In an effort to bridge the gap between trade unions and employer organisations, Labour Minister, Giannis Panagiotou, has proposed a more collaborative approach to licensing foreign workers.
\nThis initiative comes after nearly a year of tension surrounding the current strategy for employing third-country nationals.
\nMinister Panagiotou\u2019s proposal, formally delivered on Wednesday, follows a series of meetings with social partners. It outlines a significant upgrade to the existing Monitoring Committee, fostering greater involvement from all stakeholders.
\nThis revamped body, chaired by the Minister himself, would oversee the entire foreign worker licensing process, including procedures and living conditions for these employees.
\nA key aspect of the proposal involves providing social partners with real-time updates on applications for foreign workers. However, the ultimate authority to approve or reject applications would remain with the Ministry of Labour.
\nThis development marks a potential turning point in a year-long dispute. Trade unions have been vocal critics of the current strategy, implemented by the previous government.
\nThey argue there was insufficient consultation during its development and have called for a return to the previous system\u2019s sectoral technical committees, which reviewed applications.
\nEmployer organisations, while welcoming the expedited processing times introduced under the new strategy, have advocated for further streamlining of procedures.
\nThe success of the Minister\u2019s proposal hinges to a large extent on the response from the trade unions, who have previously threatened industrial action.
\nTheir reaction to the suggestions, expected early next week, will be critical in determining whether an agreement that satisfies all parties can be reached.foreign worker licensing. trade unions, employer organisations, foreign workers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Labour Minister Giannis Panagiotou has proposed a collaborative approach to licensing foreign workers to bridge the gap between trade unions and employer organisations. The proposal includes upgrading the Monitoring Committee to involve all stakeholders, providing real-time updates to social partners, and retaining the Ministry of Labour’s authority to approve or reject applications. Trade unions have been critical of the current strategy and are expected to react to the proposal early next week, which will determine if an agreement can be reached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3038,4368,3818,26,4954,2757,415,613,1837,839,30,767,2257,821,4671,114,1006,570,42,584],"class_list":["post-6818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-agreement","tag-bridge","tag-development","tag-economy","tag-employer-organisations","tag-foreign-workers","tag-government","tag-insider-economy","tag-involvement","tag-labour","tag-labour-minister","tag-labour-rights","tag-meetings","tag-migration","tag-proposal","tag-top-news","tag-trade","tag-trade-unions","tag-upgrade","tag-workers-rights"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n