News
Education support staff march to presidential palace as strike enters fourth day
Unions delivered a memorandum asking President Nikos Christodoulides to intervene, and say workers would consider suspending the indefinite strike if he agrees to meet them.
Employees in the education ministry’s support programmes marched from the finance ministry to the presidential palace in Nicosia on Thursday, as their indefinite strike entered a fourth day. A delegation delivered a memorandum addressed to President Nikos Christodoulides asking him to intervene personally in the dispute.
The workers began the strike on Monday. They are demanding unemployment benefits for the periods when the programmes are not operating, job security, and recognition of their employment rights.
The law at the centre of the dispute
The strike follows the education ministry’s failure to implement legislation that parliament passed on 21 April 2026, according to the unions. The law sets recruitment procedures for the programmes. The unions say those procedures have not been applied across all of them, leaving some employees unemployed, and that posts intended for fixed-term staff are being filled by appointed staff working overtime, the report says.
In a joint statement, Sek and Peo said delays in reaching a political decision had left employees without income or access to unemployment benefits for five months. They called for the full payment of the benefits, completion of the staffing procedures, and protection for employees who had been transferred to other programmes.
A possible meeting
After the march, it emerged that the workers would consider suspending the strike if Christodoulides meets them, and depending on the outcome of the conversation. A meeting had not been confirmed on Thursday night, but it could take place early next week, the report says.
The memorandum was signed by the Oekdy-Sek and Pasey-Peo trade unions.
What is not known
The report did not say how many employees are on strike, which support programmes have stopped or reduced their services, or whether the education ministry has made an offer to the unions. It also did not say whether the president has agreed to the meeting.
The support programmes are run by the education ministry. Parents and others who rely on their services should check with the school or provider for local arrangements until the dispute is resolved.
Sources (2)
- Cyprus Mail, Education support staff march to presidential palace over employment rights, 5 November 2026 . Reports the march, the union demands, the memorandum to the president and the possible meeting early next week.
- Cyprus Mail, Education ministry support programme workers begin indefinite strike, 2 November 2026 . Reports the start of the strike, the April 2026 legislation and the unions' account of how it has not been applied.