Collective Bargaining

Cabin crew at Ryanair held a three-day strike after negotiations between trade union SNPVAC and Ryanair management regarding improved conditions, pay rise and paternity leave failed (see our March newsletter). The SNPVAC says 91% of cabin crew at Ryanair bases in Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Ponta Delgada took part in the strikes and 27 out of 49 scheduled flights were cancelled. The last 7 operating flights were allegedly operated by cabin crew from other countries in an attempt by Ryanair to break the strikes. Leaked recordings reveal that a Ryanair boss warned the foreign cabin crew there would be ‘serious consequences’ if they refused to operate flights during the strike by their Portuguese counterparts. It looks like the airline believes it can resolve this issue by using cabin crew from a different European country, although legislation would forbid Ryanair from calling in other cabin crew to break the strike. SNPVAC warns that Ryanair could face Europe-wide strikes, if the company continue to ignore local regulations. SNPVAC has met with several other European unions representing Ryanair workers (read our European sources section).

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After the prime minister declared that Italian car company Fiat will not leave the location of Kragujevac the Fiat employees expect the state to become more involved in their rights. Both trade union and the employees expect the government and FIAT to reach a new agreement as soon as possible, put it on paper and sign it. Main concern is the security of fixed contract hours. The last seven months workers have been complaining about a certain number of non-working days or paid leave which had a negative impact on their earnings.

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Train drivers announced a strike between mid-day on 16 to mid-day on 17 April 2018 to demand social and labour rights and greater safety. The train drivers want rules and regulations to be complied with and standardised across the board, and for the infrastructure’s manager to make sure that trains run safely by using temporary warnings and signs. The train drivers’ union also demands an end to hiring retired train drivers to provide services to the freight companies.

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Workers at Ryanair have announced strike actions for the Easter holiday. The cabin crew workers decided to go on strike after the trade union representing them, cabin crew union SNPVAC, came to the conclusion that the talks with the airline, regarding constitutional and labour code rights such as paternity leave, had got nowhere. SNPVAC called the crews for strikes on Thursday, Sunday and Monday. Meanwhile, the Ryanair management told the press it had contacted all Ryanair cabin crew to ask them to put the passengers first and ignore the Easter strike call.

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Whilst the unemployment decreases, the data from the statistical office show an increase of wages over a year’s period (6.8% year on year in February 2018 to 4,599 Zloty or 1,090 euro). In recent years, the disposable income, defined as the total personal income less taxes and social security and state health insurance contributions, also improved.

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Eurofound published a document that provides an overview of wage formation systems in EU Member States. The paper summarises earlier and ongoing research. It looks at the mechanisms used to determine statutory minimum wages, the use of variable pay schemes in companies in the EU, and national systems of supplementary pay. The analysis finds that variable pay usually represents a fairly significant percentage of total salary levels, ranging from 5% to 11% in most of the countries where information is available.

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Taxi drivers in Brussels protested against ride-sharing service Uber with a 24-hour strike on 27 March. The taxi drivers blocked the entire inner city and the ring road around Brussels and the access to Brussels Airport. Around 500 taxi drivers were expected to take part in the actions. The taxi drivers have already been protesting for years against the competition from ride-sharing services like Uber. The taxi drivers’ federation claims that this is unfair competition because the ride-sharing services don’t have to deal with the same strict regulations as official drivers. The federation of taxi drivers and other federations ask for the resignation of the Brussels mobility minister who proposed a new taxi plan for Brussels that gives professional Uber drivers the same status as normally registered taxi drivers.

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A strike in the financial services sector was averted at the eleventh hour after mediation by the national conciliator. The parties reached an agreement on the collective agreement shortly before the first three days’ work stoppage in banks was due to begin. The negotiations in the financial services sector have been going on since October last year. The existing collective agreement expired in November 2017. Key problem of the dispute has been weekend work. Both parties are now ready to open up more possibilities for banks to provide service also during the weekend. The agreement stipulates that weekend work will be agreed, in the main, according to local negotiations.

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The Labour Court recommended that workers at a cleaning firm have half of a previous 5% pay cut restored. The pay cut dates from 2013 and trade union Siptu was seeking its restoration. Siptu also wanted the restoration to be significantly backdated. In its recommendation, the Labour Court said the range of pay rates for similar work cannot be sustained in the long term. The court found that full reversal of the pay cut could not at present be sustained by the division of the company if it is to remain profitable and sustain employment levels.

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With tens of thousands public sector workers on strike and hundred thousand taking to the street in protests against the reform plans, president Macron has his first big test by the trade unions. The railway drivers went on strike in reaction to plans to reform the rail system and cut rail workers special employment rights. One of the fears expressed by the unions is that the rail system will be privatised (see our January newsletter). Railway unions are planning prolonged industrial action that could last until June. Besides the railway drivers also teachers, nurses, air traffic controllers and other public-sector staff went on strike accusing Macron of seeking to dismantle the state sector.

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