We dream of a reunited and peaceful Cyprus, said EG PEO Larnaca – In his speech at an event for Labor Day
We dream of a reunited Cyprus of peace and social justice, a common homeland for all the children of Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latinos, stated today the Provincial Secretary of PEO Larnaca Giorgos Iulianos.
In his speech at an event for the workers' May Day, held on the beach of Finikoudes in Larnaca, Mr. Iulianos mentioned that this year marks 138 years since the workers' uprising in Chicago and today we pay “tribute to the pioneer fighters and honor the pioneers, the unsung heroes of the trade union movement who took the workers' cause into their own hands and faced misery, exploitation, defying attacks, prison and even death”.
He referred to the war between Ukraine and of Russia which continues but also in the six-month-old “genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel” and the thousands of people who leave as refugees to escape the wars in Arab and African countries.
The forces that want peace, he continued, “the workers around the world and with them we demand the immediate end of wars, fair distribution of wealth, search for solutions to regional and international problems by peaceful means based on the principles of international of law”.
“For us, the Cypriot workers, the struggle for the prevalence of world peace and international law is intertwined with the struggle for a solution and reunification of our country and people”, he noted.
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Mr. Iulianos also referred to the Cyprus problem and said that “the prolonged stagnation, the creation of new fait accompli on the ground, further and further away the solution, strengthen the forces of separation and lead to the definitive division of our country”.
According to him, “the President of the Republic has an obligation, by taking initiatives for positive measures towards the Turkish Cypriot community, the majority of which is fighting against the dichotomous positions of the Tatars, to convince that we remain in practice committed to a solution of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation with political equality as it has been interpreted by the United Nations over time”.
In Cyprus, he continued “as in the whole world the repeated crises of the system, the pandemic and now the inflation crisis, are used by capital, with the full support of the dominant political forces, for the enforcement of policies of labor deregulation, shrinking of the welfare state, promotion of privatization, shrinking of labor and trade union rights”.
He also noted that “despite the fact that the Cypriot economy has been growing at high, positive rates in recent years, social and economic inequalities are not diminishing, the distribution of income is uneven, the situation for low- and middle-class households, young people, pensioners, vulnerable groups is made even more difficult by accuracy and high interest rates”.
In his speech, the Provincial Secretary of PEO Larnaca also referred to the struggles and claims of PEO and said that “we are fighting for an adequate and decent minimum wage, which should be adjusted based on the ATA, to be paid on an hourly basis, guaranteeing minimum wage workers basic rights such as overtime, holidays and 13th salary”.
Referring to the ATA he said that “it is the only mechanism to replace the income of the workers from inflation. We claim full performance of ATA and ATA for everyone” he said and added that “the positions that the Minister of Finance puts forward are dangerous, they do not lead to a fairer ATA, but to its degeneration, erosion and neutralization”.
The Giorgos Iulianos asked for “continuation of the electricity subsidy, reinstatement of reduced fuel taxation, abolition of double taxation on fuel, inclusion of low pensioners in the special electricity pricing, increase of social benefits and income criteria, support of the working family with social benefits from the state and the Local Government”.
The PEO, continued, will not accept “the incompetence and omissions of the previous government in the capital of energy policy to be paid by the workers, the middle class, the vulnerable. Nor can the one-off compensatory measures be considered support for society when the taxes that will be imposed will be permanent,” he said.
Referring to the European elections and the Local Government elections of June 9, Mr. Iulianos said that “PEO, as a class trade union movement and as an integral part of the popular movement, sides with the workers' party, AKEL. Supporting and strengthening the combinations of AKEL Left, Social Alliance means a voice of assertion for the workers in Europe, it means that we have a strong ally in Cyprus”.
He also noted that “with the optimism that with our struggles we can to change things, to build a united peaceful common homeland, to create a fairer world for the world of work” because as he explained “the Cyprus we dream of is not the Cyprus of misery, but the Cyprus of peace and social justice , a reunited Cyprus, a common homeland for all the children of Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latinos”. , candidate Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Municipal Councilors and School Superintendents as well as Turkish Cypriots.
