Unions agree in principle to improved collective terms for hotel workers

Trade union Sek announced on Saturday that it and other unions had agreed in principle to new, improved collective terms for hotel workers.

The union said it had held “last ditch” meetings with Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou on Friday night, and that “after months of intensive negotiations and the rejection of two mediation proposals, an agreement in principle was agreed on the renewal of the collective agreement.”

Panayiotou had presented the improved terms to stakeholders, including trade unions Sek and Peo, the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (Sek), and hoteliers’ association Pasyxe, and found unanimous agreement.

Sek said the next step is for the agreement to be presented to collective bodies, which will discuss it before deciding on whether or not to approve it and then sign the new agreement.

Once that has been decided, a date will be set for the agreement to be signed, with Sek saying this will “strengthen labour stability in this critical sector of the economy.”

The unions had threatened to go on strike as recently as October 25 after rejecting an earlier proposal submitted by Panayiotou, with Sek secretary-general Sotiroula Charalambous saying at the time that the initial proposal was “very far from employees’ expectations”.

Panayiotou had remained optimistic throughout, expressing his belief that “both sides will again show responsibility and that we will collectively manage to ensure labour peace”.

Employers had accepted the earlier proposal, with Stek chairman Akis Vavlitis saying at the time that his association would not be willing to engage in further negotiations, though he was eventually walked back on this matter and the new proposal passed.