The Labour Ministry will investigate allegations from the SEK and PEO trade unions that workers are being hired out in Cyprus’s hotel industry. Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said inspections would seek to establish whether such practices exist, with any cases identified pursued through the justice system.
Ministry to investigate allegations
“Cyprus is not a slave market,” Mousiouttas said on Wednesday, adding that “such actions are condemnable”.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Labour Advisory Body in Nicosia, he said the Labour Ministry and the Department of Labour would take up the matter as part of their duties.
Ministry officials will carry out inspections to determine whether such practices exist and, where they do, pursue the cases through the justice system, he said.
Rights must be respected
Mousiouttas said Cyprus is a country where everyone’s rights are recognised, adding that both employees and employers are obliged to respect them, regardless of race, religion, colour or gender.
He said the ministry would work to ensure that such practices were “if not eliminated, then reduced”.
The minister said the unions’ letter had reached him only a few days earlier because of the holiday period. He is now awaiting an update from the relevant department before deciding how to proceed.
Appeal for specific complaints
Mousiouttas appealed for such practices to be reported, with specific names and addresses provided wherever possible to help the authorities act more quickly.
He clarified, however, that the absence of such information would not prevent the ministry from proceeding with its investigation.
The authorities would address the matter, he said, warning that it should not be allowed to grow “like the Lernaean Hydra, where you cut off one head and another ten appear”.
Source: CNA
