Employer’s demand for reduction in minimum wage directed against most vulnerable group of workers
Written statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 29th July 2016, Nicosia
AKEL calls on the political parties and government to declare their position with regards the new unacceptable demand submitted by the employers, as expressed by the General Director of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEBE) for a reduction in the minimum wage by 20%.
We reiterate that this demand – to put it mildly – is unacceptable, since it is directed against the working people who in recent years have seen their income decline dramatically, with our country maintaining the worst record in terms of reduction in wages and widening income and social inequalities. This demand however becomes even more unacceptable and provocative because it is directed against the most vulnerable group of working people, given that as it is known that the minimum wage concerns certain occupations only, where workers are, as a rule, not organized in trade unions, and therefore without any substantial protection whatsoever.
