Actors and institutions in Cyprus

Notes: * Proportion of employees who are members of a trade union. ** Trade (labour) union membership of employees derived for the total (labour) union membership and adjusted, if necessary, for trade (labour) union members outside the active, dependent and employed labour force (i.e. retired workers, self-employed workers, students and unemployed people). n.a., not applicable; OECD/AIAS ICTWSS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State Intervention and Social Pacts.

Sources: Eurostat [lfsa_eegaed_custom_766159]; OECD and AIAS (2021)

Main trade union confederations and federations

In Cyprus, the number of members of a trade union is not considered an element of representativeness. In this context, the table ‘Main trade union confederations and federations’ includes trade union organisations that are relatively small in terms of membership but are considered influential in collective bargaining.

In addition to the three peak national organisations – the Democratic Labour Federation of Cyprus (Δημοκρατική Εργατική Ομοσπονδία Κύπρου, DEOK), the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (Παγκύπρια Εργατική Ομοσπονδία, PEO) and the Cyprus Employees Confederation (Συνομοσπονδία Εργαζομένων Κύπρου, SEK) – and despite notable differences between the private and the public sectors, the table also includes three union organisations that are active in the public sector: the Organisation of Greek Secondary Education Teachers (Οργάνωση Ελλήνων Λειτουργών Μέσης Εκπαίδευσης Κύπρου, OELMEK), the Pancyprian Union of Public Servants (Παγκύπρια Συντεχνία Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων, PASYDY) and the Pancyprian Organisation of Greek Teachers (Παγκύπρια Οργάνωση Ελλήνων Δασκάλων, POED). The reason for including these three organisations is that they correspond largely to the classification of central organisations, mainly in relation to their capacity to influence the outcomes of collective bargaining. For the same reason, the Union of Cyprus Banking Employees (Ενωση Τραπεζικών Υπαλλήλων Κύπρου, ETYK) is also included.

Finally, the table also includes the Pancyprian Federation of Independent Trade Union Organisations (Παγκύπρια Ομοσπονδία Ανεξάρτητων Συνδικαλιστικών Οργανώσεων, POASO; previously POAS – it changed its name in 2020). POAS was established in 1956. The federation unites independent employee organisations, mainly those active in state-owned enterprises, and has an observer status in the LAB. Until the middle of the 2000s, POAS was struggling to survive. However, in 2007, after eight independent unions – operating in public enterprises – joined the federation, POAS emerged again as a key player. It further enhanced its position in 2020, when the Pancyprian Nurse Trade Union (Παγκύπρια Συντεχνία Νοσηλευτών, PASYNO) and the Independent Union of Cyprus’s Public Employees (Ανεξάρτητη Συντεχνία Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων Κύπρου, ASDYK) also joined the federation. POASO member unions are signatory parties of various collective agreements in the broader public sector.

Main trade union confederations and federations

Source: Trade Union Registrar

At organisational level, there have been no notable developments since 2011 regarding the organisation and the role of the trade unions. During the same period, there were no legislative developments that had a direct impact on the role of the social partners in social dialogue, collective bargaining and industrial conflicts.

The most recent relevant developments are as follows.

1. ASDYK was established in November 2014 as a result of a split from PASYDY. ASDYK was registered as a trade union in January 2015. In contrast with PASYDY’s organisational structure, the new union’s leadership has a three-year term and a two-term limit. Additionally, any leadership official who gets a promotion will automatically resign their post in the union, while union officials will not receive any payment. As of March 2017, the union had 240 members, mostly public employees of a younger age.

2. The Cyprus Trade Union Equality (Παγκύπρια Συντεχνία Ισότητα) was registered in December 2017. The union aims to organise people with non-permanent employment relationships in the broader public sector and, at the end of 2017, it had 360 members.

