According to the trade union FLAI-CGIL around 420,000 workers are illegally employed and exploited in intensive farming across the country. Workers are by employed by gangs on a seasonal basis: summer means being in Puglia, where plants are heavy with plump, red tomatoes; during the winter, they move to Calabria to harvest oranges; and in the spring, workers move to Pachino, Sicily, to pick cherry tomatoes. Mbaye Ndiaye, a Senegalese founder of Ghetto Out/Casa Sankara, is fighting forced labour through a local organisation in Apulia committed to moving workers out of the ghettoes and into its farmhouse. The organisation helps migrants find decent work with local farmers who are willing to pay fair wages.
English: https://www.equaltimes.org/red-gold-and-blood-money-the-fight ...
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The government promised to discuss new social measures with both sides of the industry, according to Labour and Social Affairs Minister Jan Richter. This was said in an official reaction to criticism made by employer associations AZZZ and RUZ, which expressed earlier their reservations concerning the package of social measures proposed by the governing parties and the lack of real social dialogue. Richter stressed he is absolutely interested in continuing a high-quality social dialogue. The minister claims he has already discussed some measures about reforming the Labour Code with the social partners (both trade unions, employers) and that they might agree with some of them. The social package under preparation includes faster increase in the minimum wage, a ban on social dumping, an increase in bonuses for night and weekend work, the introduction of contributions for those commuting to work and a ten-day holiday for fathers after their child is born. A mandatory 13th salary is also foreseen.
English: https://newsnow.tasr.sk/economy/richter-social-measures-will-be-subject ...
In two contributions, the trade union LANV has called for decent minimum wages and the conclusion of generally binding agreements. The first contribution was made by the LANV president during the traditional 1 May manifestation. LANV referred to the fact that in some sectors, like the transport sector, no agreements exist. In other sectors, for instance the hospitality sector, part of the employers’ side resists the application of the generally binding procedure. In general, it was criticised that the employers stick to a neoliberal agenda.
German: http://www.lanv.li/Portals/0/Mairede ...
http://www.lanv.li/Portals/0/Warum ...
Trade union ÖGBL formulated a strong opposition statement against the increase in banking operation fees when visiting banks, plus the closure of some branches and post offices in the country. The big issue for the union is rises in costs for various banking operations, such as transfers and withdrawals when visiting branches. This creates difficulties especially for the elderly. The trade union subscribed a petition against the increase in the prices of banking operations at branches launched by the Consumers' Union (ULC). This document has already reached about 7,000 signatures in a bid to pressure banks to reverse the decision.
English: https://www.wort.lu/en/business/ogbl-increased-luxembourg-banking-fees-meet ...
The social partners from several sectors (Construction, Industrial Cleaning and Insurance) have signed a joint opinion on the services e-card, identifying the social risks of this initiative. The partners point out that their industries (key targeted sectors in the proposals) have not asked for a European services e-card. They fear that the card will facilitate bogus self-employment, undeclared work and fake posting, all at the detriment of genuine companies and the rights of the workers involved.
English: http://www.uni-europa.org/2017/05/11/workers-employers-jointly-criticise ...
The opinion: http://www.uni-europa.org/wp-content/uploads ...
The Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said, following the publication of the Pay Commission report, it was time to move swiftly into talks on accelerated pay recovery for public workers. It said it noted the commission’s conclusions that there was now near-parity between average public service pay and private sector earnings, and that average public service earnings were currently 8 per cent lower than in 2008.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/pay-commission-report ...
The Pay Commission report: http://paycommission.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Report ...
The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) organised on 2 May 2017 a workshop for trade unionists from TGS (Journalists Union of Turkey) in Istanbul. In the training, the national trade union leaders debated various issues including collective bargaining, signing recognition agreements, recruiting members across all sectors, the impact of social media, producing stress surveys, distributing flyers, proposing legal services and planning activities in the country.
English: http://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2017/05/05/sharing-practices-to-organise ...
The three trade union confederations ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGSLB have formulated a joint proposal to make an early retirement possible for workers in hard, arduous jobs. So far, employers are not willing to discuss the proposal, although the social partners had reached an agreement on a common definition. Hard work is work with physical constrains, mental or emotional pressure, higher safety risks and a complicated work organisation. The unions operationalised the four criteria in some 100 aspects. The employers have countered this with the argument of the ‘administrative burden’.
French: https://www.csc-en-ligne.be/csc-en-ligne/Actualite/communiques-de-presse …
http://www.lalibre.be/actu/belgique/on-reste-loin-d-un-accord-sur-la-penibilite-du-travail ...
Dutch: https://www.acv-online.be/Images/170508-Zware-beroepen-vakbonden-leggen ...
A large-scale investigation into social fraud led to a raid of 20 offices of the transport company Jost Group. Investigators suspect Jost to have evaded social security contributions worth millions of euros between 2014 and 2016. There are also allegations about human trafficking. Jost is suspected of establishing fake companies in Romania and Slovakia in order to employ over 1,100 drivers from these countries while systematically skipping social security contributions in Belgium. The same system is said to have been set up in Luxembourg, this time with Belgian drivers. The estimated costs are around 55 million euro. The transport unions have initiated in recent years several actions against this type of social dumping.
English: https://nsnbc.me/2017/05/08/belgian-police-raid-offices-of-jost-group ...
French: http://www.rtl.be/info/belgique/faits-divers/le-patron-de-jost-inculpe ...
Dutch: http://www.transport-online.nl/site/81170/eigenaar-jost-group-in-cel-na-inval/
The social partners are still talking about a package deal that includes working time regulations as well as a new minimum wage policy. The negotiations started in February 2017. The partners announced after a new round of talks that a proposal can be envisaged before the end of June. The government will have to come up with own regulations in case the partners fail to come to an agreement. One of the key problems is the suggested introduction of a maximum 12-hour shift.
German: http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/oesterreich/politik ...