A new attempt to restart negotiations in the ready-mix concrete industry dispute appears to have failed after trade unions rejected Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou’s invitation for fresh talks.
Union representatives responded negatively to the minister’s letter, stating their positions were already well-known and that new negotiations would not add substantial value to resolving the dispute.
“We’ve responded immediately to the minister”, said Stelios Tsiapoutis, General Secretary of the Building, Mining and Allied Trades Federation (OOIMSEK-SEK).
He explained that unions fear new negotiations might put previously agreed terms at risk, and instead called for the government to consider the situation’s gravity and the state’s revenue losses before presenting a new proposal.
The Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturers Association has initially responded positively to the minister’s invitation, with its chairman Kostas Kythreotis telling media that their official response would be delivered to the minister later today.
However, Kythreotis acknowledged that with the unions’ rejection, “we are heading towards another deadlock” in the industry dispute.
The employers’ side had accepted the labour minister’s proposal for renewed dialogue to find a compromise solution, but the unions’ negative response appears to have effectively ended this latest mediation attempt.
