Collective Bargaining

The trade union ADEDY had called for a public 24-hours strike and a protest rally to Parliament (see our October newsletter). The union formulated a series of demands, increase of salaries and pensions that have been slashed since the start of the crisis, the abolition of social security reforms introduced by the former labour minister and improvement of the contributions, the abolition of the ENFIA property tax and other measures to lighten the effects of austerity.

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Negotiations between unions and employers in the metal industry (see our September and October newsletter) still seem to remain deadlocked. While unions demand a 5% pay increase, employers only want to pay 2%. Steelmaker Voestalpine is hit by a strike and according to the trade unions other sites are also to be affected by industrial action. Further negotiation rounds are not yet scheduled.

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The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Italian affiliate, Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana (FNSI), in organising a protest action on 13 November to speak out against systematic attacks against the press, as expressed by governmental representatives. FNSI called the attacks organised actions to discredit professional journalists and aimed at disorienting public opinion. A ‘flash mob’ will be held simultaneously in the different squares of the regional capitals on 13th November. The country’s communications authority AGCOM said attacks on the media risked damaging the free press.

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Teachers across France took part in industrial action to protest the 2019 education budget of the government and more funding for education. Part of the new budget that the teachers are opposing, is the cutting of 2650 positions in public middle schools and high schools, another 550 positions in the private sector, and 400 administrative positions. It was the first time since 2011 that the main education trade unions have put out a united call for a national education strike. In a joint statement, unions stress that the government is planning to cut a total of 4500 positions in the civil service; 40% of those cuts being made in education. Unions not only see the proposed cuts as a lack of recognition for the work educators put in but besides that, job cuts in secondary education are also not logical considering the demographic growth expected in middle and high schools.

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After five days of strike at Bpost industrial action is now postponed as negotiations reopen. The trade unions launched a week of industrial actions to protest working conditions at the postal company. They main complaint is lack of staff and high workload. The willingness to strike was great with more than 90 percent of the post workers participating.

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Data released by the Labour Ministry give an update of the labour market and employment development. The number of workers signed up to the social security system increased to around 19 million citizens (October closed with 18.99 million workers - a rise of 130,360 people), whilst the official number of unemployed also increased: a total of 52,195 people more indicated that they were unemployed and/or seeking a job. Nevertheless, there is a continuing downward trend of the unemployment data over the last 12 months (by 6.2%, or over 212,000 people). The social security department explained the data in a video.

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The trade union Unjoni Haddiema Maltin - Voice of the Workers (UHM) acted in a responsible and justifiable manner when signing the sectoral agreement for the health sector, according to a ruling of the civil court. The case was brought to court by 10 individual workers in 2013 who demanded €500,000 in damages. The UHM said that the professionals wanted to be the only professionals to gain a wage increase through a promotion, at the expense of 44 other workers who were eligible for the same promotion. The union said that the 10 professionals expected that even though the government had implemented a sector-wide reform, which meant that 54 were eligible for promotion, only 10 would be eligible for that promotion.

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Trade unions state that the proposed minimum wage of 18.27 Swiss francs for employees in postal logistics is "scandalous". Swiss Trade Union Confederation (SGB) and the logistics trade union alliance Fairlog demand a minimum wage of at least CHF 20 per hour from PostCom. The unions state that the proposed low minimum wage is in clear contradiction to the principle of the state minimum wage policy, according to which the wage must be a living wage. PostCom thus opened the door to wage dumping in delivery services, according to the statement of the unions. Furthermore a minimum wage of 18.27 francs would indirectly also increase the wage pressure on the retail trade.

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According to statistics from the Partena social secretariat women earn an average of 500 euro on a monthly basis than men with the same educational background. The gender pay gap seems to widen as men and women advance in their careers. On entering the labour market, women earn 7% less than men. The gap in gross salaries then widens gradually, increasing to as much as 20% (650 euro a month) at the age of 60 years.

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Cleaners from the STAD trade union called for industrial action on 9 November. The cleaners have been without a collective agreement for 14 years. The workers are fighting for a collective agreement, their rights and their dignity. This includes a 30-50% bonus for night shifts, holiday pay, a Sunday premium and the application of transfer of undertaking. The workers are supported in their struggle for a collective agreement and decent pay by ISS union representatives from across Europe.

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