The formation and growth of the Cypriot trade union movement was significantly delayed as the conditions in the first few decades of the British colonial period did not allow a significant working class to emerge. In both the pre- Trade Union period of 1900 to 1920, as well as in the later years of 1930 to 1940, the absence of Social Insurance legislation, combined with the high level of unemployment caused the lack of British interest in the industrial development of Cyprus, were leading the people of the island to a state of misery and humiliation.
The earliest attempts to form Unions in Cyprus began in 1915, but serious efforts for the organising of representational labour syndicates only started in the 1920s through the initiative and hard work of the first communists in the island. These efforts in turn led to the formation of workers’ unions, clubs, and unified labour organisations in Limassol and Nicosia.