Teachers in Cyprus demanded unemployment benefits during programme breaks
Teachers working in support programmes of Cyprus’ Ministry of Education held a protest in central Nicosia. They demanded access to unemployment benefits during periods when the programmes are not operating.
As Cyprus Mail reports, participants gathered outside the offices of the Pasydy trade union and then marched to the presidential palace. Representatives of the Oekydy-Sek and Pasey-Peo trade unions submitted a memorandum to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. The document was received by the director of the presidential press office, Viktoras Papadopoulos.
Trade union demands
The trade unions are seeking unemployment payments for periods when the programmes are suspended, as well as guarantees for workers transferred between different programmes. They called on the president to intervene personally to ensure such payments during breaks between teaching periods, as in other sectors. As an alternative, they proposed payment of 12 monthly salaries received by permanent public school teachers.
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The memorandum states that the problem emerged in 2012, when the employment of these educators was shifted to a service-market model. According to the workers, this deprived them of important labour rights. They also said that a law adopted this year to regulate the employment of workers on fixed-term, full-time and part-time contracts in support programmes had not resolved all the problems of the previous system.
Authorities’ response
Trade union representatives Georgios Constantinou and Andreas Kounnis said the authorities had responded positively to their demands and agreed to take further action. According to Constantinou, Papadopoulos said that the Ministry of Education would announce recruitment for programmes and educational centres for the current year, while the procedure for granting unemployment benefits is planned to be accelerated.
Papadopoulos requested two weeks for further consideration of the appeals. The trade unions also welcomed Education Minister Athena Michaelidou’s intention to launch tender procedures for two programmes requiring workers on fixed-term contracts. Kounnis said the unions would intensify their actions if their demands were not met.
