KAMUSEN Union: Contracted Civil Servants in the TRNC Demand Employment Guarantees

The Public Servants’ Union of Northern Cyprus (KAMUSEN) held a press conference dedicated to protecting the rights of contracted staff. Union chairman Metin Atan said that 412 contracted employees, many of whom have been working continuously in public institutions for more than 20–25 years, are still deprived of basic employment guarantees. According to him, these people remain in constant vulnerability and may be dismissed under the pretext of an economic crisis, while during contract renewal periods they regularly face delays in salary payments. The union is demanding that they be granted, by law, equal rights to leave and sick leave, as is the case for permanent civil servants, stressing that this reform would not create any additional financial burden for the Ministry of Finance.

Speaking on behalf of the employees, Coşkun Bundak explained that, due to the lack of permanent status, contract workers face restrictions under the salary scale (barem) and cannot obtain long-term loans for the purchase of housing or cars. The initiative group called on the authorities to include the 412 contracted workers in the current bill regulating the rights and obligations of temporary staff (Geçici personel), in order to ensure them a stable working environment.