The government’s planned reforms to the pension system are being drawn up “precisely in the spirit” of May Day, Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said at an event held to mark the day by trade union Sek.

“May 1 is an obligation for everyone, reminding us that rights are not permanently acquired if we do not protect them, if we do not adapt them to new realities, and if we do not hand them on to future generations,” he said.

He said that the government is “moving precisely in this spirit”, and that as such, “the Republic of Cyprus remains fully aligned with the European direction for the future of work, aiming to better regulate labour relations, strengthen collective bargaining and ensure the adequacy of wages”.

This, he said, is because “economic growth only has value when it is accompanied by social cohesion, justice, and peace”.

“If May Day is about dignity at the beginning of one’s working life, then pension reform is about dignity at the end of it. The worker who celebrates May Day today is tomorrow’s pensioner who deserves a dignified life, and the state must be there, strong and solvent, at every stage of every person’s life,” he said.

To this end, he said that the planned pension reforms are “the government’s most important priority” for this year, and that in this endeavour, the government is pursuing “three clear goals”.

Those goals, he said, are “the adequacy of pensions, mainly for low-income pensioners, reducing the risk of poverty in a vulnerable segment of the population, solidarity and justice through the adoption of a system which shares burdens and benefits regardless of age, gender, or form of work, and the sustainability of the system, because we want a system which will remain robust for the coming decades”.

On the final point, he said that “we owe it to our children and grandchildren” to ensure the pension system’s sustainability, before expressing hope that reforms to the pension system will enter force on January 1 next year, before returning to the matter of wider May Day celebrations.

“The May Day we celebrate today reminds us that working people do not claim charity, they claim what belongs to them – equality, justice, and social welfare. The same principle which guides our own actions remains respect for workers, for retirees, and for the families which built this country,” he said.

He added that the government will “continue to work tirelessly together” with Sek and other trade unions, as well as employers’ organisations, “for a Cyprus where no worker will be left to face an uncertain future and no pensioner will be left on the sidelines”.