Collective Bargaining

Doctors from the Lovech Hospital ‘Prof. Dr. P. Stoyanov’ came out in a protest. They handed over a declaration requesting payment of their salaries for three months to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the government and the Ministry of Health. The document was signed by almost all heads of wards, as well as by most doctors and nurses. The medics plan to strike if they do not get their wages for September, October and November. If no staff remuneration is paid within three days and no serious action is taken to stabilise the hospital's financial condition, effective protest actions will also be taken.

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Collective bargaining is underway in almost all sectors. Trade union JHL is negotiating in the municipal, energy and private social services sectors. In total, the union is involved in 55 national level collective agreements which cover various sectors and companies. There are also some 40 separate collective agreements for various public agencies which need to be negotiated. One of the major collective agreements involves the private social service sector, an agreement that is negotiated together with several other unions. It covers 70,000 employees, of whom 7,400 are JHL members. According to statistics provided by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, wages in the private social service sector fell last year by 0.1%. JHL wants to put a stop to this negative development and ensure incomes rise in this sector.

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The government came up with an updated list of ‘name and shame’, the overview that lists the firms, which underpay their workers. The press release says that firms in retail, hospitality and hairdressing businesses were among the most prolific offenders named in this round. The 260 firms that figure on the list underpaid 16,000 workers £1.7m in back pay and have been fined £1.3m. The trade unions have asked for this publication in the past. However, the publication as such is not enough, or like the GMB said: the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s approach to naming and shaming minimum wage dodging employers is a poor substitute for prosecution.

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The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is a tool established by Eurofound for monitoring and analysing quality of life in the EU. Carried out in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2016, it documents the living conditions and social situation of European citizens. The latest edition reveals progress in quality of life from 2011 to 2016, with some dimensions having recovered to the pre-crisis levels of 2007. A decrease in material hardship and increase in satisfaction with standard of living occurred across all income quartiles in comparison to 2011. The level of difficulties in making ends meet is still higher in seven countries than it was before the crisis in 2007. In 11 countries, more than half of the population report difficulties in making ends meet. According to another tool, the TotallyMoney survey, Denmark has the best work/life balance in Europe. The survey looked at how much leisure time a typical worker has, factoring in other elements such as happiness or the cost of living. Denmark had a relatively short working week, along with plenty of bank holidays and a good holiday allowance. Compared to neighbours Sweden, the second ranked country, its average working week was 3.5 hours shorter, but with just 11, it had three fewer bank holidays.

Read on with the Eurofound survey: in English (1) … in English (2) … Survey TotallyMoney: in English …

The government plans to ban zero-hours contracts in most circumstances and strengthen rights for workers on insecure contracts and those working variable hours. The minister for employment and social protection said the draft legislation would significantly improve the employment protections for people who were in less secure arrangements, not by choice, and may not know from week to week what hours they will be working. She said the vast majority of employers treated their employees well and they should have nothing to fear from the new Bill. The trade union confederation Irish Congress of Trade Unions called the legislation by no means perfect and required some amendments but said it did represent progress. The employers’ group Ibec argued the legislation as drafted would have significant adverse consequences.

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The government published the minimum wage level that is applicable from 1 January 2018 on. It adopted a regulation increasing the minimum wage by 5% or a gross amount of HRK 163 (net HRK 131). The gross minimum wage will increase from HRK 3,276 to 3,439.80 (455 euro), which is a net amount of HRK 2,752 (364 euro). Thus, the minimum wage in 2018 will amount to 42.9% of the average wage. The Minimum Wage Act also envisages extra payments for work on Sundays and holidays and for overtime work. As a measure to compensate employers for the increase in the minimum wage, the government has proposed reducing, by 50%, the minimum rate for health insurance contributions, which are paid by employers.

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Trade union Unia has published a book that assesses the right to strike. In 2018, it will be 100 years ago that this right was legalised. Since 1999, the right to strike is also enshrined in the constitution. According to the authors, the right is topical than ever; they even speak of a strike-renaissance. The contributions focus especially on disputes and strikes since the early 2000s.

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A comprehensive study, in the frame of their ‘Collective decision-making barometer’ project, set up by the Work Research Institute and six trade unions has shown the importance of collective decision-making when changes or reorganisations within companies have to be implemented. Changes and reorganisations are far less conflict-prone if employees both participate in and have influence over the process. The study states the opposite of what seems to be the trend of more authoritarian leadership models, where standardisation and control are more important than employees’ participation.

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According to a report, published by statistical office ISTAT, one in three people (30% of the residents) are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The rate is much higher than the EU-average (at 23.5%). The results of the ISTAT-survey show on one side a relevant and widespread growth of the 2015 total household income at current and constant prices, on the other side an increase, in 2016, of the economic inequality and the risk of poverty or social exclusion. This indicates a worsening of the financial situation of a large part of the population. The income growth was the highest in the richest quintile of the population.

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Notwithstanding an announced 12% pay increase in public healthcare, the effect on the wage of skilled care workers is negligible. The anomaly is due to the manner in which the salaries are calculated. As the guaranteed minimum wage was adopted many skilled healthcare workers saw their pay improve as they were adjusted to the minimum wage of skilled workers in other sectors. However, much of the wage increase took the form of a payment supplement that bridged the gap between the low salaries of skilled healthcare workers and the guaranteed monthly minimum wage of HUF 161,000 (519 euro) in other sectors. Although the 12% increase applies to skilled healthcare workers as well, their salary has not reached the guaranteed minimum wage. But it gets closer to the guaranteed minimum wage and the government simply reduces the payment supplement. As a consequence, the remuneration of skilled healthcare workers stalls.

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