The Foundation for the Well Being of Society and the Centre of Labour Studies at the University of Malta have recently published the findings of a survey about trade unions. The aim of the survey was to investigate the attitudes of the general population on trade unionism in Malta. The data emerging from the survey by and large confirm the widely held view that trade unions are primarily seen as agents that strive to improve the conditions of work for their members. The data reveal that the great majority of the workers expect their union to look after their vested interest. About one out of three respondents (31 per cent) regard trade union membership as a means to improve working conditions while 40 per cent of respondents regard it as a form of personal insurance from discrimination.
English: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles .
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Employees of the state-owned rail company SNCF have started a strike - the third in two months - over pay and working conditions. The rail workers protest also over plans to reduce periods of rest and other protective work practices. The key controversies are the compensation for the commuting related to the job, the obligatory amount of weekend work, the rest time between shifts, the number of nights that workers have to spend from home and the timing of information about work schedules.
English: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/France-Strikers-Shut-Down-Trains .
The private sector trade union confederation GSEE is holding a strike in protest of Sunday shopping hours (eight Sundays a year) on 8 May. The union said it `was completely opposed' to the bailout-inspired introduction of Sunday shopping hours `since it will lead to the end of the Sunday rest day and because the measure works in the interest of multi-nationals, leading smaller businesses to closure'. The Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) has announced that its members will join the 24-hour strike.
English: http://www.ekathimerini.com/208113/article/ekathimerini/news/private-sector .
http://www.migrationonline.cz/germany_country_report.pdf
As of 1 September 2016 the salaries of teachers will increase with 200 to 300 euro according to the Education and Science Minister. In April 2016, the Ministry presented its new teacher remuneration system to the government's social partners. The minister said that salaries for preschool teachers would increase only from 1 January 2017, provided that the government solves the problem of financial flows.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/education .
Several trade unions have decided to quit as clients from the Nordea bank. Trade union Team and the Transport Workers Union announced their departure due to recent revelations in the Panama Papers data leak suggesting that Nordea helped its customers arrange tax shelters. Other organisations like the Social Democrats, Left Alliance and True Finns parties also announced they would leave Nordea. Nordea, a Swedish based financial services institution, admitted that it had assisted customers shelter assets in the past, adding that it acted entirely within the law when it did. The bank said that it has since ceased the practice.
English: http://yle.fi/uutiset/team_union_leaves_nordea .
http://yle.fi/uutiset/transport_workers_union_to_pull_out .
Delivery company PostNL has been under fire for relying largely on a network of freelance parcel services workers who work effectively as employees but without the social security benefits. The company has now decided to offer permanent contracts to the workers in the parcel delivery because delivery workers are increasingly entering people's homes. The reasoning is that jobs for parcel delivery staff require a level of stability, a group of people who deliver a high quality service. The company thus also hopes to make an end to the dispute on the use of fake or bogus self-employed. While the parcel delivery work is highly profitable, the post-delivery work is still shrinking.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/04/postnl-to-offer .
Around 3,500 workers at 363 hotels and restaurants were called out on strike on 24 April, after nearly 12 hours of negotiations in overtime failed to produce a settlement with hotel and restaurant employers. The action disrupted operations at the hotels and restaurants involved but also at a string of canteens for both private and public sector workers, including those at the parliament building (Stortinget), government ministries, the national hospital (Rikshospitalet) and the Oslo Police District's headquarters. Trade union Fellesforbundet representing the hotel and restaurant workers and the organisation representing hotel and restaurant employers (NHO Reiseliv) failed to resolve their differences despite efforts of a state mediator.
English: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2016/04/23/hotel-restaurant-workers-go-on-strike/
Trade unions Feneal Uil, Filca Cisl and Cgil Fillea representing Italcementi cement workers have announced a strike in response to an industrial plan, which may result in 415 dismissals this year and further 250 redundancies in 2017. The unions met in Rome and committed to go on strike after multinational HeidelbergCement, which took a major stake acquisition at Italcementi in July 2015 and released a restructuring plan, failed to address affected workers' concerns. After meeting the government, the unions said in a statement that they `challenged the business plan presented by HeidelbergCement in the press that stipulates the reduction of 415 employees of Bergamo, with 250 additional redundancies (at production sites) which could take place in September 2017'. The unions prepared a counter-proposal, aiming to significantly decrease the number of redundancies.
English: http://www.bwint.org/default .
The employers' organisation in the electronics industry FEEI (Fachverband der Elektro- und Elektronikindustrie) agreed with the trade unions PRO-GE and GPA-djp a deal that includes a pay increase of the basic wages with 1.4%, starting from 1 May 2016. The sectoral minimum wage increases to 1,715.96 euro. Youngsters that participate in vocational training schemes will receive a compensation pay of their travel costs, next to the 1.4% increase of their salary. Trade union PRO-GE concluded a pay deal in several branches belonging to agriculture with a pay increase of 1.4%, as of 1 March 2016. Trade union GPA-djp concluded collective agreements with the regional sections of the Red Cross, becoming effective from 1 January 2016. PRO-GE and GPA-djp signed an agreement in the paper and pulp industries with a 1.45% pay increase for the minimum wages and 1.35% for all other wages. A 1.43% wage increase reached by trade unions PRO-GE and GPA-djp in 2015 will become effective on 1 May 2016 in the chemical sector. The negotiations in the transport sector got to a dead end; the trade unions could not agree with a weakening of the working time regulations on Sundays and public holidays.
German: http://www.kollektivvertrag.at/cms .
http://www.gpa-djp.at/cms .
Extended opening hours for shops that stepped into effect at the start of 2016 have been a disappointment to the service workers trade union PAM. A PAM spokesperson stated that no new jobs have been created and cashiers have not gained the additional hours they hoped for. The union admits that there may be additional working hours on offer in hypermarkets, but that means fewer hours on offer in smaller shops in the same chain. Overall there are no signs that hours are increasing.
English: http://yle.fi/uutiset/union_disappointed_extended_store_hours_have_not .