Cyprus OEV attacks construction workers’ strike

Cyprus was strangely quiet on Tuesday as some 25,000 workers in the construction sector went on a 24-hour strike over a disagreement on the renewal of the collective agreement which expired on December 31, 2005.

Unions have warned that they will stage another strike, of 48 hours, on June 27-28 if no agreement is made.

However, the Employers and Industrialists’ Federation (OEV) has lashed out at the unions for refusing to discuss OEV’s proposals on subcontracting.

OEV’s industrial relations chief Michalis Antoniou told the Financial Mirror that “the unions refused to discuss anything unless we withdrew our proposal for the subcontracting element.”

The discussions therefore reached deadlock from the start.

He added that subcontracting in areas such as carpentry and plumbing has been part of agreements with unions since the 1950s.

OEV wanted to extend works that could be done by subcontractors and has offered to discuss safeguards for the workers involved.

“We hope that there will be real efforts to overcome the

deadlock. As the Employers’ Federation we deeply regret the current sitation. It is a setback to the efforts for the profression and for the economy as a whole,” he said.