Collective Bargaining

A new fund will help foreign posted workers receive their wages. Posted Workers who are covered by a Danish collective agreement can, from October 2016, receive their wages via the Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers. Foreign posted workers can only receive their wages from the fund if they are posted from an EU or EEA country, have had their wage claim upheld in the industrial dispute settlement system and have unsuccessfully attempted to receive their wage from their employer. The trade union that pursued the industrial dispute case can represent the worker.
English: https://workplacedenmark.dk/en/working-conditions/danish-labour-market-fund

Trade union confederation FGTB/ABVV has opened a website with special services for agency workers. One of the main reason is the fact that, starting from 1 October 2016, the right to receive a labour contract before the work starts has been introduced in the agency sector. The signature of the contract is possible in the traditional way (hard copy) or digital. The site also includes a YouTube-instruction for agency workers.
French: http://www.droitsdesinterimaires.be/fr-BE/article/des-le-1er-octobre-le-contrat-d-abord ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch ...
Dutch: http://www.interimcontract.be/nl-BE/content/vanaf-1-oktober-eerst-je-contract ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch ...

Eurofound published a report that maps, analyses and discusses key dimensions and indicators for a comparative framework of industrial relations. It identifies and assesses existing data sources that can be used to measure the different dimensions of the comparative framework. It also identifies possible data gaps that may be filled through Eurofound's future work. An important part of the analysis is dedicated to collective bargaining. The findings highlight the relevance of the key dimensions to governments and social partners. The conceptual framework and the key dimensions may serve as a monitoring instrument to assess the developments in principles, values and their operational application in the industrial relations systems.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default ...

Following the release of a government commissioned report from the Agency for Public Management (Statskontoret) into the reorganisation of the country's polices the Police Union has described the country's police authority as `in crisis'. The report on the merger is critical of how new managerial appointments have been made, and says that local police work has not been prioritised sufficiently. While the police union said it shared many of the conclusions in the study, it does not believe it is sufficiently critical.
English: https://www.thelocal.se/20160930/swedish-police-in-crisis-union-head

The government has planned to earmark 6 billion euro over three years for measures affecting the pension and social security system. This was stated in a report that was presented during a meeting with the trade unions at the labour ministry. Aim of the meeting was to find maximum support for the proposals. One of the key measures in next years' budget is to cancel the consequences of a 2011 reform on the pension system that was always contested by the trade union movement.
English: http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english .

Health workers demanding higher pay have called for a meeting with the Prime Minister after a disappointing meeting with the health minister. The two main issues raised were increasing spending on healthcare and higher wages. The health minister had qualified the trade unions' demand to urgently increase healthcare spending to 6.8 per cent of GDP `completely unrealistic'.
English: http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/272917,Protesting-health-workers-call .

In the second quarter of 2016, the employment rate for working age population (15-64 years) was 61.8%, increasing as against the one recorded during the first quarter. Data over the year 2015 reveal that the average net salary in 2015 amounted to 418 euro, up 9.5% compared to the previous year 2014. The salaries in the financial intermediation and insurance sector were 2.2 times higher compared to the national average salary. At the other end, people who worked in hotels and restaurants earned 42% less than the national average salary. Women earned on average 7% less than men in 2015.
English: http://www.romania-insider.com/average-net-salary-romania-goes-9-5/
Press releases: http://www.insse.ro/cms/sites/default .
http://www.insse.ro/cms/sites/default .

A strike in the oil service sector is steadily putting drilling rigs out of service. Trade union Industri Energi called 300 of its oil service worker members off the job, after mediation by the State-appointed official failed and wage talks broke down. The head of the employers' organisation Norsk olje og gass refused to meet the union demands for pay raises and claimed that the employers proposals are higher than what other industries have received this year, not least at a time when nearly 40,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry have been cut since oil prices sank. The union wants claims catering and drilling personnel has received with raises of as much as NOK 13,000 per year, while its members have only been offered NOK 3,000. More workers will be called out on strike if demands are not met.
English: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2016/09/27/oil-service-strike-halts-drilling-rigs/ https://www.industrienergi.no/nyheter/oil-service-is-on-strike/

In an effort to improve efficiency and reduce costs, carrier Air Berlin will `rigorously continue its current restructuring program'. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the struggling airline was aiming to reduce its payroll by 1,000 jobs and downsizing its fleet to about 70 airplanes by the end of 2016. So far, trade union ver.di has not been invited to start talks. In its internal bulletin for the Air Berlin section, the union writes that many rumours are going on without a clear signal to the workforce about the impact of the operation.
English: http://www.dw.com/en/air-berlin-said-to-weigh-massive-downsizing .
Trade union Info (in German): https://verkehr.verdi.de/branchen/luftverkehr .

The Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities (Unia) is reporting an increasing number of files following claims of age-related discrimination. Over the first eight months of 2016, Unia opened 74 files following reports of aged-based discrimination circumstances. This figure is an increase of 60% across the whole of 2015. Amongst these files, nearly six out of ten relate to people over 45 years. The director of Unia laments that age-related discrimination cases are rarely taken seriously and that taking into account that the ageing population is a reality in Europe, this growing proportion of the population faces a significant risk of discrimination in the workplace. To counter age-related prejudices, the institution has launched an awareness-raising campaign specifically targeting key employment players, trade union organisations, the sectors linked to the over 50s persons and the youth.
English: http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium .