I will work with the public sector unions to transform Cyprus.

For decades, some of the most successful companies in Germany and Scandinavia have union representatives on their boards of directors. My attitude to unions is not ‘them and us’; my approach is to work with them so that together our nation is prepared for the positive changes we will implement together. Therefore, permanent secretaries across all departments will hold regular meetings for feedback and invite the relevant union heads to share and discuss the government’s plans. Union leaders will therefore be invited to indirectly form part of the departmental management teams. It will create wealth, efficiency, and prosperity for all including the public sector. I invite Cyprus’ largest companies to do the same. 

If we as a nation implement many of the changes I propose, if this wealth results in private sector productivity increasing, and the new jobs created cannot meet demand, salaries will substantially increase. This will create an unusual knock-on effect. Public sector employees will move to the private sector resulting in the government having to pay much higher salaries without the unions demanding it. Today, Cyprus generally pays higher public sector salaries compared to the private sector. In many wealthy countries it’s the other way around.