On September 11, a general strike is planned in Cyprus. This was announced by trade unions of sec, peo, Pasidi and Deok. The reason is that they could not agree with the Ministry of Labor and representatives of employers on automatic salaries (Ata).
The meeting of representatives of trade unions, employers and the Ministry of Labor was held on September 8. On it, employers refused to revise the amount of benefits for the increase in the cost of life and rejected the offer of the Ministry of Labor to introduce a comprehensive manual for all industries. For this reason, the trade unions called on all the workers to take part in the strike on September 11 from 11:00 to 14:00. Parents of the students have already received a notification from school administrations that on September 11 it would be necessary to take children from lessons at 11:00, that is, at the time of the start of the strike.
We recall the largest Cypriot strikes over the past 100 years
Only two universal strikes were held in Cyprus, in 1944 and in 2023 - and in both cases the allowance for the increase in the cost of life appeared.
On February 29, 1944, the PSU trade union decided on a universal strike after the British administration rejected workers' requirements to increase the salary. It was decided to spend the strike the next day, 1,500 workers took part in it. However, the administration remained deaf to the requirements of the workers. The workers' strike lasted 13 days, and on March 14 it received a universal character: cafes and restaurants did not work, the media went on strike. The strike lasted until June 9, that is, more than three months. As a result, the British administration went to serious concessions: the introduction of family benefits, a ten -day paid vacation and illness due to a period of up to one month, social security, bonus payments upon retirement, a mandatory notice of dismissal for a week. It was after this strike that the automatic indexation of salaries appeared, which compensates for the increase in the cost of life, which remains a stumbling block so far.
The second general strike began on January 26, 2023, 79 years after the first. The reason was the very allowance for the increase in the cost of life. 75% of Cypriot workers took part in the strike. The strike covered the public sector and semi -state organizations, airports and ports, schools, transport companies, hospitals, services of citizens, mail and municipalities, and the media. All these organizations were paralyzed for three days. Bastulars demanded a complete restoration of benefits to increase the cost of life.
Not only universal
Other large protests of the workers were also in Cyprus.
In 1948, three strikes were held, which lasted almost a year: the metallurgists of the Cyprus metal company (early January-mid-May), miners on asbesting mines (August 2-31) and builders (August 27-December 12) were held out. All three strikes provoked a very stringent reaction of the administration of the island. The striking was arrested, tortured, put in prison, threatened with dismissal.
After finding the independence of the independence, the strike did not go into the past, but remained a legal way for workers to express their dissatisfaction with salaries and working conditions. On June 26, 1963, teachers did not go to work who demanded to increase their retirement age from 55 to 60 years. This requirement was explained by the desire to stay in the workplace longer, maintaining a full salary (which was higher than the pension). The strike was repeated in August and in November. As a result, the teachers have achieved that the authorities listened to their requirements.
In 1968, the teachers again went to the strike, demanding an increase in salaries to the level adopted in Greece. At Cyprus, the teacher then received 60 pounds a month, and in Greece - 114 pounds (in terms of the rate of that time). However, the authorities managed to defeat the unity of the protesters by holding separate negotiations with each trade union. As a result, all the striking received a deduction from their salary in four days of absence in the workplace.
In 1971, the teachers again took to the streets, demanding the payment of the 13th salary, which they eventually managed to achieve.
In 2013, during the financial crisis, builders held one of the largest strikes. It lasted from January 24 to February 13. They protested against the reduction of salaries, layoffs and hiring of cheap labor from other countries. The workers managed to achieve the signing of a collective agreement in their sector.
In the summer of 2018, strikes again affected the scope of education. The discontent of teachers by the government was so strong that these events went down in history under the name "Hot Summer 2018". It all started on June 11, when the general auditor sent a letter to the Ministry of Education demanding to reduce expenses. On July 2, the ministry decided to listen to the recommendations, which caused the anger of the teaching community. Two days later, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposals of the Ministry of Education to optimize expenses, increase the working time of teachers and cancel the time allocated for trade union activities. Thousands of teachers went to rallies. The demonstrations repeated on August 28, after the failure of negotiations between the president and trade unions. The number of protesters reached 10,000 people. Only after the teachers decided not to return to jobs within two days at the beginning of the school year, the government compromised.
Another recent large strike began on November 5, 2024, when workers of concrete plants left their places. The reason for the strikes was the coordination of new collective agreements. The Ministry of Labor took one month to resolve the conflict. The consequence was the delays in construction throughout the country.
The text is prepared based on the materials of REPORTER and "FILELELEFTEROROC"
