Collective Bargaining

The two main trade union confederations CGTP and UGTP have joined forces in a massive public strike. It is the first serious joint strike action since the current government came to power. The major problem for the unions is that salaries remain low and no major increases have been proposed in the 2019 state budget. Public sector workers have had their salaries frozen for 10 years. In real terms, this equates to a 20% loss of purchasing power. A second strike has been called for 15 November.

Read on: in English … in English (2) …

After union statements earlier this month threatening to organise ‘several more strike days’ before the end of the year if Europe’s largest budget airline did not radically change its position and attitude, there now lies an agreement between the two parties. Ryanair has signed agreements with trade unions in Belgium in which it declares that it will apply the country’s employment laws to its pilots and cabin crew. Similar agreements were recently made in Spain, Portugal and the UK. The newly agreed Collective Labour Agreements will come into force end of January 2019.

Read on: in English … in English (2) …

A number of reforms applied since the first decade of the century to decentralise social dialogue in the country in order to reduce labour inequality between so called ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ on the labour market. While union membership in the country is very low, historically a very high percentage of workers is covered by industry-wide collective bargaining agreements. The industry-wide collective agreements were once introduced in order to make sure that workers with an employer who didn’t want to negotiate on working conditions would also be protected by collective agreements. To make sure that the coverage of collective agreements would drop in the process of decentralisation the state introduced a legal requirement for companies to negotiate, and ideally to sign agreements, on a certain number of subjects. It still remains unclear if the decentralisation has indeed led to a reduction of inequality because content and result of company-level negotiations are heavily influenced by the qualification levels of the labour force and the size of the firms in the sector.

Read on: in English …

The government and the social partners in coal mining have signed a pact to guarantee a transition of the sector. Trade unions CC.OO, UGT and USO, and the National Federation of Coal Mining Businessmen (Carbunion) finalised with the government a framework agreement for a just transition of coal mining and sustainable development of the mining regions for the period 2019-2027. The agreement includes early retirement and incentivised redundancies of workers, as well as a fund of 250 million euro, spread over five years (from 2019 to 2023), to support business and development initiatives in the mining regions.

Read on: in English … in Spanish …

If collective bargaining a new agreement for subway workers fails, trade unions will call out a general strike that is set to take place between 10 and 15 November 2018. Trade unions are demanding a 42% wage increase and improvement of labour conditions. The management’s latest offer was an increase of 8%. The current collective agreement expires end of October this year.

Read on: in English …

The Estonian Seamen's Independent Union (EMSA) wants to take ferry operator TS Laevad to court claiming that the company is undermining the collective bargaining process. This month the ferry operator broke off negotiations on a new collective agreement that started in March 2018. Furthermore, the company is said to have offered its employees various benefits in order to free it from signing a collective agreement. Ferry workers are mainly demanding the guarantee that the value of the payable salary will not constantly diminish and insurance for work related accidents. Besides going to court, unions also threaten with industrial action.

Read on: in English …

Trade union CITUB says the presented draft budget for 2019 is the closest match to the demands of trade unions compared to other budgets so far. This month the government presented the draft budget for 2019 to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITUB). The draft envisages an increase in all wages in the budget sector by 10% on average from next year.

Read on: in English …

A new sectoral collective agreement ends almost a year of strike alert in the finance sector. The collective agreement raises standards in the industry and will come into effect starting 1 December 2018. The trade union states that because collective bargaining didn’t go easily they had to use tactics like the strike alert that were never before used in the finance sector before.

Read on: in English …

After months of industrial action in various countries, that forced the airline company to cancel many flights, Ryanair now states that it would like to reach an agreement with trade unions before Christmas. At the end of September 2018 the European Commission ordered Ryanair to respect EU rules by giving workers employment contracts on the basis of the laws of the country they live and work in rather than in Ireland where its planes are registered. This would mean a great improvement in the employment conditions of many Ryanair workers. In the current situation workers are hired on the basis of Irish labour laws and, one of the most ‘liberal’ of the continent. Local labour laws are not respected which also impedes them from accessing local social security benefits. Meanwhile several countries in Europe are still in the middle of labour disputes with Ryanair and are continuing either industrial action or negotiations (see different country reports in this newsletter).

Read on: in English … Long read on Ryanair and workers’ rights: in English …

The National Prison Guards’ Union (SNCGP) call for a strike was followed by a large majority of prison guards, with a substantial effect of visits to the establishments. The action aimed to defend the rights and interests and demanded a review of prison workers’ career status. The guards also joined the civil servants’ strike that was announced for Friday. There are currently around 4,000 guards working in 50 prisons.

Read on: in English …