Nurses’ trade unions have insisted that collective labour agreements protecting the rights and benefits of both existing and future nursing staff, including those recruited from abroad, are non-negotiable.

In a joint statement following Thursday’s House health committee discussion on proposed legislative amendments concerning the employment of nurses from third countries, SEK, PEO, Pasydy and Pasyno reiterated their position that staffing needs could be met by Cypriot nurses.

The unions said regulating employment conditions through collective agreements would help attract staff and prevent further departures from the profession.

They also stressed that language proficiency was primarily a matter of patient safety and quality of care, arguing that requirements must reflect the responsibilities of nursing staff and ensure effective communication with patients and other healthcare professionals.

The unions expressed strong dissatisfaction with the health ministry for failing to convene a meeting with trade unions, nursing representatives and employers’ organisations, despite having been given 15 days to facilitate dialogue on a comprehensive solution.

They said discussions before the House health committee had demonstrated that the conditions for a consensus did not exist and that the proposed legislative amendment should not proceed to the House plenum in its current form.

The unions also dismissed claims made by employers’ federation OEV and the private hospitals’ association (Pasin) as unsubstantiated, arguing that they did not contribute to addressing the nursing sector’s problems.

They warned that they would act as “a barrier to any attempt to downgrade the nursing profession or introduce any regulation that could endanger the quality and safety of care provided in Cyprus’ hospitals”.

The unions concluded that addressing healthcare staffing shortages required serious planning, reliable evidence and meaningful dialogue, alongside policies protecting healthcare standards and strengthening the nursing profession.

Akel will not support bills to bring nurses in from outside the EU unless private hospitals sign collective agreements with their staff, MP Marina Nikolaou told the House health committee on Thursday.

“Since you refuse to implement collective agreements, which could keep wages within certain safe limits, then from us it is ‘no’,” she said.

Nikolaou said her party would reject any government amendment that harmed nurses’ rights or pay.

Committee chairwoman and Disy MP Savia Orphanidou likewise told private hospitals the committee could not see “how we will be able to reconcile the opinions”.

“I do not see how it can proceed without collective agreements, for me this is the red line,” she said.

Disy MP George Pamboridis said hospitals would not find the staff they wanted unless they paid to bring back about 1,300 nurses who have left the profession.

“Collective agreements cannot be imposed by anyone, other than the market, which is shouting at you that you are not paying enough,” he said.

He supported the tougher language requirement and said he disliked “double standards” given what is asked of doctors.

Diko MP Andreas Apostolou said the law cannot force anyone to sign an agreement.

Two bills are before the committee; one raises the standard of Greek required of nurses and midwives, while the other removes a provision that conflicts with other legislation and has blocked nurses and midwives from third countries from applying to join the professional register.

The health ministry wants the Greek requirement raised by two levels, to B1, while the private hospitals’ association (Pasin) wants a rise of one level, to A2, with a review after four years rather than two, citing the difficulty of attaining fluency in Greek.

Its president, Marios Karaiskakis, said a provision for English could also be considered.

He opposed the rule limiting foreign nurses to 10 per cent of a hospital’s nursing staff, calling it a “free gift” given the scale of the shortages.

A representative of the employers’ federation (Oev) proposed that nurses start at A1 and sit A2 exams within two years.

He said private hospitals cannot work at full capacity without more nurses.

“If there were Cypriot nurses available, we would be the first to want them,” he said.

He put the average weighted salary of a nurse in Cyprus at €3,000 a month and rejected claims of poor conditions.

The government plan would permit hospitals to employ some 150 nurses from third countries on two-year licences, which the health ministry has called a “temporary solution”.

Nurses would normally require two years of prior experience and could not work as shift managers.

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