proposal for a contribution by the broader public sector’s employees, €35 million annually over a period of two years, and then inform the government on it,” said Hadjipetrou.
All the sector’s unions will be meeting over the next two days to be informed on the proposal and submit their decisions at Wednesday’s conference.
The head of the Cyprus Greek Teachers’ Organisation (POED), Filios Fylaktou, said everyone was willing and ready to contribute to efforts for economic recovery. “However, the educational organisations have issued a common announcement requesting that the eradication of tax evasion and tax avoidance not be forgotten,” he added.
Fylaktou also confirmed the teachers’ intention to ask for an equal share of burdens between “national wealth and the trade unions”.
But the Democratic Labour Federation of Cyprus (DEOK) is against the proposal, according to its general secretary Diomidis Diomidous, who yesterday said it was “neither serious, nor balanced”, like the government had promised. Diomidous said the proposal was like “a sweet caress to the ears and pockets of big profits and wealth”.
The proposed measure is part of the government’s effort to raise some €270 million in two years, to live up to EU requirements.
In addition to the €70 million the state hopes to receive from the public sector, it also plans to impose a €1,000 levy on all companies operating in Cyprus.
If the measure is approved on Wednesday, workers who have a gross salary of up to €1,500 a month will not have to pay anything. Those who earn from €1,501 to €2,500 will contribute 1.5 per cent of their salary. Those who earn between €2,501 and €3,500 will pay 2.5 per cent and public servants earning from €3,501 to €4,500 will pay 3.0 per cent. Those earning over €4,500 will contribute 3.5 per cent.
The government is hopeful that the measures will be accepted. The two bills will be presented at parliament as a matter of urgency in the hope that the measures are implemented by September at the latest.
Presenting the package of measures earlier this week, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said the government, unions and employers had agreed to do their share to solve the state’s fiscal measures.
Responding to criticism over the measures, the minister said the reactions were indicative of Cyprus society’s habit of complaining whenever having to pay up from their personal finances.
But he warned that this was the same attitude shown by the Greek public, “and you have seen where Greece ended up”.
