OEB – CCCI for the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
The Executive Committees of the Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (OEB) and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI) have convened today 5/11/2025 in a joint session on the subject of the examination of the Draft “for a permanent agreement on the COLA” as submitted yesterday to the Social Partners by the Government.
After an exhaustive dialogue and an in-depth exchange of views, this Draft was judged by the two Houses to be unsatisfactory in its important provisions and therefore cannot be accepted and signed as it is.
The two Organizations emphasize their real desire to reach a permanent agreement on the issue of COLA, underlining that throughout the negotiation process they accept the need for 100% coverage of low wages for those entitled to COLA. At the same time, they emphasize the need to include in the operation of the system specific conditions and safeguards that will modernize it and at the same time ensure the competitiveness of businesses and the sustainability of the state payroll.
The draft includes provisions for the National Minimum Wage that are not related to the transitional agreements of 2017 and 2023 and as they are formulated, they cannot be accepted despite the stated position of principle of the employer side, which recognizes within the framework of the existing decree the inclusion of the COLAin the minimum wage determined every two years.
An element that acted as a catalyst in the final decision of the two Organizations was the last-minute introduction by the Welfare Government in the draft agreement, which calls on the employer side to authorize the Ministers of Finance and Labor “to implement measures to extend the COLAto more beneficiaries”.
OEB and CCCI remain at the negotiating table, committed to dialogue to find a mutually acceptable agreement.
5/11/2025
