Efforts to reach consensus among the social partners over the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA) continued through the weekend, with the labour and fınance ministers listing the points on which convergence was achieved between the employers and the workers.

The ministers have scheduled separate meetings with the employers’ organisations and trade unions, for Wednesday at 3.30pm with the employers’ and industrialists federation (Oev) and the Cyprus chamber of commerce and industry (Keve), and Thursday at 2.30pm with trade unions Sek, Peo, Deok and Pasydy.

Both employers and trade unions have expressed hope that an agreement would be reached the soonest possible.

Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou told StockWatch he was optimistic that convergence would be found to once and for all wrap up the issue, which has been pending for at least 12 years.

“The time is ripe to reach a permanent agreement on CoLA in the coming days,” he said.

Deok leader Stelios Christodoulou, meanwhile, told the Cyprus News Agency that the government had not sent a new document to the social partners with the clarifications and explanations requested last week.

A draft framework presented last week was sharply criticised by employers’ organisations OEV and Keve on Friday, in a joint letter to the two ministers.

Trade unions had last Tuesday expressed equal criticism of the proposal.

Christodoulou said the trade unions wanted CoLA to cover more employees and expressed hope that an agreement would be found so that they could focus on other issues, such as pension reforms and the minimum wage.

He described the current phase as a “photo finish” and pointed out that an agreement on CoLA would be to the benefit of workers who had lost must of their purchasing power.

Oev director general Michalis Antoniou confirmed that the employers’ side had not received a document from the government, which he said “does not facilitate the process”.

Antoniou said OEV and Keve have clear instructions from their boards and that implementing CoLA for all was out of the question and not negotiable.

He added that CoLA had become “tiresome” and that the public debate had to shift to other issues, where employers and workers had “common interests”.