Recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean underline the urgent need for a solution to the Cyprus problem, Secretary General of PEO union Sotiroula Charalambous said on Monday, warning that the current situation does not guarantee stability or security.

Charalambous said a comprehensive settlement could contribute to demilitarisation, stability and peace in the region.

“Our country can become a zone of peace, security and stability, where all workers live and work under conditions of social justice and dignity,” she said reading from a joint declaration of PEO and Turkish Cypriot trade unions.

On what she described as a symbolic day for the working class around the world, Charalambous said the joint declaration reiterates that workers “do not compromise with division” and that the reunification of Cyprus remains a priority.

She reaffirmed commitment to a solution within the agreed framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, “with one state, one sovereignty, one citizenship and one international personality.”

She also expressed concern that there has been no substantial progress on the Cyprus issue for almost a decade. “The stagnation and absence of dialogue, the ongoing deadlock, lead to the entrenchment of partition,” she said, calling on the two leaders to show the necessary political will to resume talks from where they left off at the Crans Montana talks of 2017.

Beyond the Cyprus issue, Charalambous said workers across the island face common challenges, including rising living costs, low wages, insecurity, attacks on collective agreements and insufficient health and safety measures.

Under this year’s slogan Common Struggle for a Common Homeland Against Wars and Exploitation, she added workers will continue their struggle for a peaceful and reunified Cyprus and a better world.

The declaration was also read in Turkish by Semih Kolozali, leader of Turkish Cypriot union Dev-İş union.

Charalambous said PEO’s May Day programme on Friday includes a gathering at Eleftheria Square at 5pm, with addresses by herself and the Akel secretary-general, followed by a march to the Ledra Palace in the buffer zone, where participants will join Turkish Cypriot unions.

A speech will be delivered by Pambis Kyritsis, secretary-general of the World Federation of Trade Unions, followed by a cultural programme.

In the lead-up to May Day, PEO is organising 60 gatherings in neighbourhoods and more than 50 meetings in workplaces.

Kolozali said Turkish Cypriot unions will hold their own gathering at a park near Kyrenia Gate in the north of Nicosia before marching to the buffer zone, calling on all those who support workers to participate.

Charalambous also welcomed recent mobilisations by Turkish Cypriot unions over the cost-of-living allowance, saying they demonstrated the shared challenges facing workers across the island.

Kolozali said unions had waged a difficult struggle over the Cost of Living in the past month, but the ‘government’ had not backed down and was now also targeting the minimum wage. He said this context of ongoing attacks on workers would shape this year’s May Day events on Friday.