Collective Bargaining

Industrial conglomerate Siemens announced thousands of job cuts worldwide, most of them in its fossil fuels division. The trade unions have reactive immediately and received backing from (certain) politicians. A total of 6,900 workers are set to lose their jobs, around half of them in Germany, where Siemens also plans to close sites in the country's economically weaker east. Trade union IG Metall Further has warned that site closures and layoffs will be met with ‘creative forms of resistance’, whilst the workers representatives have announced to resist job cuts, referring to the flourishing annual results.

Read on: in English …

The government has made a proposal to increase the monthly minimum wage to 510 leva (260 euro). The increase is announced as an 11% rise that will stimulate the labour market activity and improve both the incomes of low-paid and the purchasing power. In the same week, the government said that pensioners whose pensions are no more than 321 leva (the poverty line) will receive a 40 leva Christmas bonus. Statistical data show that around 1,243,000 pensioners will receive this Christmas allowances.

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

An investigation by NGO Caritas on the income position of youngsters, finalised in September 2017, is now online. The report describes the main challenges related to poverty and social inclusion among young people and provides recommendations for policy makers to address these challenges, based on an analysis of practical experiences and official data. Half of all children (51%) are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Social benefits frequently do not ensure a sufficient level of basic income for a decent living. The in-work poverty rate is very high (up to 21.4%, against a EU-average of 9.5%). Young people coming from low-income families risk not being able to continue their studies, and so perpetuate their poverty status within their own families.

Read on: in English …

Teachers started strike activities against activities they consider not to be included in their job descriptions, such as the extra tuition given to students. Their nationwide strike, which unions described as ‘the biggest of the decade’, saw thousands of teachers stay away from the classroom, forcing hundreds of schools to close. The action is to protest against successive freezes placed on teaching careers, spanning almost a decade, from 31 August 2005 to 31 December 2007, and again from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2018. These freezes have seen teachers stopped from following what would otherwise have been an automatic career progression, organically climbing the ranks with time and experience, and losing out on pay rises.

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

Staff at 0043zech banks and insurance offices have declared a state of strike alert over their pay conditions. The OSPPP banking and insurance workers trade union announced the move in response to what they say is the unwillingness of their employers to agree to an acceptable collective agreement. A spokesperson for the union said protests would be held at individual banks and insurance offices. The OSPPP has around 8,000 members in a sector in which tens of thousands are employed.

Read on: in English …

Workers attached tags on garments that were sold in shops of fashion retailer Zara. The tags indicated that workers had not been paid for the merchandise, saying ‘I made this item you are going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it’. The desperate notes drew shoppers’ attention and put pressure on Zara’s parent company, Inditex, for the solving of outstanding wage payments. The workers were employed by subcontractor Bravo Tekstil that served as a supplier for Zara, along with other European-based labels like Mango and Next. The manufacturer closed down overnight, took all the money the fashion companies had paid and disappeared. He left the workers with three months of unpaid wages and severance allowance. The action had success as it came out that Zara was willing to create a fund for the reimbursement of unpaid wages, severance pay and unused vacation time.

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

The Parliament discusses surcharges and other work-related measures from the so-called ‘social package’, the ruling coalition’s social proposals and draft bills. The package features, for instance, 13th and 14th month payments, an increase in minimum wage, exempting working pensioners from the payment of income taxes and an increase in bonuses for night and weekend work. In a draft revision to the Labour Code some MPs propose to increase surcharges for night work from the current 20% to 50% of the minimum wage, i.e. from €0.50 extra per hour to €1.25 per hour as of May 2018. According to the government, about 250,000 people work night shifts, which, when compared to the size of the population, is an absolute record. The revision of the Labour Code will also include a ban on social dumping.

Read on: in English …

A dispute at electricity company EAC, which led to a strike announcement, has been settle by a compromise that made the trade unions call off the strike. In a two-hour meeting at the presidential palace between the facility’s trade unions and government representatives the negotiators managed to come to an arrangement that will be worked out in common between the unions and the EAC’s board. The unions’ main demand was that EAC should remain a competitive concern and a strong business that constantly improves. Therefore, EAC has to continue operating as a single nationalised enterprise, moving away from any legal unbundling. However, one key dispute is not solved, which is that the government wants to make the Transmission System Operator – which monitors transmission and production at EAC – a fully autonomous agency.

Read on: in English …

A report, published by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, provides evidence that, from 2011 to 2015, the proportion of poor increased from 7.7 percent to 9.3 percent of the population. By using the EU poverty line (those who earn less than 60 percent of the media income), the report ‘Poverty and living conditions in Norway’ describes that the proportion of low income is increasing over time and income differentials increase, with the rich getting richer. The report shows that real income for the poor in practice stood still in the period 2012 to 2015, so the gap between the wealthiest and the rest of the population has increased.

Read on: in English … The report with graphs and data, in Norwegian …

The government took a stand in the debate on the necessary increase of the minimum wage, in a statement that said that the minimum wage will grow moderately in 2018. According to the prime minister, the minimum wage will increase consistently by around 5%. He referred to an agreement at the Tripartite Council that this would not be a political decision, that the minimum wage would be tied to the average wage and would not exceed 50% (of the average wage). The government decided in October 2017 to increase the minimum monthly wage by 20 euro to 400 euro in January 2018. In July 2017 it was last raised to 380 euro.

Read on: in English …