Representatives from sectors including construction, gastronomy and the hotel business have spoken out in favour of liberalising immigration. Their main hope is to make the country more attractive to skilled workers. The business representatives have spearheaded an article in a daily newspaper that speaks in favour of liberalising immigration. The president of the Builders' Association recently spoke out in support of opening the borders - a move that reflects the difficult economic situation currently facing builders. A board member of the Hotel and Gastronomy Association (LHGV) commented that immigration must become easier. He claimed that the country did not have access to the necessary skilled workers, adding that when recruiting, there was no secure settlement. The government has announced a study.
English: http://www.liechtenstein-business.li/en/news-detail/article/wirtschaft-diskutiert .
German: http://www.vaterland.li/liechtenstein/politik/Zuwanderung-Am-Markt .
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Municipal civil servants are planning a one-day strike in September to demand higher pay. The newspaper initiative was announced after it became clear that the responsible minister is no longer meeting with the trade unions. Among the concerns raised by the unions are issues arising from discrepancies between the duties of local and national civil servants. In June 2016, municipal employees held a two-hour strike to seek salary increases of 30 percent on average. The failure of this action has now prompted the full-day strike.
English: http://budapestbeacon.com/news-in-brief/municipal-civil-servants-strike .
The statistical office has published detailed data and graphs (in French and Dutch) on the earnings in 2014. In 2014, full-time workers earned on average 3,414 euro gross per month. This is a relative average, since two-thirds of salaried employees earned less. In fact, half of employees earned less than 2,976 euro per month in 2014. Furthermore, 10% of workers earned less than 2,220 euro gross per month, and at the other extreme of the scale, 10% of salaried employees earned over 5,178 euro. The disparity in salaries between men and women continues to be a reality. Full-time women workers earned 6% less than men did. Moreover, when considering part-time work, which is mainly done by women, the gap reached 20%.
English: http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/employment/6094/full-time-workers .
French: http://economie.fgov.be/fr/binaries .
Dutch: http://economie.fgov.be/nl/binaries .
Pilots at the airline Air Europa had planned a four-day strike from July 30 to August 2. The pilots had grievances over the outsourcing of part of their fleet to another airline, Aernova. Air Europa pilots also protested the creation of the new low-cost Air Europa Express service. Eleven Air Europa planes will become part of the new fleet, while the budget carrier will also take on some of the established firm's passenger-carrying work. A last minute deal was struck and the trade union called off the strike.
English: http://www.thelocal.es/20160727/air-europa-pilots-call-off-four-day-strike-spain
Police unions have calculated that tens of thousands of police officers should actually earn more money, if their wages are compared to other civil servants in the same wage category. The unions calculated that police officers are entitled to 2,030 euros more each year. A representative of the police union explained that, when the police reform was carried out, the promise was made that wages would follow general salary scales for civil servants. However, this was not the case in 2014. Salary standards for public servants have gone beyond those for the police. The minister announced that negotiations with the police would certainly follow.
English: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2723325
The Economic and Social Forum is meeting in a bid to resume social dialogue after employer associations have opted for a boycott over what they see as a faulty legislative process. Social dialogue will be the only item on the agenda. The meeting comes after the Employers' Association and the Chamber of Commerce announced in June they would not attend council sessions because social partners were excluded from the preparation of healthcare legislation. Trade unions are also unhappy with the state of social dialogue and have urged the government to demonstrate through action that social dialogue is one of its priorities.
English: http://www.sloveniatimes.com/social-partners-seeking-to-resume-dialogue
Migration from CEE countries has been unusually large, persistent and dominated by educated and young people. An IMF-staff discussion note analyses the impact on the economy of the sending countries. The significant outflow of skilled labour has reduced the size of the labour force and productivity, adversely affecting growth in sending countries and slowing per capita income convergence. Countries that have experienced significant outflows of skilled workers (the Baltics and the South Eastern countries) have seen greater upward pressures on domestic wages.
English: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2016/sdn1607.pdf
Trade union ver.di reached an agreement with the central management of the Red Cross over pay and working conditions. Wages will increase from 1 August 2016 with 2.4% and with 2.35% on 1 March 2017. The agreement expires on 31 March 2018. For workers in the rescue service departments working time will be reduced in the years to come (step-by-step from 48 hours in 2016 to 45 hours in 2019). In total, the Red Cross has a workforce of 150,000 workers; the agreement applies to 50,000 workers.
German: http://www.verdi.de/presse/pressemitteilungen .
A tripartite meeting - government, union and employers' representatives - did not reach a consensus on a raising of the minimum monthly wage. The Finance Minister backed an increase of no more than 700 crowns per month for a total of 10,600 crowns, which is also seen as suitable by employers. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs wants the total to be 11,000 and unions 500 crowns more. Prime Minister Sobotka has backed an increase to at least 11,000. The trade unions demand 11,500 crowns. The monthly minimum wage was last raised at the beginning of 2016 - from the previous 9,200 crowns to the current 9,900.
English: http://praguemonitor.com/2016/07/27/three-percent-employees-were-paid .
UK workers suffered the biggest fall in real wages among leading OECD countries, according to a TUC analysis. Between 2007 and 2015, real wages fell by 10.4%; a drop equalled only by Greece. By contrast, over the same eight-year period, real wages grew in Poland by 23%, in Germany by 14%, and in France by 11%. Across the OECD, real wages increased by an average of 6.7%. The UK, Greece and Portugal were the only three OECD countries, which saw real wages fall. While the UK has increased employment rates since the economic crisis, countries such as Germany, Hungary and Poland have increased employment rates significantly more, while raising real wages at the same time.
English: https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/labour-market/uk-workers-experienced .
The report: http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2016/07/uk-real-wages-decline .