Collective Bargaining

Hotel and restaurant employees walked off work on 20 July 2017 to protest against the government’s labour reforms. Hundreds of workers in the tourism sector gathered in central Athens as part of a strike against reforms that will allow ‘flexible’ forms of work and a lower minimum wage: the workers say that the reform will weaken collective agreements that protect workers. Union officials complained that employers in large hotels are forcing workers to sign contracts with extremely low wages and exhausting working hours.

English: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Greek-Hotel-Workers-Strike ...

Thousands of secondary teachers who are members of the Association of Secondary Teachers (ASTI) have received salary increases worth thousands of euro. This follows the trade union’s vote to suspend its long-running campaign of industrial action in June 2017. Most union members have seen their annual salaries increase by between €1,796 and €2,500. The union’s decision to suspend industrial action paved the way for the restoration of payments which were frozen since the ASTI voted to cease working additional hours.

English: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/thousands-of-secondary-teachers …

This background paper is a contribution by Eurofound to the Informal Employment and Social Affairs Council under the Estonian EU-Presidency of the Council. Above and beyond legislative measures, collective bargaining plays an important role as a regulatory instrument, including at the company level. Clauses on work-life balance issues in collective agreements are more prevalent in countries where collective bargaining coverage is relatively high (80% and higher) and – generally speaking – less prevalent or non-existent in countries with lower collective bargaining coverage. The report includes tables that illustrate this.

English: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites ...

The research institute TNO, commissioned by trade union FNV, published a report on unpaid overtime. One of the conclusion is that employees work, on average, three hours in unpaid overtime. The FNV reacted on the findings and said that employers receive an annual €20bn ‘gift’ from their staff in the form of unpaid overtime. If unpaid overtime work carried out by the seven million employed in the country was converted into full-time jobs, unemployment would be cut by half.

English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/07/fnv-trade-union ...

The report in Dutch: http://www.monitorarbeid.tno.nl/dynamics/modules ...

The Low Pay Commission is recommending an increase in the national hourly minimum wage of 30 cents to 9.55 euro. More than 120,000 workers would benefit from the recommendation. A 30 cent per hour rise would be three times the level of increase recommended by the commission in 2016 and accepted by the Government. The 10-cent rise was strongly criticised by trade unions at the time as inadequate.

English: https://www.djei.ie/en/News-And-Events/Department-News/2017/July …

The report: http://www.lowpaycommission.ie/publications/national …

Almost 6,000 civil servants working at local governments went on strike at more than 100 settlements across the country demanding wage raises. The trade union of Hungarian Employees of the Public Sector (MKKSZ) organised the strike to complain that civil servants have not received any wage raises in the past nine years. The strike was called for after negotiations between the representatives of the union and the government failed. The trade union wants a 25% pay rise as a first step in a three-year program.

English: https://bbj.hu/economy/hungarian-civil-servants-go-on-strike …

Over 600 family physicians in Latvia went on a strike on 3 July 2017 and will not be providing any government-funded health care services to their patients until an agreement is reached with the government on their demands. One of the family physicians’ demands is to raise the present capitation by 30%. The Latvian Association of Family Physicians rejected the latest deal proposed by the Prime Minister and the Health Minister and will carry on with the strike, but in a different form, considering the situation with their patients. The Association says that nothing has changed and that proposals that had been agreed at a meeting have not been included. Under the agreement proposed by the government, the monthly salary for family physicians would be raised by 150 euro.

English: https://www.baltictimes.com/family_physicians …

BT Italia workers have announced a strike over the company's plans to cut 202 jobs. A joint press release from the Slc-cgil, Fistel-cisl and Uilcom-uil unions said a strike will be held by the entire workforce, after the parties failed to reach an agreement following meetings at the employment ministry. BT's troubled Italian unit announced an industrial plan to improve efficiency and identify new growth areas around 8 months after the parent company first revealed financial irregularities at BT Italia.

English: https://www.telecompaper.com/news/bt-italia-workers-to-strike-over-job-cuts …

The OECD published the results of its survey with thematic chapters on digitalisation and on the inclusive labour market. Employment has expanded, driven by rising participation of women and elderly and by immigration, although hours worked per worker have declined. Nonetheless, like in most OECD countries, productivity has slowed. The country’s transition to a digital economy and society is progressing but is slower than in the most advanced economies. A whole-of-government approach should help embrace change and facilitate the flourishing of innovative businesses, work practices and lifestyles.

English: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/economics …

A trade union leader has rejected calls to relax a proposal to ban shopping throughout the country on Sundays and urged its passage through parliament. He argued that the proposal tabled by the Solidarity union and several other organisations in parliament last year ‘has already undergone a far-reaching metamorphosis’, and the number of exceptions to a prohibition has since been expanded. The trade union made it absolutely clear that it did not agree to any further concessions.

English: http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul ...