Collective Bargaining

The trade unions launched several days of strikes and protests in a row against planned labour reforms. The changes to the labour code, which runs to around 3,400 pages in some editions, give small businesses more flexibility to negotiate pay and conditions with their staff, instead of being bound by national agreements. They also make it easier to lay off employees and cap compensation awards for unfair dismissal while also giving higher pay-outs to workers made redundant. Trade union CGT published a position with four main areas of criticism.

Read on: in English (1) … in English (2) … the CGT position …

Nurses started a five-day strike to ask for better pay and an improvement of the working time. The government reacted by calling the strike that affected several specialised services illegal. After the strike, there were efforts made to find a way out. So far meetings with the trade unions ended without agreement. There is still openness to continue talks with a view to understanding the future of the career structure of nursing professionals. The existing career structure negotiated in 2009 was under public discussion for two years (2003 and 2004) with dozens of meetings, in all institutions and across the country.

Read on: in English …

The signing of a memorandum of understanding between Tata Steel and the ThyssenKrupp AG led to reactions in several involved countries. Thousand steel workers took to the streets of Bochum in Germany’s industrial heartland to protest against the deal, which would include up to 4,000 job cuts, about 8% of the combined workforce. Opposition from ThyssenKrupp’s workforce could mean prolonged negotiations with management and delay the approval of the plan by the supervisory board, scheduled for early next year. Thyssenkrupp stated that it will set up a joint working group of board members and workers representatives to help implement the plan to merge with Tata Steel, after a supervisory board meeting.

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

Trade union 3F has published a commissioned analysis of the local practices with regard to public procurement and labour clauses. In the Social dumping report, 3Fconcludes that the cities of Odense and Gentofte perform best among the municipalities that check if contractors comply with pay and working conditions. Overall, the application of social clauses has improved; in 2014 social clauses were used by 47% of all municipalities, this has increased to 51% in 2017. The union stated that public authorities should be obliged to apply social clauses in all outsourced public works, independent from the contract size.

Read on: in Danish … the report (in Danish) …

The minimum monthly salary will grow by 20 euro to 400 euro, as of January 2018. This is the result of talks in the Tripartite Council. The final decision must be endorsed by the government. The Tripartite Council also agreed that the future increase of the minimum will be linked with the size of the average salary – it will have to be between 45 and 50% of average monthly salary. Minimum wages will be reviewed once a year.

Read on: in English …

The main public-sector unions in the CCOO and UGT confederations are calling on the government to improve its pay offer for the next three years. The current offer provides a guarantee for a 5.34% increase (1.5% in 2018, 1.75% in 2019 and 2.0% in 2020). However, this could reach 8% overall if target growth in economic output (GDP) is reached, along with a further target for deficit reduction. The unions want to see guaranteed increases that would begin to make up for the significant loss of purchasing power of public sector workers. The unions also want to see progress on working hours and an end to the replacement rates that restrict recruitment.

Read on: in Spanish …

An article on Equal Times looks at the impact of the rise of big stores. Every time a supermarket chain or a shopping centre moves into an area, the same argument is used to legitimise it: job creation. However, this argument conceals the jobs destroyed when the arrival of a supermarket drives out traditional local retailers. There is also a qualitative shift in the jobs provided: a share of the people hired go from being small independent shop owners to being salaried employees who depend on these major companies for their livelihoods. It is not a question of idealising traditional small retailers, but about holding to account the big companies responsible for ever-declining labour rights.

Read on: in English …

In recent months, there has been a plea for substantial wage increases. The employers’ organisation has reacted with a statement that employers see a ‘potential’ for an average 3% pay rise in 2018. However, the organisation is not in favour of a general increase and wants the sectors and unions to talk to each other. Trade union FNV published a demand for an average increase of 3.5% to be achieved in the coming bargaining round.

Read on: in English …

In reaction to a ETUI-report on (large) differences in net monthly wages in Europe, the Alliance of Independent Unions said the low ranking of the country was the result of own decisions. If the country stays among the group with the lowest paid workers in the EU, prospects for the future will be poor. Low wages result in low investment in training, education and research, and a low level of innovation. Employment is only growing in the group of poorly paid jobs, with high risk of substitution by robots in the near future.

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The trade unions at the country’s largest exporter, carmaker Škoda Auto, say they will push for double-digit pay rises in collective bargaining with the management. This autumn, the collective bargaining negotiations will be characterised by debates on flexible shifts and working schemes, with additional work on Friday night and Saturday morning. Agreements on working time will expire. The unions are awaiting proposals from the management and will consider industrial action if they fail to reach a pay increase in double-digits.

Read on: in English …