Speech by the General Secretary of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou at the event marking the 90th anniversary of the Building Workers Union affiliated to the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO)

 

15 May 2026, PEO Conference Hall

AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Tonight we are celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Cyprus Building, Wood, Mine and General Workers Trade Union (PEO). Tonight, the Building Worker’s Union honors the past, present, and future of the people who built Cyprus. Those who built the country through their hard labour and toil, but also those who stepped forward and waged struggles for all workers.

Tonight we honor nine decades of struggle and service of the Building Worker’s Union.

We honor a long historical path of struggle that has been written by thousands of ordinary people, anonymous figures who lived on the margins of society – until that is they decided to get organized, march forward and take the lead in struggles.

We honor generations upon generations of workers who laboured under the sun, amidst the dust, on scaffoldings and at construction sites, building not only houses, roads, and cities, but also dignity, rights and social progress.

The history of the Building Worker’s Union of PEO is a story written with toil and hardship, with sweat and the shedding of blood. It is the story of the many to whom nothing was ever granted for free. It is a history written with one and only resolve: to organize, rally their forces and to collectively assert what they were entitled to: an eight-hour working day, social insurance, safety at the workplace, collective bargaining agreements, and humane working conditions.

The struggle was unequal because the powerful interests, the ruling class, the various elites, the loan sharks, and establishment forged an alliance between them who grew rich by exploiting worker’s  labour.

They were victorious not only because they believed in the just cause of their struggle, but because, in the face of the powerful forces of reaction, they struggled united, in solidarity, determined, and above all, in an organized way.

In the face of exploitation, insecurity, and injustice, they stood their ground and proved that when working people are organized, they can succeed in their assertions. This conclusion, substantiated thousands of times by the domestic and global experience of class struggles, remains fully relevant in today’s era. An era in which the ruling class, with the many means and capabilities at its disposal, is trying to undermine and trivialize the importance of the organization of working people and trade union struggles.

Tonight we honor all those who have fought in the ranks of the Construction Workers Union.

Who laid its foundations, who raised its standing and recognition in the hearts and minds of workers.

Who withstood all the pressure, threats, intimidation, imprisonment, and deprivations.

Who were not intimidated by strike breakers, who did not buckle under hardship, who did not back down from their demands and assertions.

Tonight we honor the unsung heroes—the workers working, striving and struggling daily to make ends meet. Those who get up before dawn, who work in the blazing sun and freezing cold, who earn their living with hands dirty but their consciousness clean.

Tonight we honor a path of struggle spanning decades, where the past interconnects with the present. A history that points the way to the future. In an era where everything is changing rapidly, where conditions create new challenges, it is only natural for one to pose the following question:

Are Trade Unions needed today?

Do working people need to get organised today?

The answer is an unequivocal yes.

Today, perhaps more than ever.

Because today, everything that was won in the past through fiercely-fought struggles is under attack:

Workers’ rights.

Dignified wages and pensions.

Safe working conditions.

Collective bargaining agreements.

All these things for which your Union is fighting for at the workplace, all these things that AKEL places continuously at the top of its political agenda, are a matter of life and death for working people; they are an urgent necessity for workers and society as a whole.

That is precisely why it is important that AKEL emerges stronger in next Sunday’s parliamentary election.

So that there is a strong, steadfast force in Parliament fighting for workers.

So that society can hope that in the House of Representatives there is a force that defends it in deeds, not just in words. And I am certain that once again, the construction workers of Cyprus, together with their Trade Union, will fulfil their duty by working and voting for AKEL – Left – Social Alliance.

Tonight we honor a comrade, a fellow fighter, and a friend who has worthily, dynamically, and effectively led the Building Worker’s Union for many years: Michalis Papanikolaou. I know that Michalis doesn’t like long or grandiose speeches. He is a man of action, not of words. He is a comrade serving our cause, a comrade not guided by any self-promotion.

I will say just this: the fact that everyone here in this hall and many more out there on the construction sites see him as a comrade, as one of them, the force that stood by their side, the voice that shouted with them to assert their rights, the calm strength that took the lead at the forefront when needed—that is the greatest recognition.

My dear friend and comrade Michalis, I wish you all the very best; I know you are retiring, but you are not retiring from the struggle. Your experience is invaluable, and your presence is a reminder that the only lost battles are those that are not waged! And you have always been at the forefront of the struggle!

Dear friends,

Everything the construction workers have won and everything they want to win has been and remains the result of collective organization.

This is also one of the greatest achievements of PEO: it gave building workers a voice and strength!

A force that won gins and rights for the working people, a force that continues to this day to win for the people!

Best wishes to the Building Workers Union on its anniversary!

Happy anniversary to the Building Workers Trade Union!