A minimum wage cannot be set in Cyprus amid the pandemic and uncertainty created in the labor market, said Andreas Zachariadis, Director General of the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Security, when the Legal Service informed the Parliamentary Committee on Labor that three relevant bills are unconstitutional.
The committee continued today the discussion of the three bills, the President of the Citizens' Alliance George Lillikas, Linos Papagiannis on behalf of ELAM and the Member of Parliament of the Movement of Environmentalists George Perdikis.
"There is a consensus, the position of the Ministry was to promote the regulation of a minimum wage," said Mr. Zachariadis, speaking before the committee, adding that at the beginning of 2020 there was a proposal to start the social dialogue with the initial timetable submission of the bill to the Council of Ministers in March for approval.
He added, however, that "the pandemic (of the coronavirus) has arisen and the issue has taken another form", since there is a differentiation in the labor market compared to 2019.
"The position was and remains the promotion of the national minimum wage. But, as the Minister said, the labor market conditions are not favorable for the promotion of this initiative at the moment ", he added, noting that the goal" is to keep the jobs in the middle of the pandemic and not to move to the next stage ". .
As he said, a dialogue that will take place in this environment will not have the best result. "There is insecurity, we see the anxiety about what the pandemic will bring to the labor market. "So we believe that the climate is so changing and does not help in any dialogue in the current circumstances," he added.
A spokesman for the Legal Service said all three bills were unconstitutional.
Moreover, George Lillikas said that his own proposal can be voted next Thursday, since, as he said, it provides for the establishment of a national minimum wage, which will be determined after consultation without even entering into timetables. "It is essentially a framework law, which guarantees the existence of a national minimum wage," he said.
For his part, Linos Papagiannis, speaking both before the Commission and in his statements that the minimum wage should be established, as the proposal is part of a broader framework that concerns labor issues and labor rights in general. "We believe that, like most European countries, which already have a set minimum wage, something similar should be done by Cyprus," he added.
Towards a European directive on the minimum wage
The Chairman of the Committee, Andreas Fakontis stated that according to an investigation of the services of the Parliament, the European Union is proceeding with a proposal for a directive on the issue of the minimum wage in the Member States and when approved these provisions should be incorporated into national law within 2 years. since the adoption of the Directive. As he said, the directive does not impose a minimum wage but leaves it to the Member States to set some conditions.
As he said, only six EU member states have not set a minimum wage, including Cyprus, which sets a minimum wage by decree in nine professions.
However, Mr. Fakontis wondered if now with the ongoing processes in view of the budget vote "we will not have any surprises with the minimum wage".
"Even with the approval of a minimum, our position on the budget does not change," says Perdikis.
Moreover, in statements after the session, George Perdikis stated that the Movement insists on the introduction of a minimum wage, as most European countries have done. Saying that the proposal of the Ecologists can be approved even today, since it is a framework proposal, Mr. Perdikis hastened to clarify that "even if the draft law is adopted, our position on the budget will not change".
"Voting on budgets is a matter of last minute blackmail. We do not place ourselves on the basis of exchanges, nor on the basis of any extortionate dilemma ", he said and concluded:" We have not made a final decision, but our position is that it is not green, it does not face the concerns and visions of the Ecologists, it does not have social sensitivity. that which satisfies the Ecologists 'Movement and the Citizens' Cooperation ".
Source: KYPE