Two researchers associated to the London School of Economics published an election analysis report on real wages and living standards. Since the global financial crisis of 2007/08, workers’ real wages and family living standards in the UK have suffered to an extent unprecedented in modern history. The research, presented with data and figures, shows that real wages of the typical (median) worker have fallen by almost 5% since 2008, while real family incomes for families of working age have just about recovered to pre-crisis levels. Almost all groups of individuals and families – with the exception of minimum wage workers and pensioners – are no better off on average than they were in 2008.
English: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/06/01/whats-happening-with-real-wages …
The report: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download …
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The annual report 2017, as published by the statistical office, includes a detailed section on wages, employment and labour market developments. The data demonstrate the dependency on foreign workers; more than half of the persons employed do not actually live there. The economy is dominated by the services sector (60.9% of the total employment) and the services sector also pays the highest average gross wages.
English: http://www.llv.li/files …
The government approved a directive that will lead to an improvement of the wages of social and education workers. The salaries of social workers will rise by 23 percent as from July 2017, and those of culture employees and the non-teaching staff in the sphere of education by 9.4 percent. The trade union movement have demanded this already over a longer period of time. The poor wages resulted in restricted social services as thousands of people to look after seniors and the disabled were lacking.
English: http://praguemonitor.com/2017/06/01/salaries-social-services-rise-23-july
An alternative proposal for a complete revision of the French Labour Code that was published in March 2017 by a group of legal experts known as the Research Group for a Different Labour Code (GR-PACT) is now summarised in English. The proposal aims to make the law leaner and more accessible, but also to adapt it to today’s’ challenges and to preserve and strengthen certain important historical achievements. The starting point is to provide a readily understandable labour law, in the belief that ‘an incomprehensible law should be considered as non-acceptable in today's democratic society’.
English: http://englishbulletin.adapt.it/wp-content/uploads/2017 …
Living and working in Europe, the 2016 Yearbook of Eurofound resumes developments and trends as described in the research activities of Eurofound. Chapter 2 (Win-win workplace practices) is dedicated to several bargaining related developments. With collective bargaining increasingly decentralised to company level, Eurofound initiated research that sheds a light on what constitutes well-functioning social dialogue at this level, how negotiations are conducted and how that affects outcomes. To examine in greater detail how companies achieve win–win outcomes, Eurofound selected 20 companies of different sizes from different sectors and countries that had been through a negotiation process to tackle various challenges.
English: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default ...
Interactive presentation: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/yearbook/
The labour inspectorate discovered a serious breach of working arrangements and pay during an inspection of a restaurant. The workers, all of them from a local asylum seeker reception centre, kept the establishment operational for months and had been paid nothing. The working arrangement had not been set up through the national employment agency, but via an unofficial work-practice programme based on the Finnish Red Cross' temporary employment scheme aimed to help asylum seekers integrate more quickly. The inspectors found similar working arrangements at a few other restaurants, at a barber shop and at least one retail shop. The inspectorate fears these incidents could be just the tip of the iceberg of a broader problem.
English: http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/inspector_shocked_by_restaurant ...
The Central Statistical Office (KSH) released data showing that 105,000 more citizens are currently working in the primary labour market than at this time in 2016, while the number of public workers decreased by 11,000, and the number of Hungarians working abroad dropped by 9,000. Employment statistics are often criticised for being inflated by the controversial public work program, whereby unemployed people undertake menial tasks such as digging ditches, sweeping streets, or service and delivery activities, often for less than minimum wage. However, recent data on public work released by the KSH suggests that the number of those engaging in public work is on the decrease. The increase in those workers in the primary labour market coupled with fewer public workers suggests actual job growth in 2016.
English: http://budapestbeacon.com/news-in-brief/105000-hungarians-employed-year ...
Hundreds of schools and hospitals across the country were shut or offered minimum services as public sector workers went on a one-day strike to pressure the minority government for more wage increases than it has offered so far. The left-leaning government has reversed some of the austerity measures of the previous administration, trimming taxes and increasing wages and pensions in a bid to boost growth, but also kept up budget discipline and slashed the deficit in 2016 to its lowest mark in more than four decades. However, wages in the public sector remain low and workers end up working more and in long-hours shifts.
English: http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/public-sector-strike-on-friday-will-hit ...
A broad trade union front from UGT, CC.OO and USO unions released a joint statement warning that baggage handlers and other staff at the Malaga airport are prepared to organise a series of strikes should state airport manager Aena fail to discuss plans of staff cuts and a lack of pay rises with them. Several years of salary cuts and amendments to workers’ rights are, in the union view, unacceptable given the airport’s booming finances. According to official figures, Aena ended 2016 with a 1.16 billion euro net profit.
English: https://www.rtnnewspaper.com/2017/05/stand-off-airport-staff-warn ...
A widening pay gap that has been signalled by the statistical office between public and private wages has prompted warnings from business lobby groups. The latest earnings data from the Central Statistics Office show average weekly earnings rose 1.4% to 723 euro in the first quarter of 2017. They also reveal the differential in weekly pay between the public (916 euro) and private sector (669 euro) now stands at 247 euro, a rise of 4 euro on the corresponding period in 2016. The Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) warned against ‘unjustifiable’ public-sector pay increases. The trade unions pointed out that the differential between public- and private-sector pay reflects the high number of poorly paid staff in the services and hospitality sector, and that the comparison is therefore unjust.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/weekly-public-private-sector-pay ...