3. Two trade unions, the Cyprus Building, Wood, Mine and General Workers Trade Union (Συντεχνία Οικοδόμων, Ξυλουργών, Μεταλλωρύχων και Γενικών Εργατών Κύπρου) and the Cyprus Metal Workers, Mechanics and Electricians Trade Union (Συντεχνία Εργατών Μετάλλου, Μηχανοτεχνιτών και Ηλεκτροτεχνιτών Κύρου) (both belonging to PEO), finalised their merger in 2022; the process began in late 2021.

4. The Independent Trade Union of Technical and Labour Staff of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (Ανεξάρτητη Συντεχνία Τεχνικού και Εργατικού Προσωπικού Αρχής Κύπρου) was formed in 2021, while the Cyprus Association of Firemen (Σύνδεσμος Πυροσβεστών Κύπρου, trade union) was formed in 2022.

5. The Pancyprian Trade Union of Government Pharmacists (Παγκύπρια Συντεχνία Κυβερνητικών Φαρμακοποιών) disbanded in 2021 and the Free Workers and Employees Trade Union of the Cyprus Petroleum Storage Company (Ελεύθερη Συντεχνία Εργατουπαλλήλων Κυπριακής Εταιρείας Αποθήκευσης Πετρελαιοειδών, a member of SEK) disbanded in 2022.

Membership data for 2016–2019, as presented in the preceding table, indicate that the country’s two peak trade union confederations, SEK and PEO, are recovering from the significant membership loss during the recent economic crisis. However, their membership remains far below the pre-crisis level of 2008. Although the data from 2020 onwards are incomplete, it appears that, in general, trade union membership is remaining relatively stable.

Employer organisations

About employer representation

As far as employer organisations are concerned, to date, the structure, organisation and operation of the employer organisations in Cyprus have not been studied and examined in a systematic way.

Most references in this regard are contained in literature that either examines issues of labour law and industrial relations in general or approach the issue of the operation of employer organisations historically.

The two national peak employer organisations are the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Κυπριακό Βιομηχανικό και Εμπορικό Επιμελητήριο, CCCI) and the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (Ομοσπονδία Εργοδοτών και Βιομηχάνων, OEB). There are no systematic data available regarding employer organisation density. Nevertheless, both the CCCI and the OEB have reported that there is a clear trend of an increasing number of members and a unique rallying of members. In the view of the OEB, the new economic situation that has emerged as a result of the economic crisis, the insecurity of enterprises in this new environment and the urgent need to find solutions have led more enterprises to seek means of representation and protection of their interests. In this context, losses in membership have been offset by new members joining. A noteworthy development in recent years is the dissolution in December 2015 of the Cyprus Bankers Employers’ Association (Κυπριακός Εργοδοτικός Σύνδεσμος Τραπεζών, KEST). KEST was dissolved on the decision of its final remaining members soon after major banks, such as the Bank of Cyprus and Cooperative Central Bank, left the association. Now, the ETYK must negotiate collective agreements with each bank separately.

The Trade Union Registrar (which is also responsible for employer organisations and business associations) testified that, in 2022, there was an increase in the interest and the mobilisation of employers to form new organisations; in fact, the most significant development was the initiation of a process to reinstate KEST in 2022, a process that was finalised in December 2022, eight years after its disbanding.

Employer organisation membership and density, 2012–2022

Note: * Percentage of employees working in an establishment that is a member of any employer organisation that is involved in collective bargaining.

Sources: Eurofound and Cedefop (2020); OECD and AIAS (2021)

Main employer organisations

In addition to the CCCI and the OEB, the table ‘Main employer organisations and confederations’ also includes two sectoral employer associations that are influential in terms of collective bargaining: the Federation of Associations of Building Contractors Cyprus (Ομοσπονδία Συνδέσμων Εργολάβων Οικοδομών Κύπρου, OSEOK), which is a member of the OEB, and the Cyprus Hotel Association (Παγκύπριος Σύνδεσμος Ξενοδόχων, PASYXE), which is a member of the CCCI. It also includes the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (Σύνδεσμος Τουριστικών Επιχειρήσεων Κύπρου, STEK), which is a member of the OEB.

