Collective Bargaining

After work stoppages earlier this month, workers at the Lloyd’s Pharmacy chain say they will escalate their industrial action with three full-day stoppages in July unless management engages with their trade union Mandate. Mandate said the company had refused to negotiate with the union. Lloyds Pharmacy said it already negotiated with an in-house Colleague Representative Council. Mandate union represents 220 of the company's 800 retail workers and drivers. The union is demanding a pay increase and incremental pay scales, a sick pay scheme, security of hours with no zero-hour contracts, and improved annual leave and public holiday entitlements.

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Two out of the four trade unions that led the strikes since early April have decided to continue the action, even though the cause of their protests - president Emmanuel Macron's rail reforms - have been voted through parliament and signed into law. The unions see the abolition of the rail reform as their objective and think the only way they have a chance is by striking. During the last three months the participation rate of rail workers in the rolling strikes has decreased to the point when on the final day of the strike only 32 percent of train drivers participated. The two unions that will continue to their strike during the summer, the CGT Cheminots and Sud Rail, together represent 51% of the rail workers.

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A national strike that was called by the Union of Portuguese Nurses (SEP) had an extremely high participation rate. The union spoke about figures of between 70 percent and 90 percent in various healthcare institutions. The main demand was more staff be hired to cope with the impact of the shift to a working week of 35 hours, from 40 hours. According to the union it is necessary to hire more nurses. Up to 2,000 nurses will be needed to compensate the working time reduction in weekly timetables.

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The unions that represent the country's civil servants reiterated its demand for a 4% increase in salaries and pensions next year. The unions also want to agree on a minimum increase of 60 euro a month for lower-paid workers. According to the unions the boost in salaries and pensions is necessary given that they have been frozen since 2009 which resulted in an 18.9% loss in purchasing power.

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Pressure is growing on Yves Roches to make sure sacked workers are reinstated. A total of 124 workers at Yves Rocher’s subsidiary, Kosan Kozmetik have been dismissed after joining a trade union (see our May newsletter). All the dismissal cases were immediately taken into the judicial process since the termination of contracts due to union membership is unjustified. The workers that were sacked organised picket lines outside the plant to demand their jobs back. All of the workers still in their job who have shown support for the dismissed colleagues are now being sent on compulsory leave.

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A group of 50 Deliveroo couriers reached a settlement with the company on a six-figure claim sum from the takeaway delivery firm in a dispute over employment rights. The riders were represented by the law firm Leigh Day. They argued that they had been unlawfully denied rights, including the legal minimum wage and paid holiday, after being labelled self-employed contractors. Earlier this month, the Independent Workers Union has been given the greenlight for a high court challenge over the employment rights of the Deliveroo riders. The IWGB wants the court to overturn a ruling that confirmed the self-employed status of those working for the delivery firm. Furthermore, the union sees it as problem that the riders, as independent contractors, are denied basic employment rights including a guaranteed minimum wage and holiday pay.

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A specialised tribunal of Cluj banned the ‘unfair competition practices’ of ridesharing company Uber. The court referred to practices to provide transport services without holding the legal authorisations. The court’s decision is not final and the company has 30 days to use the right of appeal. The case against Uber was opened in 2016 by an association of taxi companies. A draft bill, which was formulated in April by the government, foresees that ridesharing services require authorisation from local authorities in the cities where they operate. Earlier this month, the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing fined Uber with RON 200,000 (43,000 euro) for failing to notify the authority about a security incident that may have affected the personal data of some 30,000 local clients.

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Air-Traffic Controllers' Union (USCA) threatened to call a strike in July and August if the government did not meet their demands. The workers planning to strike are employed at airports on the east coast of Spain and the Balearics, including those that service popular tourist destinations such as El Prat Airport in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca Airport, Ibiza Airport and Menorca Airport. After a last-minute meeting was set up in a last attempt to prevent the strikes government revealed that the two sides might come to an agreement.

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The Hospitality and Tourism Trade Union and the Chamber of Commerce stated that there is a huge shortage of workers in the hospitality sector, even though the peak tourist season hasn't even begun yet. A number of tourism establishments are looking to hire foreign waiters, chefs, chambermaids, and receptionists. According to the union, one of the main reasons for the shortage is the fact that the work is too hard, while the wages are too low. The union also criticises the precarious nature of the jobs. Labour inspectors say that employers in hospitality and tourism are among the biggest violators of labour laws. Figures released by the Employment Service show that waiters are in short supply.

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The country plans to increase minimum wage to 9.19 euro an hour in 2019 and further to 9.35 euro in 2020. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government introduced a national minimum wage of 8.50 euro an hour for more than 3 million workers in 2015. Minimum wage was last raised in 2017, to the current 8.84 euro. Eurofound analysis shows that the minimum wage policy introduced in 2015 significantly lifted the wages of the lowest-paid employees, particularly the lower-skilled, younger ones or those working in services. The beneficial effects of the minimum wage policy on real wage growth and the wage cohesion of the workforce seem to have come at no significant price. Employment data show the employment prospects of those employees who have benefited more from the introduction of the minimum wage have not deteriorated. These conclusions are confirmed by the latest report of the Minimum Wage Committee.

Read on: in English (1) … Read on: in English (2) … The Eurofound paper: in English … The Minimum Wage Committee report: in German …