Collective Bargaining

The Eurofound Annual Report 2015 includes several sections on collective bargaining and wage setting. In the social dialogue section, the report signals that one of its core functions - collective bargaining - has been fragmenting at Member State level. Eurofound identifies two paths along which collective bargaining is evolving. Along one path, the role of collective bargaining is narrowing to a mechanism for setting wages within a corridor determined by firm performance, competitiveness and productivity. The other is a wider path where the role of collective bargaining encompasses social integration, equality and fairness, and influences employment and working conditions as well its subsidiary role in regard to income and wealth distribution in society more broadly. The process of decentralisation has been reinforced by increasing freedom of employers to deviate from the provisions of a collective agreement. Bargaining coordination has weakened since 2008, despite a potentially increasing need for coordination due to decentralisation. A number of countries with traditionally strong coordination have experienced a weakening of coordination in certain sectors.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files .

The Bertelsmann Foundation published a survey on perceptions of inequality. Over the past few decades, inequality has increased in various countries. Standard theory suggests that growing inequality as measured by a widening gap between the average and the median income should raise support for redistribution policies because politicians react to the preferences of the median voter. However, most available data do not support the hypothesised relationship between inequality and redistribution. In the survey, five EU-countries (France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the UK) are compared with Brazil, the US and Russia on existing inequalities, on economic variables and, as background for redistribution, on public social expenditures. The study includes interesting figures and tables, for instance on perceived and ideal income.
English: https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files .

More than 60,000 unionised workers marched on 24 May in protest against proposed labour-market reforms including longer hours and a higher retirement age, snarling up traffic in a large part of Brussels. The march was followed by a large demonstration on 31 May and strikes by public-sector employees, with train and bus services disrupted along with schools, prisons and mail delivery as workers protested against the government's social and economic policies. The three main trade union confederations oppose proposals that would allow employers to impose a working week of up to 45 hours when required, followed by shorter weeks to retain a 38-hour weekly average. The protests are the first in a series of actions planned for the coming months, including a strike on 24 June and a day of national demonstrations on 7 October.
English: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3617407/Public-sector-workers-strike .
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-protests .

Maritime and oil and gas unions affiliated to IndustriAll Global Union and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) met in Aberdeen to begin development of an industrial and political strategy to challenge the replacement of quality jobs with cheap labour by employers in the North Sea. In both the oil-service sector and within the subsea-contractor segment there are still companies that are not covered by collective bargaining agreements. Social dumping in the region has expanded through the employment of non-European workers, resulting in unfair competition and redundancies for local workers.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/global-federations-collaborate-against-job-losses .

After the national labour market pact or the so-called competitiveness pact was agreed upon in February by the three trade union confederations and the employers' associations the negotiations started in the different industries. There are two main issues at play in the negotiations under the umbrella of this pact: to add 24 more annual working hours into the collective agreements and the so-called survival clause. According to the national pact, this clause should `help secure the employer's operations and jobs by adjusting terms and conditions of employment when the employer runs into financial difficulties that jeopardise jobs.' After the dead-line the government will see whether the reformed collective agreements go far enough in cutting companies expenses and thus negate the need for proposed heavy austerity measures.
English: http://heikkijokinen.info/en/trade-union-news-from-finland/1024-home-stretch .

The European Trade Union Committee for Education has presented a detailed report on the state of the art of social dialogue in education and research based on a survey among its affiliates. Nearly all of the responding unions, mainly active in social dialogue in higher education at national and institutional levels, participate in collective bargaining. The results show that satisfaction with social dialogue is higher than with collegial governance.
English: https://www.csee-etuce.org/images/attachments .

Workers at 19 nuclear plants have voted to strike on 26 May as part of protests over labour reforms as a standoff between the government and unions escalated. Workers led by the trade union CGT have blocked oil refineries around the country in protest at the planned reforms aimed at making it easier for firms to dismiss workers. This collective action has led to fuel shortages in large parts of the country and long queues of cars at near-empty petrol stations. Metro, bus and RER rail workers in Paris have been urged to join a strike by the union CGT from 2 June in protest against the new labour laws as well as their own working conditions. No end date for the walk-out has been set. If the strike rumbles on it will have an impact on the Euro 2016 tournament, with the opening game being staged in Paris on 10 June. Workers are particularly fighting for a re-opening of wage negotiations, but are also protesting the new labour laws that have prompted long-running demonstrations across the country
English: http://www.france24.com/en/20160525-french-police-break-fuel-depot-blockade .
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160523/paris-transport-workers-set-to-stage-indefinite-strike

The government has formally presented to employer organisations and trade union federations its latest programme to cut red tape in public services, at a meeting in Lisbon at which the subject of unemployment benefit eligibility for the self-employed is also discussed. The administrative simplification programme Simplex 2016 includes 255 measures that are to be implemented over the next 12 months.
English: http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/government-presents-unions-employers .

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a website called InfoStories, which uses storytelling techniques and interactive features to communicate labour issues with a general audience. InfoStories is an adaptation of an iPad app launched in 2014, which was the first of its kind for the ILO. Readers can navigate through videos, data visualisations, illustrations and other interactive elements that present complex concepts and the results from ILO research in clear, jargon-free language. Among the five InfoStories that have been published one is on collective bargaining and another on the gender pay gap. The collective bargaining story presents trends for trade union membership and collective bargaining around the world, supported by six data visualisations with the most recent information on over 30 countries. The story also highlights the importance of collective bargaining in building a fair society.
English: http://ilo.org/infostories/Stories/Labour-Relations/Can-Collective-Bargaining-Create .
All InfoStories: http://ilo.org/infostories

In the seventh edition of its magazine Global Worker the global trade union IndustriAll dedicates a long background article on the trade union situation in Turkey. The legislation on trade unions and collective bargaining sets thresholds for collective bargaining certification. A union that wants to sign a workplace level collective bargaining agreement must organise at least 1 per cent of the entire workforce in that industrial sector. In the meantime, there are also workplace level thresholds of 50 per cent, and for companies with more than one workplace it is 40 per cent. With unions under pressure to defend workers in a climate of consistent anti-union behaviour the magazine looks at how transnational campaigns provide them with the solidarity and space they need to organise and to start negotiations.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/sites/default .