Sixteen months after 8 trade unionists were acquitted of criminal charges for having taken part in the 2010 general strike against austerity, two union representatives face prison terms of up to 7 years for their participation in the general strike of 2012. On July 7, UGT shop stewards Rubén Ranz and José Manuel Nogales will be tried under Article 315.3 of the criminal code, a legislative vestige of the Franco era which the government has revived. Trade unions UGT and CC.OO have started a campaign to defend the right to strike.
English: http://www.iuf.org/w/?q=node/5608
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The head of the Icelandic Airline Pilots’ Association states that Icelandair's decision to lay off 115 pilots this fall does not bode well for wage negotiations. The pilots’ contracts will expire in September. Icelandair has laid off at least 115 pilots and had also notified 70 captains that they would be demoted to pilots next winter, due to seasonal fluctuations in demand. Around 520 pilots work for Icelandair. Competing domestic airline carrier WOW Air, has expressed a willingness to hire the pilots who recently received letters of termination from Icelandair. The Pilots’ Association lamented Icelandair’s poor human resources policy and claimed that the move is all about saving money. It will certainly not positively influence the bargaining talks.
English: http://icelandreview.com/news/2017/06/26/icelandair-laying-115-pilots
A strike picket line has been organised at the Segal factory in Flémalle. Segal is a sister manufacturer to Eurogal, the galvanising line of Arcelor Mittal, owned by Tata Steel. Workers at the company, which produces some 600,000 tonnes of galvanised steel annually are demanding a wage increase. This follows a reorganisation of the work structure as a result of an investment of twenty million euros, to increase the production line by 30,000 tonnes. Trade unions said that discussions were scheduled to resume with the management to finding a solution which both parties agree on.
English: http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/8576/flemalle-segal-staff-on-strike
The airport operator ANA has warned that security controls are expected to be slower because of striking workers. Workers from the security companies Prosegur and Securitas who ensure the security checks are striking. The aviation and airports trade union (SITAVA) demands collective bargaining, a career with dignity and the improvement of working conditions. As a result of exponential passenger growth, the safety has decreased and workers don’t have a decent share of the increased profit.
English: http://theportugalnews.com/news/airport-security-workers-threaten …
The OECD published a report that documents livings standards, earnings and wealth concentration. The country is an egalitarian society in international comparison, and has managed to combine equity with economic efficiency. Rapidly rising inequality and relative poverty from a historical low in the 1980s partly stem from ageing, changing family structures and migration. Living standards increased for all groups, but social benefits rose less than earned income. Incomes of newly-arrived immigrants and single mothers trailed the median. Bottlenecks in the migrant settlement process are costly to migrants and society. A second report looks after gender equality. Women have a high employment rate, outperform men in education and are well represented in government and parliament. Nevertheless, wage differences between genders persist and women are under-represented on private company boards.
English: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver …
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download …
The First Hall of the Civil Courts, in its constitutional jurisdiction, said in a landmark verdict that the legislation concerning workers handling asbestos was not sufficient to protect workers and as a result was a breach to their right to life. The case was initiated by a widow whose husband worked as a fitter at the Malta Drydocks and he together with his colleagues was exposed to asbestos for many years. Workers became aware of the danger of asbestos without the support of their employer and the legislation was not strong enough to protect them. There was sufficient evidence that asbestos was dangerous from 1960, but in Malta the authorities took action in the 1990s. The court ordered that the family be given €9,000 in compensation.
English: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/business/law_report/78220/legislation_failed …
Trade union BBTK says that Brussels Airlines is outsourcing a series of flights, leading to non-compliance with social regulations. Brussels Airlines is collaborating with the Irish company CityJet for some flights. This company sub-contracts the cabin staff management function to the company Nobox. According to BBTK, workers are not entering into contracts meeting Belgian legislation and Nobox is not respecting the minimum wage either. The unions are calling for dialogue and threatening strike action.
English: http://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/8569/brussels-airlines-accused …
The website Social Europe has paid attention to inequality in Europe. In an inequality report of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the authors illustrate their work with tables and data. Income inequality in the European Union has barely changed for a number of years. Neither improvements like those before 2009 nor a substantial worsening have been observed. However, this applies only to relative inequality, which indicates the income of richer people, regions and countries as a multiple of that of poorer ones. If one looks at the absolute differences between the highest and the lowest incomes, however, an alarming increase in inequality is to be observed in Europe. In the fifth episode of Social Europe Talk from the European Parliament in Brussels the panellists discuss inequality in Europe.
English: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files …
Social talk: https://www.socialeurope.eu/2017/06/inequality-europe …
Due to the economic crisis, more than half a million people left the country in the years 2008-2016 in search of labour. Top destination was Germany, followed by Great Britain and France. There was also a substantial internal migration, with some 383,000 people leaving the southern regions and moving to the northern and centre regions. The decrease in the total number of inhabitants continued in 2016: the overall balance showed an important drop (-76,106 citizens).
English: http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/249475/half-million-left-italy …
https://www.istat.it/en/files/2017/06/EN_National_demographic_balance2016 …
The European social partners of the Metal, Engineering and Technology-based (MET) industries formulated a joint statement that calls for swift, ambitious action to be taken in the field of vocational education and training in order to guarantee VET becomes a First-Class option. Prompt action should also be taken to address the lack of digital skills in Europe, to ensure the continued competitiveness of the MET sector and the sustainability of its jobs at a time of fast-paced transformation.
English: http://www.ceemet.org/sites/default/files/ceemet_industriall …