Nicosia, Cyprus Workers Confederation-SEK
28 April 2022

• Category Title

On the 28^th  of April 2022, the national workshop in regard to project DIRECT II has taken place at the SEK Headquarters.  The aim of the workshop was to provide information to the participants in regard to trends in direct employee participation with the aim to explore the impact of direct employee participation on industrial relations on company level in the Cyprus economy and to explore to explore the current trends at European and local level and the attitudes of the social partners in regard to direct participation as a whole and its role in the era of digitalisation at a local level.

Direct participation is not very widespread in Cyprus and since there is not an extensive amount of bibliography to support the issue, it was perceived important that Trade Unionists from the Cyprus Workers Confederation should be invited so as make sure they become acquainted with direct participation and its importance.  An important aspect to the workshop was the fact that partners from Project DIRECT II participated in the workshop and they have provided valuable information and expertise on the matter from their own experiences.    Furthermore, the General Secretary of SEK was invited so as to provide the opinion of the Trade Union from a high level perspective.  Also because the aim of the seminar was to provide an input to the participants in regards to direct participation it was deemed important that a spherical perspective should be provided, therefore representatives from the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation and the Cyprus HR Association were invited to provide the opinion of direct participation from the employers’ side.

At the beginning the participants were provided with an overview of the project and its aims so as to have an idea of the project.  Following the introduction to the project, the participants were informed in regards to the degree of implementation of direct participation in Cyprus and this arises from the National Report.  Moreover, the workshop tried to explain the extent of direct participation in Europe in the context of the ETUC strategy More Democracy at Work and the European Social Partners Autonomous FA on Digitalization.  During this session the workers and employers’ sides have been provided so as participants became aware of the opinions of the social partners as well.  From the discussion that has followed, it was evident that participants have understood the importance of the immediate implementation of the Framework Agreement within the overall context of collective agreements.  Following the session on the current trends in regard to Direct Participation at EU level, the participants were able to discuss the current trends revolving around direct and its importance in the future.  In the final part of the workshop, the participants were provided with a more direct input from the employment side in regard to Direct Participation.  A representative from the Cyprus HR Association has provided an insight in the way the HR departments see the implementation of Direct Participation at the workplace.  Following the discussion it was clear to the participants that the HR side is in favour of direct participation although this is not always achievable having in mind the size of the Cyprus companies.  Overall the national workshop has managed to achieve its aims in getting the participants to become acquainted with the project on one hand and get them to understand that direct participation is an area that gains importance and that they should have an input in its implementation in an effort to safeguard and regulate the employees’ role.

• European DIRECT 2 Project - KEVIN P O’KELLY
• National seminar - Prof. Michael Gold, RHUL
• Project DIRECT II: National Seminar, Cyprus 28/04/22