LABOUR relations in the private sector are hanging from a thread as Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous holds meetings with both the unions and the employers’ federation in an effort to avert widespread strikes.
Charalambous met with SEK and PEO union members yesterday afternoon, while she is set to meet employers and industrialists federation (OEV) representatives this morning at 8.30am.
OEV yesterday reiterated the need to introduce austerity measures in order to keep companies afloat, while unions warned that unilateral decisions should be withdrawn.
Unions insisted that they were only willing to enter negotiations in industries that were widely accepted to be struggling.
The labour ministry initiative is conducted amid an already ongoing 24-hour strike by porters and dockworkers at the Limassol and Larnaca ports today.
Meanwhile, builders and employees of soft drink companies have also announced 24-hour warning strikes for early February.
OEV’s decision last Friday to unilaterally suggest a two-year wage freeze and other cutbacks in the private sector was met by the staunch disapproval of the unions, who warned that they would not accept the decision without a fight.
The minister – a former PEO official herself – is expected to play a key role in mediating a deal between the two sides and she implored all players involved to tone down the rhetoric.
Unions said that negotiations needed to be conducted in each industry separately, since there was a suggestion that employers were using the crisis as an excuse to violate existing collective agreements.
SEK head, Nicos Moiseos said that a single set of measures applied throughout the private sector was unrealistic, as certain industries were actually fairing well, which made austerity measures in those industries unjustified.
“Hotels should certainly not be included in the austerity measures as everyone knows they had a good season last year and that tourism is on the up, while pharmaceutical companies have also faired well in recent times,” Moiseos said.
Reports yesterday suggested that hotel employees were also considering strike action, after the hoteliers association (PASYXE) had reportedly voiced its intention to not pay out the cost of living allowance (CoLA) and a pay rise.
Total tourism revenues for 2011 reached approximately €1.7 billion, a 13.2 per cent increase from the previous year, while November 2011 netted €64.8 million in tourist revenues.
PEO’s Pambos Kyritsis warned that while the unions had entered the deliberation process with the minister and OEV, they would not be blackmailed into concessions.
“The starting point of the discussion should be not be that employers will pay nothing and what meagre concession can be given to the employees but rather the collective agreements that should currently be in place,” Kyritsis said.
OEV head, Filios Zachariades stressed the need for measures to be introduced, as the majority of companies were struggling to survive and warned that it was imperative to retain the jobs that currently existed.
“The viability of most companies is in jeopardy and while we must look to stop the upward trend of unemployment, this can only be done by guaranteeing a lifeline for the companies which are the main job providers,” Zachariades said.
Cyprus’ unemployment in December 2011 was 9.3 per cent, with around 31,432 people being unemployed, all from the private sector.
OEV said that once Cyprus was out of the crisis and growth was re-established then “re-negotiations would take place”.
OEV and the unions had been locked in discussions over new collective agreements concerning wages and CoLA for over a month, and a failed meeting last Thursday had prompted OEV to go forward with the measures.
Unions have accused employers of unilaterally imposing austerity measures, while deliberation at a national level was still underway.
According to Moiseos, the latest collective agreements, which were signed in 2010, only call for pay rises of roughly 1.5 per cent, which is a “concession in itself from the part of the employees and takes into account the financial crisis”.
“The handing out of CoLA is not negotiable for us because OEV had made a commitment to the unions and the Finance Minister in December that what was happening in the public sector would not affect employees in the private sector,” said Moiseos.
Unions were at locker heads with the government in December, after similar austerity measures were introduced in the public sector.
At the time, unions were convinced that the measures targeting the public sector would be enough to avert Cyprus entering an EU financial support mechanism, and that there would be no need for further measures to be introduced in any sector.
DISY leader and presidential candidate, Nicos Anastassiades, speaking after his own meeting with OEV and the chamber of commerce and industry (KEVE) yesterday said that everyone’s priority should be incentives and policies for development in order to combat unemployment.
“Deliberation is needed, as long as everyone involved understands that these are difficult times and difficult decisions need to be made,” said Anastassiades, who noted that the positive attitude by all parties involved was present to find a solution.
