Teacher unions threaten strikes as support program staff suspend industrial action

Major teacher unions in Cyprus—POED, OELMEK, and OLTEK—have announced plans to convene their governing bodies to consider industrial action, including potential strikes. The move comes in response to the Ministry of Education's persistent push for a new teacher appointment system, which unions argue undermines their institutional role and threatens job security for hundreds of educators. In protest, the unions have formally requested a meeting with the Parliamentary Education Committee to voice their concerns. The POED leadership is set to meet on Monday, November 16, while OELMEK and OLTEK will hold their respective board meetings on Thursday, November 19, to finalize their strategies.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, employees of the Ministry of Education’s support programs suspended their ten-day indefinite strike on November 11. Represented by unions OEKDY-SEK and PASEY-PEO, these workers are pushing for guaranteed income during summer months and the completion of recruitment processes. While the workers have returned to their duties as a gesture of goodwill, the unions have explicitly stated that this is not a retreat from their demands. They are currently awaiting a meeting with the President of the Republic to seek a definitive solution, warning that they will resume and escalate industrial action if significant progress is not achieved shortly.