Collective Bargaining

The government will cover 45% of the gross wages for employees who return to work from technical unemployment, starting June 1. The facility will be available for three months. The government adopted this measure through an emergency ordinance in its meeting on May 28. Under the same emergency ordinance, the government will offer incentives for the employers who, from June 1 until the end of the year, hire people within specific age brackets who lost their jobs during the state of emergency or state of alert.

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An opinion article in the Irish Times advocates a ‘just transition’ approach – one that is equitable, fair, inclusive and sustainable in terms of its social, economic and ecological impact. This approach needs to be firmly embedded within government policy. According to the article, a just transition approach would afford all citizens access to the many opportunities that lie ahead in our increasingly innovative world.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic the government made a number of decisions to help create more flexible ways of entering the labour market. This includes amendments to the ‘Support for Unemployed Persons and Persons Seeking Employment Law’ which extended the period of time unemployed persons are allowed to work short-term seasonal jobs without losing their status.

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Thousands of workers in the municipal sector, including teachers, nurses and other healthcare workers, will be covered by a new collective agreement after unions and employers struck a deal. The agreement comes after long negotiations and means that staff, some of whom have been on the front line of the coronavirus epidemic, will see a pay increase of 3.04% in total over the course of a 23-month contract period, broadly in line with other public service employees.

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Air Malta has reached an agreement with the Union of Cabin Crew (UCC) which will see all cabin crew members retained by the company, including those with a temporary contract. The agreement envisages that cabin crew members maintain the same salary rate, but that they will have to sacrifice a number of hours and be paid only for the hours worked.

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The coronavirus pandemic is particularly impacting youth employment, National Statistic Office figures reveal. Around 10.8% of people aged under 25 were out of work in April, compared to 8.5% the previous year – an increase of 2.3 percentage points.

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There are now 4.5 million people out of work in France, the highest number seen since 1996. French job centres reported that an extra 1,065,200 people registered as category A job-seekers - people who have no employment at all - in April.

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The duration of the next package of measures to help companies get through the coronavirus crisis has been extended to four months to give more breathing space to negotiations on what should happen next. It is ‘crucial’ that employers and unions work together in the next phase. This is why the expiry date for the second support round has been extended by one month to October 1. Firms which get government support to help pay wages and then go on to dismiss at least 20 employees will have to pay a fine.

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At the end of March 2020, 14.2% of the working population was working from home, compared to 4.3% at the end of December 2019.

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Italy’s main film and TV industry organisations and trade unions have agreed on a set of production guidelines for filming as the country lifts coronavirus restrictions. The Italian sanitary security measures include: having a trained coronavirus safety specialist and doctor on set; social distancing in catering activities; and individual costumes for each performer, no matter how big their role is, as well as individual hair, makeup and microphone equipment.

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