Collective Bargaining

Workers at archaeological sites and museums are involved in a constant dispute. The trade union of the Ministry of Culture employees (POE-YPPO) announced a 48-hour strike in July. Later on, the strike was called off after a meeting with the responsible ministry. The union said that no response from the ministry to the demands could have led to a (temporary) closure of the museums and archaeological sites. The union wanted the immediate hiring of 33 archaeologists and 200 specialized antiquities guards to cover the needs of museums and archaeological sites. It also had other demands such as resolving pending cases of the Expropriation of Archaeological Resources Fund and the Employee Solidarity Fund, along with safeguarding the rights of other workers in museums and archaeological sites such as cleaners and guards. The last protest in this row is a rally that has been scheduled to demand the payment of workers on short-term contracts.

English: http://www.ekathimerini.com/221203/article/ekathimerini/news ...

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/07/27/attica-museums-and-archaeological-sites …

http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/weekend-strike-to-shut-acropolis ...

Riders working for the food delivery company Deliveroo have staged protests in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Nantes to complain about changes to their pay. Deliveroo employs all riders as independent contractors, rather than as employees, meaning that they do not have rights such as the minimum wage or paid holidays. The company switched all its riders from 27 August 2017 to the same contract in which they are paid per delivery (between 5.0-5.75 euro) rather than an hourly rate. The riders say that this leads to pay losses of 20-30%. Their demands are 7.5 euro per delivery and a guaranteed minimum of two deliveries per hour.

English: http://en.rfi.fr/france/20170828-french-deliveroo-takeaway-food-riders-protest ...

Members of Danish and Norwegian unions Dansk Pilotforening (DPF), SAS-flygeres Forening (NSF) and SAS Norge Pilotforening (SNF) are threatening to walk out in September after failing to reach an agreement on how to interpret rules in a collective bargaining agreement. The dispute is about the pilots' schedules during peak seasons and how to interpret the collective agreement rules for pilots' working conditions.

English: https://www.thelocal.dk/20170828/scandinavian-pilots-threaten-autumn-strike

In his election manifesto president Macron pledged to use a special presidential decree to force through measures making it easier, among other things, for employers to hire and fire. He has a clear parliamentary majority, so the biggest menace to Macron’s plans comes from the unions and the street. Trade unions are very suspicious about the proposed labour law changes, which include capping industrial tribunal payments and allowing employers to negotiate with unions at local rather than national level – a threat to collective bargaining that is the motor of trade union power.

English: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/26/emmanuel-macron-reform ...

Workers at the baggage handling company Swissport have resumed work after a strike in protest against working conditions that caused dozens of flights to be cancelled. According to the trade unions a whole list of problems has to be tackled. The most important were the aim to change part-time contacts into full-time contracts and a bonus for the hard work during the summer holiday period. A draft agreement has been reached with the Swissport management. The negotiators also agreed on a calendar for further talks.

English: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News ...

McDonald's employees voted to strike in what would be the first industrial action taken against the fast-food chain. Staff at restaurants in Cambridge and in Crayford, south-east London, voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike amid concerns over working conditions and the use of zero-hour contracts. The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union said workers were demanding an hourly wage of at least £10 and more secure working hours alongside the recognition of the right to form a trade union as employees of the company. The workers coordinate with allies around the world.

English: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/21/mcdonalds-workers ...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/18/mcdonalds-employees-vote …

The government announced that from 1 January 2018, the minimum wage will be raised by 1.200 crowns to 12.200 CZK per month (467 euro). The minimum hourly rate will increase from 66 to 73.2 crowns. The aim is to structurally increase the minimum wage to the level of 40% of the average wage.

English: https://brnodaily.cz/2017/08/21/breaking-news/czech-minimum-wages-to-grow-again/

According to Statistics Estonia, the unemployment rate stood at 7%, the employment rate at 66.9% and the labour force participation rate at 72% in the 2nd quarter of 2017. The labour force participation rate reached its highest level for 20 years. Partly, this is the consequence of the fact that the number of working-age persons continued its slow decrease. The Unemployment Insurance Fund stated that of those registered as unemployed, 28% are people with reduced work capacity.

English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics ...

http://news.err.ee/606706/registered-unemployment-unchanged-at-4-6-percent-in-june

The prime minister made public that he will support the intention to raise the salaries of teachers by 15% and of the rest of the state sector employees by 10% in the talks of the government with trade unions. Other parties have raised their voice in the same direction. According to trade union confederation CMKOS, the change is to take effect in November 2017. The union finds the proposal, which apply for some 670,000 firefighters, policemen, teachers, carers, artists and other professions, reasonable and corresponding with the economic growth. The average gross monthly pay of a teacher was slightly under 28,000 crowns (1072 euro) in the first quarter of 2017.

English: http://praguemonitor.com/2017/08/16/czech-pm-supports-pay-rise ...

http://praguemonitor.com/2017/07/31/czech-parties-want-more-money-schools-teachers

Trade union GPF finalised the negotiations at ÖBB-Postbus. The one-year agreement includes a pay increase between 2.1 and 2.3%, with a minimum of 42 euro, per 1 September 2017. The negotiators, trade union reps and works council members, had formulated demands for a pay increase beyond inflation.

German: http://www.gpf.at/news ...