Pessimism, at least at this stage, for reaching a consensual agreement on the ATA, was expressed by the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Kyriakos Kousios, who on Wednesday addressed the ICFTU Pancyprian Conference, which took place at the Publicist's House in Nicosia. Kousios asked the social partners to engage in dialogue "with consensual approaches."
Specifically, speaking about the ATA, the Labour Minister said that he cannot be optimistic, at least at this stage, about reaching a consensual agreement. From the floor of the IOC conference, he called on the social partners to engage in a dialogue that would result in "a mutually acceptable solution with consensual approaches". The conditions require the maintenance of industrial peace, he stressed.
In addition, the Labour Minister noted that in the first half of 2022, more than 4,000 inspections were carried out by the Labour Relations Department to check compliance with the terms of employment and labour legislation in general. He added that the Inspectorate had conducted, in the first nine months of 2022, more than 5,000 targeted inspections for undeclared work and to ensure the rights of workers. It said there had been a "remarkable reduction" in the rate of undeclared work, which, according to inspection data, was estimated at 27 per cent in 2009 and by September 2022 a reduction in this rate to around 5 per cent had been achieved.
According to data from the Cyprus Statistical Service, Kousios said, the unemployment rate in Cyprus in the second quarter of 2022 has decreased by 1.6% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021 and stands at 6.8%. "In order to verify our commitment to modernise and complete the legislation and the institutional framework, a number of draft bills have been prepared, the purpose of which is the harmonisation of the Republic of Cyprus with European Directives", he noted.
In his address, the Minister described the IOC's contribution to the labour affairs of Cyprus as "unquestionable and long-lasting, for 60 years". The struggles of the ICFTU, in cooperation with the other trade unions of the country, he noted, "have contributed significantly to the improvement of labour relations, tripartite cooperation, the harmonisation of new European employment policies, the improvement of the social security system and cooperation for the adoption of a minimum wage in Cyprus".
For his part, Iosif Anastasiou, President of the IOC, said in his speech that "the ATA should not only not be abolished or weakened but should be extended to cover not only minimum wage workers, but also those who are currently not covered by collective agreement regulations."
Source: CNA
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