By Nikola Petros Kaparti
The mediation efforts of the Labour Minister are entering the final straight, Kyriakos Kousios, with trade unions and employers' organisations for the signing of a new agreement between the social partners on ATA.
The achievement of Mr. Kousios' pledge to reach an agreement by Christmas seems more achievable than ever before, with both sides putting "water in their wine" in order to give room for a new agreement before the New Year.
In morning statements on state radio, the Labour Minister said that two meetings have been scheduled. One will take place on December 21 where Kousios will hold a separate meeting with the trade unions and the second will take place a day later (December 22) in which the two sides will sit at the same table to listen to the Labour Minister's mediation proposal.
Indeed, Kousios said that "immediately after the meetings we will see what the outcome will be", suggesting that there will be announcements either that an agreement has been reached or that a stalemate has been declared.
The fact that he will only see the trade unions separately before the joint meeting may also be due to the fact that the employers' organisations have made a significant retreat from their hard-line stance, until recently, on the complete abolition of the ATA and now appear open to discussing the possibility of leaving the agreement as it stands.
However, as mentioned in a previous Cyprus Times report, during the joint meeting of the social partners Mr. Kousios is expected to put on the table a proposal that will be mutually acceptable to both parties. This proposal is expected to provide for the retention of the ATA at 50% for a period of two years and a dialogue to reach a new agreement by the end of this period.
The proposal will also include a provision to restore the ATA tariff to its full level (100%), in the absence of a new agreement, by the end of these two years, in order to put pressure on both sides to engage in a constructive dialogue.
It is recalled that last week and this week there was a short break in Mr Kousios' consultations with both sides due to his absence and that of trade union officials abroad. Something which was also indicated by the Labour Minister in his statements today.
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