Main employer organisations and confederations

Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation

In Cyprus, although the law does not institutionalise social dialogue bodies, there is a long tradition of social dialogue. The implementation of almost all proposals and policies regarding industrial relations is the result of social dialogue between the government, employer organisations and trade unions. However, social partners have been voicing more complaints in the last few years over unilateral decisions and initiatives of the government.

On a practical level, cooperation between the three parties is achieved partly through the operation of technical committees and other bodies of tripartite representation, but mainly through the representation of the stakeholders in the LAB within the MLSI, which is considered to be the most important mechanism of tripartite representation. In the past, every governmental initiative was subjected to exhaustive consultations in the LAB, but, in recent years, a higher number of legal measures have been processed unilaterally by the government without any tripartite negotiation.

The LAB, as the sole body for social dialogue, is occasionally subject to criticism. The main criticism is that social dialogue representation is restricted to a very small number of trade unions, at confederation level only, but without the participation of all confederations. In this context, all other trade unions are practically excluded from the official bodies of tripartite representation and the LAB in particular. Specifically, on behalf of the employers there are three representatives from the CCCI and three from the OEB, while on behalf of the trade unions there is one representative from DEOK, three representatives from PEO and three representatives from SEK. However, depending on the issue in question, representatives from other trade unions or employer associations might be invited on an ad hoc basis, but mainly participating as observers. The LAB was not convened regularly during the recent economic crisis (2012–2015). Since 2018, the Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance has been resorting to consultations with social partners within the context of the LAB more frequently.

In terms of the issues covered, there is a relatively limited social dialogue agenda and there is a lack of initiative on behalf of the social partners to expand into new areas, such as economic and monetary issues. In the context of the European Semester, for example, the Cyprus National Reform Programme is mainly being prepared by the ministries and other public agencies involved. The involvement of social partners is minimal and limited to the initial stage of the preparation process. Trade unions in particular have, during the recent economic crisis (2012–2015), also criticised the government for committing to various far-reaching agreements with its international creditors (the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank) without conducting any consultations with the country’s social partners. Trade unions see such practices as an outright attack on the existing system of industrial relations, which is based on the principle of tripartite collaboration.

After the accession of Cyprus to the European Union, the National Employment Committee (NEC) was created. The NEC has a tripartite composition and is chaired by the Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance. The NEC played an advisory role on issues related to the implementation of the European employment policy, the performance of the labour market, the modernisation of the Public Employment Service, the monitoring of the National Action Plan for Employment and the reformation of the employment framework of third-country nationals. The NEC has reportedly not been active since the summer of 2015.

It should be noted that the social partners participate in almost all policymaking organisations, such as the Human Resources Development Authority (HRDA) and various other committees and councils of minor importance.

Main tripartite bodies

Workplace-level employee representation

Cyprus has a weak tradition in terms of the existing structures for employee representation at establishment level. In this context, the main representation structures to date are the trade union representation and safety committees, while recently established structures such as the European works councils do not seem particularly viable.

In the framework of its mediating role, the MLSI encourages the social partners to promote the establishment of information and consultation (I&C) bodies. As a result, a number of collective agreements at both sectoral and enterprise levels have now incorporated a special clause that refers to social partners’ intention to establish I&C bodies in accordance with the provisions of Law 78(I)/2005 on establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees. However, so far it has not resulted in any practical and meaningful measures. At the same time, although the social partners agree that the adoption of Law 78(I)/2005 is important as far as it lays down employees’ right to information and consultation on a wide range of important issues, they are not motivated to introduce I&C arrangements, as, in their opinion, I&C rights are safeguarded by the industrial relations system itself.

It should be noted that safety committees exist in establishments with 10 or more employees, as provided for by the legislation on health and safety at work (Law 89(I)/1996) and the relevant regulations on safety committees (Regulatory Administrative Act 134/1997).