A strike of the cement workers in Cyprus in December caused serious damage to the island's economy. In a dispute between concrete workers and employers, the former won.
On Monday 13 January it was announced that the commercial concrete companies had agreed to increase the wages of the disgruntled workers.
At the same time, however, they decided to increase the prices of their products to cover unforeseen expenses. Most contractors have already received notices that the cost of ready-mix concrete will increase by €4.1 per m3 from 1 January 2025. In turn, local quarries have also announced a €1 increase in the price of each item. As a result, the price of several key building materials will rise by 10-15% as early as January.
According to experts, these changes cannot be justified by a salary increase for cement workers. The income that ready-mix concrete companies in Cyprus will receive under the new agreement is much higher than the cost of their employees' labour. The contractors estimate that the difference will be in the order of 3.5%. As a result, in addition to the delay in the completion of many projects due to the prolonged workers' strike, the additional costs will fall on the shoulders of ordinary citizens. Moreover, the rising price of commercial concrete will increase the cost of both private and public construction.
It should be recalled that on 24 November cement workers called on the Cypriot government to take a more active role in resolving the labour crisis.
The strike, which lasted more than a month, brought the island nation's construction industry to an almost complete standstill. Workers' unions were demanding overtime pay and a return to the collective bargaining agreements in force until 2013. The strike cost the sector €80-100 million and led to the dissolution of the Cyprus Concrete Manufacturers Association. At the same time, concrete workers won a 1.5-fold increase in overtime pay.