Collective Bargaining

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has won a case in the court of appeal about a longstanding dispute regarding firefighters’ pensions. The FBU went to court because in 2015 the pension scheme was changed for the worse. Older members could stay in the better pension scheme while younger members had to change to the new scheme which would not only cause them huger financial loses but would also change their minimum retire age to 60 years. Workers that fall under the old scheme can retire at 55. According to the FBU this two different schemes were unlawful on age discrimination ground.

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A union researcher is developing an algorithm that can help unions predict several facts that could influence bargaining outcomes. Trade union Unionen, where the union researcher works, has a massive database of information coming from member looking for advice or reporting problems. Based on their behaviour in the past, there can be detected certain patterns in the behaviour of specific companies. The data can also help to get a broader picture of labour market developments. If the economy is for example going to shrink, the algorithm will be able to predict which sectors will be likely to start laying people off or making pay cuts. Knowing this kind of information on forehand can make it easier to allocate adequate union capacity to the sectors or companies and to improve bargaining outcomes.

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Parliament passed the revision of the Gender Equality Act. The revision of the law finally regulates binding measures against ongoing wage discrimination. On average women earn 7% less than their male colleagues. According to union SGB says that this act is step in the good direction but believes that the improvements are not going far enough. The original proposal was weakened by political parties that did not want to make employers fully accountable for wage discrimination. Union SGB announced a nationwide women strike for 14 June 2019.

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The government has approved the minimum hourly wage to rise from 2.97 euro to 3.21 euro per hour. Starting in the new year, the minimum monthly salary will increase from 500 to 540 euro. According to Estonian Tax and Customs Board (MTA) data, a total of 25,500 full-time employees earned the minimum wage of €500 per month, accounting for 5.3% of all paid employees. Another 15,700 people, or 3% of full-time employees, earned €501-539 per month. The new minimum wage was agreed upon in an extended collective agreement concluded between the Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) Estonian Employers' Confederation (ETTK) last summer.

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The country is facing a wave of industrial action over the holidays with about 50 strike warnings being issued by workers, most of them civil workers, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. The strikes are organised in a bid to press the government into implementing further reforms and wage increases. According to the workers and their unions the current economic growth and the country having one of the lowest wages in Europe makes these demands legitimate. SEF immigration and border workers and two large private airport security groups threatening action this festive period but also operating room nurses have announced more strike actions.

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Unions went to court because they believe Norwegian Air Shuttle is not taking its responsibility as an employer. Both cabin crew and pilots are not directly employed by the airline company but are formally employed by two different subsidiaries. After a long-running court case the Supreme Court finally decided that the airline company does not have employer responsibility for its pilots and cabin crew.

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The government has proposed to increase the overall minimum wage from 580 euro a month to 600 euro a month. The salary for civil servants is to be increased from 580 euro a month to 635 euro a month. Employers’ organisations accepted the proposed increases of the minimum wage while trade union remain critical and demand higher wage increases. When the current government came to power in 2015, the minimum wage was 505 euro a month. The minimum wage has steadily risen over the last years but with 580 euro a month still is the lowest in western Europe.

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Parliament endorsed amendments to the Healthcare Financing Law, which state that the government will have to ensure allocation of funds necessary for increasing healthcare workers' salaries by an average 20 % annually during the next three years. It is estimated that the average salary of physicians working at outpatient clinics will increase from 1,125 euro to 1,350 euro. Nurse and assistant physicians' average salary will rise from 675 euro to 810 euro.

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Hundreds of workers, both nationals and migrant workers from Serbia and the Ukraine, have not been paid their wages by the job agency that employed them for several months. Many of them now remain penniless at a building where the job agency housed them and lack resources to make the journey back home or even to buy food. Last month the police carried out raids on the job agency in question and arrested four men that are accused of smuggling more than a thousand of Serbs and Ukrainians for work in Slovakia and not paying them according to the hours they worked

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Trade unions brought together over 4000 protestors outside the headquarter of Vienna health insurance to protest new social insurance legislation. The Private Employees' Union (GPA) fears worse benefits for patients and increased work pressure on its employees due to the reform. Furthermore they state that the new legislation creates a three-class social insurance system that only benefits privately insured people and private insurance companies. The unions came with a united message to the government: they are prepared to fight for their healthcare system. More than 60 % of Austrians are reported to be against the social security reforms.

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