The Ministry of Finance rejected the request of the Independent Union of Cyprus Public Employees (ASDYK) for a salary adjustment of the salaries of public employees, who were adversely affected due to the salary cuts and the freezing of increments and promotions in the years 2012-2016.
ASDYK had sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, dated 25 November 2021, expressing its request for salary redress for all civil servants, while focusing its attention on low-paid civil servants in salary scales A1-A7.
"A large group of officials in the A2-A5-A7 scales are expected to remain stuck in the A2 scale and to move up to A5 as it stands today will require a total of 18 years (13 steps in A2 + 5 years of freezing) and a total of 26 years to move up to A7," the guild said in a statement.
This is why they asked that "officials be promoted from A2 to A5 when they reach the lower level of A5 (in 14 years, including the 5-year freeze) and from A5 to A7 when they reach the lower level of A7, i.e. in 22 years, including the 5-year freeze".
However, the response from the Treasury, in a letter dated 7 February 2022, was negative, as fiscal conditions do not allow it[/B], as stated.
"Low-paid employees as well as all civil servants have seen their salary cut to bail out the Banks, which were solely responsible for the financial crisis. Ten years on, it cannot be said with certainty that they have been rescued. But we can say with certainty that civil servants, especially those in grades A2-A5-A7, have experienced a reduction in their salaries to 2010 levels and have been experiencing a fixation on the same scale for years," the guild said, expressing its dissatisfaction with the Ministry's negative response to its request.
Finally, they note that this demand is not only raised by members of the ASDYK, but by all civil servants and call on the Ministry of Finance "to listen to the messages of the workers, instead of easily rejecting fair demands."
Source: KYPE
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