A MASSIVE wave of strikes recently hit the northern part of Cyprus. Led by the trade unions, it began with a simple demand: workers will not pay for a crisis they did not create.

The main fight is over the Cost-of-Living Allowance (Cola). This is a vital safety net. It stops inflation from eating away at wages month by month. Without it, every price rise in the shops is just a pay cut by another name. Working people rely on this protection to defend their families and their standards of living.

However, the struggle is now about more than money.

The government failed to get its plan to freeze pay through parliament. Instead of listening, it chose to rule by decree. It tried to bypass the law. This changed everything. It is no longer just about pay packets; it is a fight for democracy and the rule of law. A government that cannot win the argument has tried to use force instead.

The people are angry. On April 6 and 7, thousands of workers marched on the parliament in Nicosia. They pushed past police barriers. The response was pepper spray and arrests. Ahmet Tugcu, the president of the electricity workers’ union EL-SEN, was among those locked up.

But the unions did not back down. KTAMS, DEV-IS, TURK-SEN and the teachers’ unions stood their ground. They want the decree scrapped and their comrades released.

The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) has joined the call, saying the government has lost its right to rule and demanding early elections.

This strike is about who carries the burden of the crisis. Once again, workers are told to “tighten their belts.” Meanwhile, the wealthy and the powerful are left untouched. This inequality is common across the world, but in Cyprus, it is now impossible to hide.

This movement brings everyone together. It shows that the anger is deeper than party politics. The government is facing the whole of society.

Workers at PepsiCo recently walked out. It was, quite literally, another “Cola” strike. It showed that the fight for dignity is spreading to the private sector and factories.

In Cyprus, money and politics are linked. A fight for wages quickly becomes a fight against the police. A strike over inflation becomes a struggle for democracy.

This wave is also linked to the wider “Cyprus problem.” Since 1974, the north has been isolated and dependent. Because the north uses the Turkish lira, inflation from Turkey hits workers with full force.

People say: “When Turkey sneezes, north Cyprus catches a cold.”

But workers have no control over this. It is a question of power and dependency.

Very few northern institutions enjoy any real international recognition. Halloumi producers are one rare example; trade unions are another.

Trade unions are the real voice of the people. They speak a language we all understand work, wages, rights and solidarity. By defending Cola, they are defending their right to exist. They are proving that Turkish Cypriots are not just pawns to be managed from the outside. They are workers and citizens.

This is why solidarity between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot workers is so important. Unions are one of the few places where workers from both sides can meet as a class. They have the same demands: better pay, democratic rights and peace. This is a vision of a different Cyprus, one built by labour, not by nationalists or speculators.

The message is clear. Workers will not pay for this crisis. Trade unionists will not be silenced. They are here, and they are speaking for themselves.

Kivanc Eliacik is director of international relations at the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK)