Collective Bargaining

On the occasion of the Swiss Education Day, teachers’ unions demanded that efforts be made by employers to improve their health protection, with the slogan ‘Healthy Schools - Good Schools’. The unions presented a joint position with demands, which would oblige the employer to contribute to improved health protection for teachers. A study commissioned by the trade union LCH shows that 70% of German teachers work part-time, one third of them for health reasons. In the spring of 2017, a study commissioned by the union SER revealed that almost 37% of teachers have reduced their teaching time in the past five years, mostly for health reasons or to reduce their workload. A third study demonstrated that normative injuries caused by inadequate room conditions, air and light quality as well as a constantly high interaction density can have a negative impact on the students’ well-being and performance. According to fourth study, the incidence of teachers for professional reasons amounts to 37.6 million Swiss francs (32,8 million euro) annually.

Read on: in English … The joint position (in German) …

All public service trade unions will join hands in central government administrations, municipal town halls, public care institutions and hospitals. The workers fight for better pay. They oppose plans to scrap ten thousands of jobs and reject the privatisation of public services. The opposition of the workers against the plans of the government are well rooted in the day to day experience at workplaces. And each crisis shows how essential public service workers are to maintain good governance and administration and provide health, energy, water and so many other services we rely upon in our societies.

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Following votes across all the public-sector unions, a majority of the unions, accounting for 80% by membership, supports the new agreement on pay and conditions. The three-year deal includes six pay increases (two targeted at the lower paid only) and will mean that the majority of public sector workers (73%) will see an overall increase of 7% by the end of the agreement. There is a range of other conditions that have been confirmed as part of the deal including the retention of outsourcing protections, the option to negotiate on returning to a shorter working week and provisions on work-life balance.

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A Global Labour Column is dedicated to the struggle of casual teaching staff from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. With their Fractionals for Fair Play (FFFP) campaign, they won an impressive victory against precarious working conditions and indecently low pay. The achieved deal, which represents a significant improvement not only in terms of remuneration but also in the way it promises to overcome an identified mechanism of exploitation, marks a crucial step in the struggle against casualisation in higher education. The campaign’s latest outcome and the way it was organised may provide inspiration for worldwide campaigns against the marketisation of universities and the deterioration of jobs which comes with it.

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Several unions get ready for the next round of collective bargaining as a long list of major collective agreements are due for renewal this autumn. The question concerning the level of pay rise is still open. The paper workers' trade union started first, with a collective agreement expiring at the end of September. The union said after a first round that all the original demands of both sides are all still on the negotiation table. The next major fields to negotiate will be the technology industry, the graphical and the chemical industry. Negotiations in the export industries are important for all unions, as they are expected to set a general ceiling for pay rises.

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Municipal trade union HK Kommunal collected ideas among the membership for the new round of collective bargaining. The union also launched a special webpage with a time schedule and other information about the process. Over 7000 contributions with 20000 suggestions have been submitted to the union covering a wide range of pay and conditions. Some of the key issues highlighted by the union include the need to maintain competence funds that provide for education and training and the call for action to tackle stress. Time off to deal with care responsibilities is a common demand, particularly from workers with caring responsibilities for older people. There are varied opinions on pay with some calling for a general wage increase for all while others see local pay deals as important.

Read on: in English … the webpage dedicated to the negotiations (in Danish) …

Driven by the recovery of exports and investment as well as strong private consumption, real GDP growth is expected to strengthen from 2% in 2016 to around 4% in 2017 and 2018. However, poverty and the gap in health status between rich and poor households are among the highest in the OECD countries. Poor health outcomes and limited access to care undermines inclusion, employment and growth: according to official estimations, around 7% of the labour force were out of work in 2015 due to illness, injury or disability.

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Fourteen health sector trade unions, representing over one million members, submitted a joint pay claim to the government. Pay negotiations in the sector are normally carried out in a special pay review body that includes employer and trade union representatives. However, the unions decided to bypass this mechanism and ask the government directly for extra funding in next year's budget for health workers' pay. The basic claim would be an increase in line with inflation plus £800 (910 euro). The unions joined together to ask for the increase, saying pay has fallen by 15% since 2010, once inflation is taken into account.

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The OECD survey provide several interesting figures. The country performs well in recent years, and the economy is expected to grow by more than 4 percent in 2017. But the development of income and earnings of workers lag behind. Poverty (at 15.5%, compared to OECD average of 11.5%) and income inequality are among the highest in the OECD and around a quarter of the population is still at risk of poverty. An adequate social safety net should be implemented, including increased spending on subsistence benefits, relaxed eligibility conditions for unemployment benefits, and extended parental leave for fathers.

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The trade union confederation LANV has formulated its pay demands for the next bargaining round. The union comes up with a range from 1 to 2% pay increases, depending on the sector and branch. The union is in favour of nominal increases, in order to not widen the gap between high and low-income earners. Other demands are longer holidays for elderly, reaching in the long term to 5 weeks at the age of 50 years.

Read on: in German …