Financial repercussions from the ongoing concrete workers’ strike are growing exponentially while the shortage of material has far-reaching and unforeseen effects, the director general of the Cyprus chamber of commerce (Oev) said on Monday.
The problem will be addressed at a meeting on Monday afternoon, Oev head Michalis Antoniou told the Cyprus News Agency, adding that exact numbers had not yet been acquired from all affected branches of the construction industry.
“From the information we have received, pressure is building up exponentially every day. [Stalled works] create a chain of complications,” Antoniou said, as contractors fail to meet their deadlines for completion and delivery of projects.
The knock-on effects sometimes even surprise those in the know, he said
“In the afternoon we will have an indication of the magnitude of the problem,” he added.
Various sub-branches of the industry are set to take part in the planned extraordinary session of Oev’s construction sector committee, including infrastructure contractors, land developers, mosaics and marble manufacturers, furniture-factory owners and carpentry associations, and metal and aluminium manufacturers, in addition to the ready-made concrete association.
“It’s pretty much the whole subcontracting [sector of] the construction industry,” Antoniou said.
Employers had Oev’s absolute support, Antoniou said, and the concrete worker union’s demands had been disproportionate and rigid.
He said the problems are piling up and the sector is faced with “an extremely painful experience.”
“We are appealing to our union partners to suspend the [strike] and sit down to see how we can find a solution, so that everyone in the industry remains satisfied,” Antoniou said.
On Sunday workers in the cement industry had called on the government to take a more active role in the labour crisis while union officials from Sek, Peo and Deok met to decide on next steps.
They called on workers to continue the effort “until vindicated”.
On Wednesday the unions had rejected the labour minister’s latest proposal for a solution to the dispute, which the employers had accepted.
The unions continue to demand overtime pay and a return to pre-2013 collective labour agreements, charging that the boost in the construction industry in the intervening years means the current working conditions are no longer justified.