The government’s selective reading of statistics on the average wage can’t change the harsh reality
Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 11th February 2020, Nicosia
DISY and the government, by a selective reading of statistics, draw the conclusion that wages are going up and our country’s working people are prospering.
Working people for sure don’t want anyone to brief them about the reality they are actually experiencing, the prevailing situation in labour relations, wages, the high cost of living, rents, installments and fuel.
Working people, households and our country’s young people know this reality very well.
No matter how much the government and DISY may try, no matter what selective figures they choose to quote, they cannot change the sad reality that tens of thousands of our compatriots are suffering.
For that reason, they should look at the statistics regarding the average disposable income of households, which reveal what is really left for families to live on.
They should look at the number of Cypriots who are below the poverty line, the number of working poor, the percentage of those in part-time and precarious employment without rights and with poor pay.
They should also refer to the number of new workers who are forced to enter a regime of self-employability and purchase of services; to the disheartened unemployed, namely, those who have stopped signing on as unemployed, because they had lost all hope of finding a job; to the young people who are left to search for work abroad.
This is the reality for the many, which is made even worse by the anti-social policies being implemented by the government ruling forces.
Anyone who wants to defend working people can prove it by voting in favor of the Bills submitted by AKEL in Parliament on labour relations and rights. Which policies serve the many and those of the privileged few are judged in practice.
