Cyprus-Forum.com

[georgios100]

I am with the impression that all employees in Cyprus must be members of one of the labor unions (SEK, PEO) on the island.
Is this mandatory?
If yes, Why?

[supporttheunderdog]

I work and am NOT in a Union -

See article today in Today's Cyprus mail about the damage the unions have supposedly done.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/rauf-denktas ... r/20120115

I AM FED up of hearing politicians, hacks, businessmen and union bosses repeating, at every opportunity, that the Cyprus trade union movement had always displayed a sense of responsibility.

There is no bigger lie than this, but it has been repeated so often and for so long that everyone seems to believe it (it is the Hitler formula). The truth is that the trade union movement showed a sense of responsibility once, in the history of the country - after the devastation caused by the 1974 invasion - and we are still hearing about it 37 year later.

In the ensuing 37 years they have been unrelentingly irresponsible, self-interested and greedy, ensuring the closing down of important sectors of the economy like manufacturing and transit trade as well as jeopardising the future of tourism.

It is thanks to the sense of responsibility and public spirit of the trade union movement that Kyproulla is one of the most expensive countries in the EU to eat out or to have a coffee and households pay the highest electricity bills.

Thanks to the sense of responsibility of the unions we have the best-paid and laziest public employees in the world, whom the state can no longer afford to pay, highly-paid and lazy teachers who do not give a damn about their students and thousands of businesses struggling to stay afloat.

Our unions have never been responsible after 1974. They have been well-behaved - not calling strikes or taking disruptive action - only because all their demands, no matter how unreasonable and irresponsible, were always satisfied, in the name of social consensus. Their members received big annual pay rises, in excess of productivity increases, absurd allowances, 13th and 14th salaries etc.

And now everyone is complaining about the unaffordable cost of living, which is conveniently blamed on profiteering. It occurs to nobody that Kyproulla is so expensive because our trade union movement always displayed a sense of responsibility in ensuring sky-rocketing costs. So much so that we have inflation even in a recession.

[CBBB]

It is not mandatory to join a union, although in some fields it is difficult to avoid it.

[georgios100]

Obviously, these labor unions monopolize the supply of labor, the result would be high labor cost, work to rule situation and big fat salaries for the union bosses.
The problem becomes worse because these unions are politically oriented... why?

Even worse if every worker must be a member... WTF is going on here?

[kurupetos]

I am with the impression that all employees in Cyprus must be members of one of the labor unions (SEK, PEO) on the island.
Is this mandatory?
If yes, Why?

Those are unions based on one's political affiliation, but there are also unions based on the nature of employment, like PASYDY (public sector) and ETIK (Banks).

[georgios100]

What does the EU rules say about all this?
Does EU regulate labor laws or unions?
If yes, why Cyprus is not complying?