Negotiations to end the labour crisis in the cement works have reached a deadlock, with aftershocks to be felt across the economy, Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou said on Thurdsay.

Trade unions Sek, Peo and Deok met in Limassol and announced the workers’ unwavering determination to push on with their strike.

Panayiotou led a new meeting on Thursday with the employers and trade unions in a bid to bridge the gap between the two sides who would ultimately sign a collective agreement.

He added that his ministry had drafted a plan to manage the situation.

“It seems that the distance between the positions the employers’ side accepted, which are included in the mediation proposal submitted and then rejected by the trade union side – which returned to its initial positions – is large,” he said, adding that finding a solution would be “difficult”.

The two sides were asked to reevaluate their stance and explore other options that may be helpful in restoring normality, he said.

Panayiotou said he would be contacting the two sides later on Thursday to determine whether there was any prospect for a conclusion, however he did not believe a positive outcome was possible at the moment.

“Unfortunately, despite recent efforts, it has not yet been possible to formulate satisfactory convergences, which would allow reaching an agreement to renew the sectoral agreement,” Panayiotou added.

He said collective responsibility and mutual concessions were necessary to reach an agreement, adding that the impact of the ongoing strike would increase as time passed.

Trade union representatives said the workers were demanding their “self-evident” rights and did not rule out furthering their measures.

After the meeting, the ready-mix cement workers marched from Peo’s offices in Limassol to Enaerios pier on the busy seafront.

Sek representative Stelios Tsiapoutis said the main demand was overtime compensation, on the basis of the sector’s Cyprus-wide collective agreement.

Peo trade unionist Michalis Papanikolaou called on those putting pressure on the workers to turn to the employers who were violating what had been agreed. “Then work will resume immediately,” he added.

Deok’s Stelios Efstratiou said the workers made sacrifices during the 2013 economic crisis and the employers should return some of those concessions to support the workers.