Collective Bargaining

According to a bulletin publishes by the central bank, the productivity growth of the country is under pressure because many medium and high skilled workers continue to leave the country in order to find employment elsewhere. The country’s economy is therefore increasingly depending on migrant workers. The foreign worker population is, however, less educated than the domestic population. Experts warn that if this brain drain will continue the country’s productivity growth could become too low to keep up with most developed countries.

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A court ruled that Deliveroo wrongly classifies its workers as self-employed in two cases filed by union FNV. Because there is an employment contract Deliveroo should consider its deliverers employees. There exists an authority relationship, hence delivery workers are not really free to schedule their workday as they please. The collective bargaining agreement for professional goods transport is valid for the deliverers, even retroactively. Deliveroo will appeal against the ruling.

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Part-time work continues to increase, with now over a third of employees working less than 90%. The figures show a marked increase in part-time work over the past 20 years: from 26.3% to 36.7%. This puts Switzerland second in Europe for part-time working, behind resounding leader the Netherlands, where 50.7% of the population work less than 100%. Swiss neighbours Germany (28.2%), France (18.8%) and Italy (18.7%) all have lower levels of part-time work; in Europe, Hungary (4.8%) and Bulgaria (2.4%) have the lowest levels.

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The desirable average wage increase is calculated at 0.8% by the Central Council of Economic Life. This percentage will be the maximum for the upcoming negotiations between employers and labour unions. The union movement in the recent past regularly declared it is time that employees get their decent share of growth and company profits.

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The FNV (Dutch Confederation of Labour Unions) starts a discussion on the feasibility of basic income as a means to reach a more honest division of work, income and wealth. The starting point of the discussion is a research report by Paul de Beer and Wieteke Conen in which the authors conclude that not only the active part of the potential labour population has grown over the latest 40 years but at the same time inequality has also risen.

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Trade union Verdi called security staff at various airports around the country to go on a full day warning strike as negotiations on wages for the 23.000 security workers remain deadlocked. The workers want a wage increase that will lead to them earning at least 20 euro per hour and furthermore they want their working conditions to improve as well. According to the union there is high strike readiness under the workers which underlines that they are ready to stand up for their demands.

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Trade unions have called out a 24-hour strike at various schools in Scotland in demand of a pay rise that does justice to the increased costs of living. Unions’ claim teachers’ pay has fallen 20% in real terms in the past decade and say that a significant increase is needed to show teachers they are valued and to help boost staff recruitment and retention. Colleges are offering a 2.5% cost-of-living rise. While some teachers had significant pay rises over the last years a part of the Scottish teachers haven’t seen a pay rise in over three years. It is the third time in four years that colleges across the country have been hit by industrial.

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Workers and their trade union organised a sit in action in Calabria in the square in front of the offices of Abraham Customer Care call centre. The workers are angry that their 400 fixed-term contracts will not be renewed. The company defends the decision to not renew the contracts with the rules laid down by the Dignity Decree according to which workers after a period of 24 months on fixed-term contracts must be offered a permanent position.

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Pilots are angry at Ryanair management for using the closure of bases to threatens workers that try to establish a collective agreement and fight for more workers’ rights. Therefore pilot unions in several European countries have suspended talks with Ryanair management. The decision of the pilots follows the closure of Ryanair bases in the Dutch city of Eindhoven and Bremen in Germany, the reduction of capacity in the German region of Niederrhein and the threat to close its Canary island bases. The European Cockpit Association described the closure of the Ryanair bases as a “declaration of war”.

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The collective bargaining conflict at the Limassol port is still not resolved. After earlier strikes last month (see our December newsletter) port workers belonging to the PEO, SEK and Deok unions voted unanimously in favour of another strike, urging the government to meet their demands. Accordingly, another 24-hour strike was held on Wednesday 16 January. Union officials stated that they will deliver a letter to the president and minister explaining their disagreement with the establishment of a court of arbitration to deal with the renewal of their collective agreement.

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