Filenews 10 January 2026 - by Angelos Angelodimou
Yesterday's meeting of the Labour Advisory Board proved to be particularly useful and productive, as through it, it was given the opportunity to clarify some issues, to set some others in motion, as well as to reaffirm the disagreement of the partners on issues that had already been discussed.
The most important issues that arose after yesterday's session were:
(a) The government seems to prefer the fragmented promotion of the pension reform so that there is no long delay in its implementation. (b) The discussion on the issue of the hourly performance of the minimum wage will begin immediately, but with a horizon of any changes in 2028, when the revision of the decree will occur again. (c) Following the explanations given in relation to the decision taken on the minimum wage, the trade unions decided that they would insist on their decision to request a meeting with the President of the Republic. (d) The employer side will in no way consent to any change regarding the minimum wage before 2028. (e) Finally, in relation to the issue of the adequacy of minimum wages, it was mentioned that the discussion in the competent Committee will continue quickly, so that there is a conclusion and the bill can be submitted to the Parliament.
Bottom: Disagreements continue...
More specifically, the information from the Ministry of Labour and the discussion that would follow on the issue of the minimum wage was expected with particular interest. From the explanations given in relation to the parameters that prompted the government side to make its final decision, it appeared that the disagreements between employers and unions remain about the final amount.
However, the trade union side believes that based on the recommendation of the competent Committee to the Ministry of Labour, the final amount of the minimum wage could have been higher. (The Commission suggested a price range that the minimum could end up with, with the highest point reaching €1115). Therefore, the unions consider that the reason for a meeting with the President of the Republic, whom they will expect to respond to the request for a meeting within the next week, has not disappeared.
On the other hand, employers now consider that the issue of the minimum wage has expired by 2028 despite any disagreements they themselves have in relation to the government decision. In fact, they note that the attempt of the trade unions to meet with the President, in order to influence him to change the government decree, is not a correct practice. To emphasize that they will in no way accept changes to the decree, before the next revision in 2028.
Asked if the hourly performance of the minimum wage will be discussed in 2026, the Minister of Labour Marinos Mousiouttas said after the end of the meeting that the discussion will start immediately. "It is one of the issues for which I mentioned to the House that based on the decision of the Council of Ministers, the discussion will begin." He added that it was decided that the Minimum Wage Adjustment Committee will continue its work within 2026 – i.e. the Committee continues to be active – to discuss issues concerning, among other things, the determination of a procedure, an impact study of the level of the minimum wage on the development of the economy, as well as the discussion of the need to determine an interconnection with hourly output.
Pension: Piecemeal reform
The other big chapter that was discussed in the Labour Advisory Board was the pension reform.
Our information states that the Minister of Labour expressed the government's intention to proceed with the piecemeal implementation of the reform. That is, instead of having a unified plan that will include the first and second pillars, the changes for the first pillar (Institutionalized Social Security System) concerning the pensions granted through the Social Security Fund will proceed first, followed by the second pillar (Provident Funds).
The employers' side did not raise any particular objections to this, provided of course that the basic parameters are agreed, however the unions believe that the pension reform should be unified and the changes in the two pillars should proceed together. It was noted that any changes decided on the well-known issue of the 12% penalty would be easier to implement if the two pillars proceed at the same time.
On the specific issue, the Minister of Labour noted that during the session the House was briefed by the actuary on the progress of the processes in relation to the pension reform and added that it was decided that the discussion "will continue immediately, either privately, or all the partners together, so that they can be informed, to say the same things, to understand the same things and to be able to proceed with all phases of the reform with the ultimate goal of being able to implement this reform as soon as possible."
The Minister of Labour said that the initial plan is to complete the discussion, submission and approval by the Parliament of the new pension reform in 2026, with the ultimate goal that in 2027 it can be implemented for the benefit of the citizens.
End to €500 pensions
The President of the Republic also made statements yesterday about the pension, who was speaking in the context of the inauguration of the new Municipal Nursing Home "Evanthia Pieridou" in Larnaca. The President of the Republic stressed that the pension reform launched within 2026 is a milestone for the overall upgrading of the quality of life of the Elderly. The last time a substantial pension reform took place in our country was in 1980." "We are moving forward with the pension reform with a single goal, to substantially strengthen pensions, especially the pensions of low-income pensioners because someone cannot exist with a pension of €500 or €510," he noted.
We have started the preparatory work, said the President, expressing the hope that we will have time before the Parliament completes its work due to the elections. Otherwise, immediately afterwards, with the government's main goal "to move forward with the pension reform".
The issue of wage adequacy quickly
In relation to the bill on the adequacy of minimum wages, the Minister of Labuor said that the debate on the issue began a year ago and "with the latest decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Denmark's appeal, taking into account the new data that emerge, the discussion will continue quickly in the competent Committee to conclude and submit the bill to the House of Representatives".
"The partners have asked for additional information and we have an obligation to give it to them as soon as possible," he noted. Regarding the last topic of discussion, for which there was not enough time to fully discuss, Mr. Mousiouttas said that this was the decree that exists for students and is a decision of the Minister of Labour. "There was no time to discuss and the views of all parties are expected to be sent in writing, on the basis of which the Minister of Labour will judge whether or not to differentiate and how to differentiate the existing decree," he added.
