On 21 October 2016, a 24-hour general strike has affected public transport, air traffic, and the public sector. Protesters from all over the country packed the streets of Rome to express their anger at labour market reforms, one of the main building blocks of the government’s policy. Up to 1 million people flooded the streets of the capital, the organizers of the rally said. According to the unions, the prime minister's upcoming referendum and proposed constitutional reforms are a huge source of grievance. Renzi eyes changing employee protection rules. In September, the plan won backing from his party. Critics say the amendments would result in companies not hiring enough staff and creating the risks of chronic economic weakness.
English: https://www.rt.com/news/199256-italy-protest-labour-reform/
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Around 2,000 citizens protested in Budapest following the closure of the country’s leading leftist newspaper, Népszabadság (People’s Freedom). The paper’s owner company Mediaworks, owned by Austrian firm Vienna Capital Partners, unexpectedly announced on 8 October 2016 that it would suspend both the print and online editions. The executive co-chairman of Hungarian Press Union (HPU) said that ‘The closure of the newspaper is a violation of media freedom and a violation of labour rights.’ Mediaworks said the paper was operating at a ‘considerable’ loss and struggled with dropping circulation. But civil rights groups said the newspaper had been shut down because it had published critical items against the government. Two weeks later it became clear that a close collaborator of the government purchased Mediaworks Hungary. Critics fear that this is another contribution to the steady decline of media freedom.
English: http://www.ifj.org/nc/news ...
http://budapestbeacon.com/media-issues/guess-just-bought-mediaworks ...
Trade unions rang the alarm bell over serious shortages in health car. The public health system is under growing pressure as health workers stream out of the country in search of better jobs abroad. As a result of this situation, the Serbian system is in danger of slow collapse, health trade unions say.
English: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/medical-exodus-leaves-serbian-health ...
The trade unions will intensify the pressure on the employers in the metal sector, as the negotiations for a collective agreement are not yet successful. It took ten hours in a third round of negotiations without any agreement. The actual agreement expires 1 November 2016. The trade unions PRO-GE and GPA-djp that demand a pay increase of 3%, with special attention for the low-paid, have announced regional manifestations and, if necessary, protest meetings at plant level. The next negotiations are in November.
German: http://www.oegb.at/cms ...
Primary school teachers’ trade union Poed urged Limassol parents to drop off their children an hour later at school, as the first of a number of one-hour work stoppages began. The five one-hour work stoppages, which were announced earlier on by Poed, will take place on rotation in each district every Wednesday morning, meaning schools in one district at a time will all start later. Teachers in Limassol’s preschool, primary and special education schools are the first to strike. Teachers will also march on 3 November from the finance ministry to the Presidential Palace. Poed’s key demand is for 12-month contracts to be given to temporary teachers instead of 10-month ones. The union’s board said that the strike was also about serious problems primary schools face related to pre-schools, special education, illiteracy, children whose mother tongue is not Greek and juvenile delinquency.
English: http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/10/25/primary-school-strikes-start-limassol-wednesday/
An undercover BBC investigation has found Syrian refugee children have been making clothes on factories for EU retailers. The investigated factories were producing clothes for retailers such as Marks and Spencer, Asos, Mango and Inditex. Many clothes for EU brands are now made in Turkey because it is closer to Europe and producers are used to dealing with last-minute orders. Concerns are rising about the exploitation of workers after the arrival of almost three million Syrian refugees. Some workers interviewed felt that they were being exploited, because of pitiful wages and terrible working conditions. All investigated companies say they carefully monitor their supply chains and do not tolerate the exploitation of refugees or children.
English: http://www.bbc.com/news/business ...
Women were encouraged by trade unions and women’s organizations to walk out of their workplaces on 24 October 2016 to demand equal pay for similar work. In Reykjavík, they convened on Austurvöllur square, where they gathered to protest the gender pay gap. Similar protests were planned all over the country. The timing, 2:38 pm, was no coincidence. Compared to men’s earnings, women work without pay after that hour every day. The fight for equal pay is not over: based on trends in the past decade, it appears it will take 52 years to eliminate the gender pay gap.
English: http://icelandreview.com/news/2016/10/24/women-iceland-leave-work ...
The Slovak Teachers Initiative (ISU) announced the end of the ‘graded strike’ they launched in September, on 19 October, during a protest march called The March of Responsibility. Originally, teachers declared the gradual strike would continue until 25 October when four lessons would have been dropped at some schools. The ISU believes that it’s now up to the Education and Science Employees Trade Union Association (OZPSaV) to take over the initiative and insist on the demands included in a declaration signed by school organisations in February. These requirements include a demand for an increase in teachers’ salaries of 25% as of 1 January 2017 and by 10% annually in following years.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20361681/dissatisfied-teachers-end-graded-strike ...
The finance minister announced an increase in net salaries from January 2017. The idea of the ministry is to implement a complete, comprehensive reform. Income tax is just one of several segments. For individuals with the highest incomes, who pay the highest marginal tax rate, there will be some changes. The government wants to protect social equality and there will be changes in other segments as well. The finance minister assured that the changes will not jeopardize the budget and public debt policies. The planned net wages increase shall be noticed by the vast majority of citizens.
English: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/item/14557-net-salaries-in-croatia-to-increase ...
A conference on ‘Croatian Pension System and Sustainability of Its Second Pillar’ was dedicated to the future needs in the field of pensions. The mandatory second pillar system with individual accounts started operating in 2002 with defined contribution schemes. Experts who took part in the conference were divided over whether the second pillar, which consists of individual savings accounts, was unsustainable and ultimately less favourable for retirees or whether it was a good solution given the unfavourable demographic trends and aging population.
English: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/item/14551-experts-divided-about-sustainability ...