A a 24-hour island-wide strike will take place across all Support Programs of the Ministry of Education, as a result of the failure to fulfill commitments and the lack of substantive solutions to pending labor issues, as stated in a joint announcement by the PASEY–PEO and OEKDY–SEK unions.
They also note that they expect the government to provide specific written decisions and substantive solutions to our demands, and if there is no substantive response, they will proceed with a new island-wide strike on Monday, November 2, 2026, and a protest rally outside the Presidential Palace, not ruling out an indefinite strike.
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They also note that on October 2, 2026, in response to a request from the Minister of Education, they suspended the planned strike on October 5 for 15 days, demonstrating goodwill and responsibility.
“The grace period we granted has expired without any of our key demands being met. Hundreds of workers have been without any income since May 2026, and hundreds more are unemployed because their jobs were given to appointed teachers working overtime. Even at the meeting on October 21, 2026, we spent our time discussing the same issues, without any concrete decisions and without any meaningful outcome.”
Their three main demands are the establishment of an allowance for workers who remain without a salary and without other paid employment during the summer months of June through August, with retroactive application starting in the summer of 2026, in accordance with the proposal we have submitted; the filling of fixed-term employee positions (EOH) for the 2026–2027 school year, in order to meet actual needs, rather than covering them through overtime by permanent teachers, a practice that is illegal and not provided for in the bill that the Government itself submitted, while employees who have worked for years in these programs remain unemployed, and the removal of unjustified restrictionsand the guarantee of the right to concurrent employment, in compliance with the legal limit of 48 hours per week and without any other restrictions.
“We expect the government to provide specific written decisions and substantive solutions to our demands. This period represents the final window of opportunity to prevent further escalation. If there is no substantive response, we will proceed with a new island-wide strike on Monday, November 2, 2026, and a protest rally outside the Presidential Palace, without ruling out an indefinite strike.”
They further state further that responsibility for the escalation of the labor dispute and its impact on the operation of the Programs lies with the relevant party, which, despite the time granted to it, has not provided substantive solutions.
“The workers are not asking for privileges. They are demanding jobs, a decent income, and respect for their labor rights. Goodwill cannot be one-sided, and dialogue cannot serve as an excuse for constant delays,” the unions conclude in their statement.
Source: CNA
