Trade unions have called a general strike for September 11 after failed talks for the full implementation of the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA).

At a meeting in Nicosia on Monday, the trade unions decided on a three-hour work stoppage from 11am till 2pm on September 11, as a warning for harsher measures if their demands are not met.

Earlier on Monday, the leaders of Sek and Peo, Andreas Matsas and Soteroulla Charalambous respectively, both said the precondition for the dialogue to move forwards between trade unions and employers was an agreement on CoLA.

“Strike measures are a one-way street,” Matsas and Charalambous said, explaining that the dialogue should have been wrapped up by June 30, but the trade unions gave more time.

During a meeting on Friday at the labour ministry, it was determined that talks on CoLA had reached a deadlock and that the two sides’ views were miles apart.

For this reason, unions have no other choice than to launch strike measures in local administration and the public and private sectors, Matsas told the Cyprus News Agency.

He added that solutions could be found with good will and that the employers’ side would have time to change its stance before the strikes begin.

Matsas explained that CoLA was provided for in collective agreements and expressed hope that it wouldn’t be necessary to escalate measures.

Charalambous said that since the employers’ side wanted to adopt criteria for CoLA, which would cause it to fail, the trade unions had no other choice than to activate their decision for strikes.

She added that the trade unions were not refusing to talk, however the employers should agree to CoLA in full.

Charalambous explained that the employers had suggested paying CoLA to workers who were affiliated with trade unions in workplaces with collective agreements, which would have a degenerative effect and work out to the detriment of all workers as a whole.