The Cyprus Workers’ Confederation (SEK) is pushing for a fundamental overhaul of the strategy governing the employment of third-country workers, calling it one of its top priorities.
SEK raised the issue directly with President Nikos Christodoulides at a recent meeting with its General Secretariat and said it would press the matter again, more forcefully, through Social Dialogue, seeking substantive changes to restore balance to the labour market.
The union argues that continued reluctance to reset the rules around third-country employment is keeping exploitative conditions in place, eroding workers’ dignity and entrenching unfair competition.
SEK is calling for a transparent, credible system to assess the labour market’s actual needs, to stop unjustified approvals being granted in the first place. It cites Department of Employment figures showing that 24% of approvals go unused.
For that reason, the union wants more rigorous, substantive vetting of work-permit applications, along with the reinstatement of Technical Advisory Committees, on condition that collective agreements are applied.
Its central aims are equal treatment for all workers, protection of labour rights, and an end to exploitative practices. SEK also wants public contracts tied to compliance with collective agreements, so the state stops rewarding practices that undermine legality and decent working conditions.
The union says serious cases of worker exploitation continue to be recorded, with people living in unacceptable conditions in or next to their workplaces, and wages in many cases falling well short of collective agreement rates.
SEK points to the recent events in Xylophagou, the continued practice of subletting workers, undeclared and under-declared labour, and illegal employment as evidence that the labour market needs urgent, decisive reform.
The union welcomes the increase in the number of labour inspectors as a positive step, but says this alone is not enough. It is calling for clear political will and concrete decisions to restore legal compliance, protect human dignity and ensure fair competition in the labour market.
SEK says it will not accept unilateral measures that undermine the quality of work, and warns that if the authorities fail to act, it will respond by publicly naming specific practices and the parties behind them.
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