In the 2016 survey the organisation looks back at the flexicurity model that was largely developed through the 1990s in its current form. A substantial decrease in the duration of unemployment benefits and a much stronger emphasis on active labour market policies was done to promote return to work through upskilling and to ensure that the unemployed are available to the labour market. The OECD also states that the housing boom of the late 2000s contributed to a misallocation of resources in the economy, and `it is likely that some of that misallocation continues given the large size of the financial sector and its wage premiums'.
English: http://www.oecd.org/denmark/economic-survey-denmark.htm
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The numbers of so-called `solo' freelancers, over 2.3 million self-employed workers, are increasing rapidly, but not their income. In 2014, the average net income of `solo' self-employed was only 1,500 euro per month. Some earn much less. Unlike for all other employees since 2015, the minimum wage is not compulsory for freelancers. As a result, hourly rates of pay lower than the minimum wage of 8.50 euros are common. The service workers' union, Ver.di, is of the opinion that self-employed workers must be paid fairly, and have genuine social insurance. Industry trade union IG Metall is proposing to include minimum working conditions and fees for independent workers in collective agreements. The problem is that the law does not allow self-employed workers to negotiate their pay collectively. Ver.di has opted for other means of defending its members by putting pressure on the town councils to provide training and education, where the local authorities use a lot of self-employed workers.
English: http://www.equaltimes.org/germany-looking-for-ways-to-defend .
Trade unions have called a demonstration on 9 May in front of the government headquarters in central Sofia against the decision of the country's major tobacco holding Bulgartabac to close down a Sofia-based tobacco plant. The decision, in force as of 1 April 2016, which left 420 people without employment, was a result of Bulgartabac's move to halt exports of cigarettes and other products to the Middle East. Workers will receive their salaries by the end of May. An additional number of jobs offered by Bulgartabac and connected to the plant's work might also be lost as a result of the closure.
English: http://www.novinite.com/articles/174378/Workers+to+Protest+Again+over+Closure .
On 6 and 7 May, the largest private and public trade union called for a 48-hours nationwide strike to all workers, as well as the unemployed and pensioners, in protest against reforms. The strike was followed by a demonstration in Syntagma Square, the day that the government planned to set for voting the reform bill in the Parliament. The proposed legislation would raise social security contributions, increase income tax for high earners and introduce a new national pension. The measures would also gradually phase out a top-up pension for low income earners.
English: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Greek-Workers-Start-3-Day-Nationwide-Strike .
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Greek-Police-Fires-Teargas-at-Protesters .
Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, education spending has fallen to 3% of the Gross Domestic product, with devastating consequences for the teaching profession. Many years of austerity measures have left more than a quarter of the teachers without job certainty, while salaries are low and employment conditions poor. The largest teachers' organisation, FENPROF, considers the establishment of a national dialogue of the new government with the unions an important step forward for the improvement of the situation.
English: http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/news_details .
In the OECD 2016 economic survey the organisation on the one hand pleads for lowering the minimum wage (and for instance also the wage of youngsters), on the other hand the OECD signals a brain drain and labour shortages that ask for an improvement of wages. Notably in health care significantly higher wages may be needed to stem these developments. Moreover, low health care investment spending has led to unfavourable working conditions and outdated medical equipment. Such underinvestment is not sustainable. Finally, the bulk of long-term care is currently provided informally by family and friends, but as in other countries this may change, and an increasing institutionalisation of long-term care would raise public spending.
English: http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/hungary-2016-OECD-economic-survey-overview.pdf
Representatives of the farming unions, livestock farmers' associations and environmental groups have signed a joint declaration against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). According to the declaration TTIP will flood the European market with American agricultural products produced to a lower standard. This will adversely affect the incomes of farmers, the safety of our food, workers' rights, the quality of the environment and animal welfare. The European market will become unbalanced and this will seriously affect the continuity of the primary agricultural sector in Europe. Unfair competition will force farmers to scale up and family businesses will be closed. Job losses in the supply chain and the processing industry will be inevitable. The working conditions and workers' wages in the entire agricultural sector will come under even more pressure.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/features .
Workers at different departments of jewellery producer and retailer Swarovski are worried about planned outsourcing. The company speaks about an optimisation project that will lead to a transfer of administrative jobs to Eastern European countries and layoffs within the group. In the outsourcing plans several IT-jobs and personal and financial administrative functions are involved. So far, the workers' representatives have not been fully informed about the operation.
English: https://www.friedlnews.com/article/swarovski-employees-worried-about-outsourcing
German: http://www.vienna.at/sorge-vor-jobabbau-bei-swarovski-wegen-optimierungsprojekt .
There has been a breakthrough in pay talks for firefighters as the government agrees to reverse cuts for new recruits. Under the deal, firefighters hired after 2012 will regain a 4,500 euro rent allowance. The Acting Public Expenditure Minister and Acting Environment Minister have announced that they agreed to the revised salary scale for these public servants. In return, the firefighters are said to be prepared to work on productivity as part of a reform package within the fire service - known as Keeping Communities Safe.
English: http://www.newstalk.com/Firefighters-deal-could-highlight-one-route-out .
Several banks, which slimmed down after the property boom went bust in 2008, are once again closing branches and slashing jobs as their profitability is hit by stiff competition. The plans of Santander, the Eurozone's biggest bank by market capitalisation, to close 450 smaller branches and cut 1,400 jobs were already reported in the April Newsletter. Barcelona-based CaixaBank, the country's third-largest bank, plans to cut 500 of its 32,500 jobs through early retirement agreements as it seeks to trim its salary costs. Trade union UGT expressed the fear that this is not the end of the job cuts in the banking sector.
English: https://www.enca.com/money/spanish-banks-launch-new-wave-of-job-cuts .