On Show me the Money, the radio current affairs programme I have the pleasure of co-hosting with colleague Yiannis Seitanidis on Politis 107.6, there is not much in the way of analysis that forces me to relinquish my composure on air.
But CoLA does, as those regular listeners out there know full well.
Perhaps what gets me worked up is when someone invokes the rights of the labour force and vulnerable groups in order to favour the privileged-at least that's how I see the partial granting of CoLA. I consider it a mockery and that charged way of thinking might be clouding my judgment.
That's why I felt that undeniable joy-maybe even schadenfreude (malicious joy)—forgive my humanity—when at the eleventh hour, employers, for their own self-serving reasons, rejected what CoLA ended up being.
In fact, I would like to hope that this resounding 'no' provides the government with the rare pportunityof finally doing the right thing, even if it's their second or third choice. It was first at some point.
Namely-ATA for everyone, but with a cap and tied to the economy realities. But there's a clear question here. Will the government dare to actually go ahead with what's beneficial for employees and public finances, or will it ultimately cave in to the interests of trade unionists and employers?
The CoLA saga will offer up an answer soon enough.
Undoubtedly, the government, or a number of people within it, know what's right. Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou may not have dared to present a comprehensive policy proposal, but he did lay down the principles of universal payment tied to earnings and economic growth.
His mistake, as it turned out, was letting the dialogue slip away from the framework he'd set, which allowed employers and trade unionists to rob him of his chance to go down in history as the first Labour Minister to rationalise CoLA payment. A real shame for both him and the country. It's one thing not to be aware what the country needs and quite another-not to be able-or not even dare-sending a comprehensive policy proposal to Parliament.
In other words, you are losing the battle at the social partners table. And following the employers no, one might wonder who is really governing this country!
Mind you, public dialogue has been degraded by irrational approaches which dangerously burden the public finances, carry an inflationary footprint, and deepen social inequalities. This is exactly what is happening now, when only a minority of the labour force are getting CoLA, including privileged workers of the public and private sectors.
Even worse, during periods of high inflation similar to what we've experienced in the recent past, CoLA payments mostly benefited high earners, including high ranking officials, with a generous salary increase rather than becoming compensation for the loss of purchasing power.
And this was CoLA at 67%, while the near-agreement would have delivered it at 100%. Can state officials really look citizens in the eye and tell them how much of a raise they got during the three years of high inflation? They should have exempted themselves.
President Christodoulides spoke of second and third options. CoLA for everyone must return to parliament, not dialogue. But CoLA at the level of minimum wage for the labour force and pensioners.
Anything else presents a risk to public finances and competitiveness, exasperating social inequalities in the process. Rights don't belong only to those who unionise (because their employer is a bank or the government), but also vulnerable groups. Low-wage earners and low-income pensioners.
Even at the latest of hours, there's one more chance for us to do what's right by them. Let us not waste it.