The Cypriot woman is working but on substandard terms, with unregulated forms of work, with part-time work, with fixed-term contracts, she works massively with cheap labour, said PEA General Secretary Sotiroula Charalambous, adding that Cyprus has one of the highest pension gaps between men and women, based on statistics.
According to a statement by the PEO, in a speech at the organisation's Women's Day event on: "The services market as a means of downgrading the role of women in contemporary Cypriot society" at the entrance of Ledra Street, Nicosia, Ms. Charalambous said that for 165 years now, from 8 March 1857 to the present day, for those for whom equality is not exhausted in declarations and wishful thinking but is part of the need for freedom from all forms of discrimination and exploitation, part of the struggle for a fairer, more humane world, 8 March becomes a huge global demonstration uniting working men and women from all over the world.
Undoubtedly, he noted, this year's March 8th is overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and the loss of human lives. "The PEO joins the voices of millions of peace campaigners who demand an immediate end to the war and a solution through peaceful means within the principles of international law and with respect for the pre-existing Minsk agreements. Militarization and the escalation of armaments cannot be the solution, on the contrary, it aggravates the situation," he added.
We decided this year, on the occasion of International Women's Day, the leading day of struggle against discrimination, for equality in life and work, he said, to focus once again on a group of workers, the majority of whom are women, the workers in the programmes of the Ministry of Education.
"We have an obligation to keep this issue alive, first to these workers who for nine years now with tenacity, unity and militancy have been fighting for their right to be recognized as workers and because this group of workers is a group on which deregulation and cheap, rights-free work in all its glory is expressed," the PEA General Secretary noted.
She said that according to the data of the European Institute for Gender Equality published on 11 February, while Cyprus ranks 8th out of 27 in the index on participation in employment, it ranks 21st in the index on segregation and quality of work. This means, she pointed out, that women in Cyprus are working, but they are working in sub-standard conditions, with unregulated forms of work, part-time work, fixed-term contracts, working on a massive scale with cheap labour.
Ms. Charalambous said that for the thousands of workers in evening and all-day schools, in the State Training Institutes, Training Centres and Music Schools, of which about 90% are women, what the statistics record is their way of life and work for 9 years now. "The government, fully implementing the neoliberal anti-labour prescriptions that the cost of the crisis should be paid by the workers, by a political decision, has baptised these workers as self-employed. Literally, these colleagues went to sleep as employees and woke up as self-employed," he added.
Income, he said, "which, as the Minister of Education himself said in his answer to the Parliamentary Committee on Education in July 2021, is in the range of €200 per month on average."
Income, he said, "which, as the Minister of Education himself said in his answer to the Parliamentary Committee on Education in July 2021, is in the range of €200 per month on average. Insufficient coverage by the Social Security, since as self-insured they are not entitled to unemployment benefits during the period when the schemes are closed, nor to a leave allowance, and even though it is not their choice to be without work, but a decision imposed by the Ministry of Education."
Even now in the midst of the pandemic, if they fall ill due to coronavirus because of the employment status imposed on them, he continued, out of the ten days of forced absence from work they would only be paid for one and with the reduction in quarantine they are not entitled to any. "And this whole employment framework of lack of rights will eventually lead to low contributions and low pensions for women, which is again confirmed by statistics as Cyprus has one of the highest pension gaps between men and women," she added.
Lack of rights, lack of pensions, lack of life, she said. Charalambous, since job insecurity and insecurity and the feeling of professional devaluation that is created among these workers deepens gender inequalities.
"Otherwise, today too, the government will hear solemn and laudatory words from the government about the importance of women's employment in promoting equality. At the same time they are denying thousands of women who are employed to be called wage-earners, even defiantly ignoring the decision of the Administrative Court which ruled that the decision of the T.C.A. with regard to the insurance status of these persons is erroneous and misguided," he said.
Charalambous said that "the stubborn refusal of the Ministry of Education to restore these workers to the status of employers confirms that the Government is also part of the philosophy of cheap and rights-free labour. It is estimated that for every three workers in the public, semi-public and local government sectors, one is employed either through the purchase of services or on fixed-term contracts. And when the government, the state sector behaves in this way, why shouldn't the private sector behave in the same way?" he asked."
"The PEO and our guild PACEY-PEO have stood and will continue to stand by the workers who work by purchasing services. We will continue to fight for the fundamental and self-evident right of every person whose work is dependent to be called a worker and to have all the rights that this title entails."
Today on this important day for workers, the day we commemorate the struggles of generations of women and men against discrimination, for equality, she said. Charalambous, we want to express the appreciation of the PEO for the struggle that you have been fighting with unprecedented tenacity all these years, this struggle concerns us all, it is a struggle for work with dignity and rights, it is a struggle for bread and roses.
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