THE PAN-CYPRIAN Labour Federation (PEO) has reported a large number of building contractors after they failed to observe Monday’s agreement that temperatures were dangerously high for outside work between noon and 4pm.
The General-Secretary of the Federation’s Building Section yesterday told the Mail that many workers were unaware of their rights.
“A large number come from abroad, and many of them cannot speak Greek or English, making communication very difficult,” said Michalis Papanicolaou. “This is an ongoing problem that we have seen several times in the past, with many employers threatening to fire them if they stop working or cause too many problems.”
Two days ago, the Labour Ministry announced that weather conditions were too extreme for people to be working in the open air, directly exposed to the sun’s rays.
Light work was permitted, as long as plenty of shade and water was provided.
“A high number of employers, mainly building contractors, failed to honour the announcement and we will be reporting them to the Ministry,” Papanicolaou stated.
“The problem is that the announcement is not a law so to speak, but an agreement between the government, unions and employers. We advise any worker who feels hard done by to contact us with their complaint.”
He also urged employers to follow the Ministry’s directions, so as not to endanger people’s lives.
Tasoula Leontidou is the Ministry’s Chief Labour Inspection Officer and she confirmed that, “our district labour officers discovered a number of cases on Monday where the announcement was not being followed.
“I would like to point out, however, that several cases involved people who were not aware that the announcement had been made, and they downed tools as soon as they were informed,” she said.
She agreed with Papanicolaou that the announcement was a grey area of the law, “as it is simply a gentleman’s agreement reached at a tri-partite council in 2002.”
When asked what temperature the thermometer needs to reach in order for the Ministry to take action, Leontidou said: “What we consider is not only the temperature but also humidity levels and the movement of air. We take all these factors into account when compiling our heat stress indicator.”
Regarding Monday’s violations, she said the Ministry would wait for PEO to submit them in writing before deciding what to do.
Labour Minister Antonis Vasiliou has urged employees who feel they are not being fairly treated to report their bosses.
There was no extreme weather announcement yesterday.
