Collective Bargaining

For non-Swedes, the functioning of the labour market can seem positively baffling. This article provides a clear introduction to the ‘Swedish model’ including the position of collective bargaining and trade unions. Based on the division of responsibilities between the state and trade unions, the two work in tandem to guarantee good working conditions and fair treatment of every worker. The autonomy of the social partners to negotiate about wages and working conditions is a key feature of the model.

Read on: in English …

The government is planning on a pension reform in the second quarter of 2018 that will increase the pension age from 65 to 67. The Union of Autonomous Trade Unions (SSSH) is opposing the planned reforms. The SSSH states that the country already has higher unemployment rates that will only increase further when the retirement age is going up. They also point out that life expectancy is about three years less than in the rest of the European Union.

Read on: in English …

Public service trade union Ver.di, which represents 2.3 million public employees, is demanding a 6% pay raise for public service workers from state and local governments, with a minimum increase of 200 euro per month. Because after two rounds of talks there still hasn’t been made an offer the union announced nationwide warning strikes to put further pressure on the negotiations that will continue in April 2018. Strikes are to hit public transport, rubbish collection, kindergartens and hospitals.

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

The World Economics Association had dedicated the spring edition of its Journal to an analysis of the current economic outlook. The issue looks back at the effects of the crisis, discusses the creation of jobs and assesses the political economy of reforms in Europe. Authors criticise the EU policy that was mainly focussing on wage restraints, budgetary discipline, deregulation and measures that weakened the economic security and bargaining strength of organised labour. One article (‘The creation of jobs’) looks after the role of bargaining in decision-making processes during the course of production.

Read on: in English …

Think-tank Social Justice Ireland stated that the number of working poor has risen since the country came out of recession. Around one in seven people in poverty do work but have insecure jobs with low rates of pay which means they can’t make a living wage. According to the think-tank’s report, responsibility lays with employers and the Government for failing to eradicate low pay and precarious employment contracts.

Read on: in English … The report: in English …

Two unions warn that, although the EU member states reached an agreement to tighten posted worker controls, another door has been opened to social dumping. They refer to the fact that the country has relieved the import of workers with or without qualification under the pretext that shortages stall the economic development. The unions describe the mechanism that the workers enter through Bulgaria, but in practice they work in Western Europe for extremely low wages.

Read on: in English …

Workers at a waste management plant organised a one-day strike to pressure their company to sign the collective agreement that officially expired in December 2017. The workers said that they will give the company three weeks to sign the collective agreement. They threatened to go on an indefinite strike if the company fails to do so. The company says it has to finalise their agreements with the state.

Read on: in English …

Unionised workers in several NGOs have started initiatives for better wages. NGOs provide work for around 645,000 people and aim to create a fairer world. However, the working conditions for many of its employees seem to deny them the very rights they are employed to safeguard for others. During the crisis, the central and regional governments drastically reduced the budgets for this so-called ‘third sector’, which generates an annual €14 billion in revenue and represents 1.5% of the country’s GDP. Consequently, some of the country’s 30,000 NGOs froze or lowered the salaries of their staff – a situation that has never been redressed.

Read on: in English …

The telecom workers trade union organised a rally outside a downtown office of Croatian Telekom to protest wage cuts and lay-offs. The gross salary of the workers at Croatian Telekom centres of 800 euro has been cut by 15%. Besides the wage cuts, the union claims that Croatian Telekom laid off half of its staff in the past four years to replace them with cheaper labour from employment agencies. Management claims that the workers have very good salaries above the national level that will increase under the new model instead of be cut.

Read on: in English …

Since the government changed sectoral bargaining laws in 2011, workers’ ability to have industry-wide representation was restricted. Unions have to represent more than 7 % of the sector’s workforce to agree to sectoral representation. As a result, pay and working conditions deteriorated. Moreover, the changing banking environment characterised by massive investments in IT infrastructure and cutting offline units and jobs forces trade unions to save jobs and obtain benefits for employees who lose their jobs. Banks already cut around 15,000 jobs during the last decade. The current collective agreement which expires at the end of this year, says employees who lose their jobs are eligible for compensation benefits up to 12 monthly salaries. But in recent years, the unions detected a tendency to reduce benefits for workers who lose their jobs, due to limited job creation. The Federation of Trade Unions in Insurance and Banking (FSAB) is preparing for a historic fight to regain the sectoral bargaining rights. A sectoral agreement would cover all the 100,000 workers employed by the finance companies and raise standards in the industry.

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