An appeal to the members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee to mediate between the parties involved, so that there is a positive development in the efforts to reach an agreement to end the strike that the workers in the ready-mixed concrete sector have declared, addressed today the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance, Yannis Panagiotou, in the context discussion in the Committee on the annual budget of his Ministry for 2025.
After questions from the MPs, both DISY and AKEL, about the handling of the strike, Mr. Panagiotou stated that there has been no positive outcome so far in the efforts to find a field of agreement between employers and employees. He also said that "both sides must be characterized by responsibility" so as not to cause costs to the industry. In this context, he called on the MPs to address those who have influence, so that they can help find a solution.
In his statements after the meeting, and in response to a related question, the Minister of Labor stated that "unfortunately, no indications have been given so far, which can be considered satisfactory for an approach within a radius of agreement, so that a proposal will be submitted for which to assess that it will be accepted by both sides".
As the strike movements enter their fourth week, the Minister noted that "the potential of the Cypriot economy should not be pushed to the limit because of a dispute which could have already been resolved, due to its small size, and the problem that is created because of its perpetuation is much greater."
"According to the government plan, depending on the developments of today and the indications that we will have on both sides, we will decide on the way we will move immediately after, so that we can succeed next week in the ready-mixed concrete production sector to be able to operate normally, so that additional negative consequences do not arise for the construction industry and the Cypriot economy", noted Mr. Panagiotou.
He also pointed out that for the time being the employment of workers in the construction industry has not been affected, the number of registered unemployed in this sector has not changed in the month of November compared to the previous months, the terminations of employment in the sector have not changed, compared to the data available for the previous period. The Minister underlined that, in order to prevent these phenomena from starting and 40.000 workers being affected, due to the difference of approximately 500 workers and 30 employers, both sides must immediately demonstrate the necessary responsibility.
DISY Deputies, expressing concern over the ongoing strike mobilizations in various sectors of the economy, put forward again the proposal for the formulation of an integrated plan regarding the Implementation of Minimum Levels of Operation of Essential Services.
In her statements after the meeting, DISY Member of Parliament, Savia Orfanidou, stated that her party calls on "the Government to immediately start the consultation within the framework of the Labor Consultative Body with the aim of extending and practical implementation of the existing Agreement on the Labor Resolution Procedure Disputes in Essential Services to cover all involved".
AKEL Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labor Committee, Andreas Kavkalias, was asked to give his opinion on the appeal addressed by the Minister to the Members of Parliament. During his statements after the meeting, he noted that the executive power and the Minister of Labor have an institutional role of mediator in cases of labor disputes, from whom everyone expects to play this role, as he said.
"We are not indifferent in any of the cases in relation to the developments", continued Mr. Kavkalias and assured that to the extent they can contribute to the effort to resolve the crisis in the concrete industry, they act accordingly. "From there, we hope that we will have a result regarding the development of the strike measures in the next few days", he concluded.
Regarding the issue of the management of the strike, the EDEK Member of Parliament, Andreas Apostolou, was also placed during the debate in the Committee, stating that "we are all judged when we govern and not when we are in the opposition", while he expressed particular satisfaction for the work carried out by the Ministry of Labour.