Collective Bargaining

After a meeting in Madrid, trade unions representing the cabin crew workers based in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy at Ryanair announced in a statement that they would go on strike this summer unless the low-cost airline accepts their demands. The unions demand that Ryanair workers are employed according to the national legislation of the country they operate in, rather than that of Ireland as is currently the case. Furthermore, the airline should give subcontracted workers the same working conditions as its own employees. Finally, Ryanair should recognise unions for pilots and cabin crew and negotiate with a representative chosen by the unions and not by the company.

Read on: in English … Read the statement: in Spanish …

Long and intense negotiations between the management of the automaker, since August 2017 owned by French car giant PSA, the central works council and the IG Metall union on the future of Opel’s plants has resulted in an agreement in principle. Opel has promised to start significant investment programs at the production plants and at the R&D centre. According to a statement by the works council and trade union IG Metall, the workers at the production sites in Rüsselsheim, Kaiserslautern, Eisenach, Dudenhofen and Bochum will have their jobs guaranteed until the summer of 2023 and investments have been budgeted for each site. In exchange, the workers’ representatives have agreed with pay concessions.

Read on: in English … The statement: in German …

According to the Confederation of Slovenian Trade Unions plans for a strike at Štore Steel, one of the country’s biggest steel producers, were cancelled after management threatened to fire anyone who would participate in the strike. The workers were planning to go on strike because they want a 25% pay rise. The trade union believes the management of the company is guilty of violating the law on strike, so the case was reported to the labour inspection.

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According to several experts, ordinary workers are paying the price of the financial crisis and reforms that were imposed in the aftermath of the strike. While consumer prices have not fallen, salaries went down by an average of 15% since 2010. According to the country’s leading labour think-tank the Labour Institute, salary cuts should have led to a cut in the prices of products and services but they didn’t because product markets are to a great extent monopolies or oligopolies. The country has a serious skills mismatch with a highly educated workforce that is often overqualified for the jobs that are available.

Read on: in English …

The strike in regional transport, organised together by trade unions FNV and CNV is still going on as no agreement on the dispute on wage and working schedules was reached (see our April newsletter). Workers are on strike in support of their demands for a 3% wage increase, lower workload, more training and breaks to use the bathroom. The trade unions of bus and train drivers in privatised public transport companies have been negotiating with employers for equal pay with their colleagues working for the national railway company NS. A train driver working for NS earns up to 10% more than workers for private company Arriva.

Read on: in English …

The protests against the reform plans continue with students and railway workers in action. The ‘two out of five days’ strike at the railway is still going on with no agreement in sight. The railway workers keep striking despite government’s pledge to take over €35 billion of SNCF’s debt. Moreover, on 22 May more than 15,000 public sector workers, including teachers, police officers, transport staff and air traffic controllers, took to it to the streets in Paris to protest against the planned economic reforms. Air France pilots, cabin crew and ground staff have been holding strike actions since February 2018 (see earlier 2018 newsletters). Unions are asking for a 6.6% pay rise that the company deems ‘impossible’. At first Air France came up with a proposal for a 1% increase to be paid in two stages, and then offered a 2% increase. Air France workers are still holding on to their demands while Air France CEO Jean Marc Janaillac decided to resign after airline staff refused a new pay deal designed to end weeks of strikes.

Read on: in English (1) … in English (2) … in English (3) … in English (4) … in English (5) …

After unsuccessful negotiations with Lidl management - the company offered four times lower than the Lidl workers’ demands (see our April newsletter) - several strikes were held in Lidl shops to protest understaffing and work pressure. After a wave of strikes covering more than a week and the blockade of all five of Lidl’s distribution centres, Lidl’s management finally acceded to the union’s request. Each store will get the equivalent of 42 extra staff hours per week to alleviate working pressures.

Read on: in English …

Workers at two TGI Friday's restaurants - Milton Keynes and Covent Garden London - held a 24-hour strike action on 18 May 2018 in a dispute over minimum wages and tips. They had been given two days' notice that they would be stripped of 40% of their income from tips - a loss of up to 250 pounds per month. Workers at two other TGI Friday's locations, members of Unite, voted 100% in favour of possible strike action on 25 June, with other locations set to follow.

Read on: in English (1) … in English (2) …

The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) is critical about government plans to increase flexibility that will lead to more overtime. The SAK fears that extending overtime hours could result in fewer new hires. If approved, the proposed law would increase the allowed overtime from 2250 hours to slightly above 2300 hours per year. Under the new rules, in a four-week period, the number of working hours could not exceed an average of 48 hours per week.

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Uber has introduced for its drivers a modified insurance scheme that provides them with workers' rights following increasing pressure from unions. Uber offered, since 2017, a pay-for insurance scheme to drivers to cover losses in the event of illness or injury. This scheme is now enhanced and made free for all taxi drivers who have completed at least 150 trips over a period of eight weeks, or Uber Eats workers who completed at least 30 deliveries over a period of eight weeks. Drivers can access a lump sum of £7,500 in medical cover, £50,000 for a permanent injury related to the job, bereavement pay, and sickness pay of up to £75 per day for 15 days and £30 a day for a further 15 days. According to the trade unions, the deal still falls short of what the drivers would likely be legally entitled to if they took their case to court.

Read on: in English …