AKEL on serious issues raised about foreign worker’s conditions
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 12th November 2020, Nicosia
The CYPRA slaughterhouse case has raises serious issues concerning the living and working conditions of dozens of foreign workers.
We of course stress that in the cases of illegal employment, working people – whether Cypriot or foreign – who are working to make a living are not the ones breaking the law. It’s the employer who is breaking the law. After all, it is well-known that a section of employers deliberately choose to employ foreign workers in an illegal and undeclared work status, as this makes workers more vulnerable to accepting humiliating wages and terms of employment.
The failure of the state and the competent services to carry out adequate and effective controls at the workplaces to stamp out employer illegalities and arbitrariness, but also during the period of the pandemic to ensure the observance of health protocols by companies, is obvious. This is not the first time such incidents have been identified in big companies employing foreign workers. The same also occurred last April, with the government pledged to carry out more intensive controls on businesses, something which by judging the results doesn’t appear to be the case.
