Dockers' unions have agreed to cancel the first five days of a planned walkout over a government reform package that deregulates the nation's ports sector. The strike was scheduled to begin on 24 May 2017, but the unions have reached a framework agreement with port employers association Anesco. They are hopeful that further talks will resolve the impasse without the need for full-day strikes. As part of the negotiations, the unions have agreed to accept wage cuts of up to 10 percent for almost all workers. They are willing to accept a national collective agreement and a reduction of wages, provided it guarantees 100 percent of employment. In return, Anesco agreed to continue representing the port sector in collective bargaining, a matter of some contention among its members. If it had decided to stop, the unions would have had to negotiate on a port-by-port, employer-by-employer basis. Collective bargaining negotiations will resume on June 1, and Anesco predicted a ‘complex process’ to forge an agreement that satisfies its membership.
English: http://maritime-executive.com/article/spanish-longshore-unions-postpone-strike
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Air company AUA has agreed on a job security and social plan for technicians and ground staff that will run (at least) till 2023. In return, workers have accepted a modest 0.9% pay increase for 2016. This is just enough to cover inflation. The workforce accepted the deal in a workers’ meeting. The social plan aims to settle decent smaller restructurings in the company.
German: http://www.oegb.at/cms/S06/S06_0.a/1342578629871/home/kv-einigung ...
http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/wirtschaft/oesterreich/893976_AUA-gibt ...
2,300 employees of the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organisation returned to work on 24 May 2017, following a 10-day walkout after government officials reassured them they would receive some of their outstanding wages within the day. In a statement, the leader of the trade union said employees had gone back to work but would resume their action if the government fails to honour pledges to pay wages for March and April 2017.
English: http://www.ekathimerini.com/218686/article/ekathimerini/news/thessaloniki ...
Energy firms operating offshore have agreed on a wage deal for 2017 with the two largest trade unions representing oil and gas workers, while talks with a smaller union will continue at a later stage under mandatory mediation rules. Industri Energi and Safe, representing some 87% of the oil workers, said the outcome of the talks was disappointing, but added they had nevertheless accepted it as they did not have the right to go on strike this year due to a clause in last year's agreement. Lederne, a third union representing some 13% of oil and gas workers or about 1,000 people, does have the right to go on strike, and said it had rejected the oil firms' offer. Under Norwegian law, the talks involving Lederne will now proceed to a state mediator, which must be conducted before any strike is allowed.
English: http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-most-norwegian-oil-workers-agree ...
Days after the election of the new president, several activists, unionists and students took the streets giving a clear signal to the start of Macron's presidency. A few weeks later, Macron invited employers and trade unions for a first meeting. His first major agenda item is the overhauling of the labour code, an item that led to massive street protests in 2016, resulting in the watering down of several measures. The reforms caused a deep rift within society, leaving the government to bypass parliament to ram through the law. Unions criticise a hasty reform and fear a rat race between companies resulting in social dumping practices.
English: https://www.thelocal.fr/20170523/macron-opens-labour-reform-talks ...
The government jobs agency UWV published an analysis of the perspectives in the banking sector. After considerable job losses in recent years, a further 12,600 financial sector jobs are set to disappear in 2017 and 2018. Between 2012 and 2016, 27,000 finance sector jobs disappeared, as banks closed branches and switched to internet-based services. At the same time, UWV signals a shortage of finance sector specialists and IT technicians, with some 26,000 vacancies, but most are for people with university or college degrees. Low-skilled jobs will remain under pressure.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/05/fewer-finance-sector-jobs-but ...
Factsheet (in Dutch): https://www.uwv.nl/overuwv/Images/factsheet-financiele ...
The new so-called ‘equal pay law’ requires companies with 25 employees or more to guarantee that male and female employees are being paid the same wages for the same work. While the law was rife with grumblings and objections from some male MPs, it turns out that most citizens support the measure. According to a poll from Market and Media Research, 60.1% of those surveyed were either very supportive (36.3%) or rather supportive (23.8%) of the law. By contrast, only 20.8% were either rather against (8.4%) or very against (12.4%) it, with the remaining 19.2% decidedly neutral on the subject. However, another gender issue is still not satisfactory solved. The number of women sitting on corporate boards, or holding executive positions failed to increase between 2016-2017. Currently women make up 25.9% of board members. In 2013, a law was passed mandating all companies with 50 or more employees to have at least 40% of its board members female. The number of female executive effectively stood still during the period, increasing from 21.9% to 22.1%. There are no penalties for companies that fail to meet the gender quota
English: https://grapevine.is/news/2017/05/23/no-increase-in-number-of-female-board …
https://grapevine.is/mag/articles/2017/05/05/poll-most-icelanders-support-equal-pay-law/
The government has banned trade union Kristal-İş from taking strike action against multinational glass manufacturer Şişecam. The strike action, which was due to commence on 24 May 2017, covers 5,700 workers at nine factories. The strike was banned on the grounds that it is ‘prejudicial to national security’. The union said that the strike was over wages as the company Şişecam has increased its profits by 164 per cent, but offered a derisory pay increase. The government issued a decree under Act 6356 on Trade Unions and Collective Labour Agreement banning the strike. The decree is followed by a 60-day ‘postponement period’ for negotiations, where the parties have to agree. In practice, this means that there is no chance to continue the strike after the 60-day period. The union stated that strikes are a vehicle it will not hesitate to use when it is necessary to defend decent wages and working conditions.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/turkish-government-bans-glass-sector-strike
In the latest European semester country recommendations, the European Commission urges the Dutch government to tackle the high increase in self-employment by reducing ‘tax distortions’ favouring self-employment. The recent employment growth can be largely attributed to an increase in the number of people employed on temporary contracts or as self-employed. In total, almost 800,000 people rely solely or mainly on income from freelancing. Self-employed are more often under-insured against disability, unemployment and old age. This could affect the sustainability of the social security system in the long run.
English: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/2017-european-semester-country-specific …
The European Commission published the 2017 country-specific recommendations, setting out its economic policy guidance for individual Member States for the next 12 to 18 months. The economy in the EU and the euro area is proving resilient, but challenges remain, such as slow productivity growth, the legacies of the crisis, including persisting inequalities, and uncertainty arising from external factors. The Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, said that addressing inequality is firmly at the heart of the assessment. Productivity increases should be reflected by higher wages. The ETUC called it progress that the European Commission is calling for more public investment and higher wages in some countries.
English: https://www.etuc.org/press/european-semester-spring-package-2017 …
The recommendations: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2017-european-semester …