The Kosice-based company U.S. Steel continues to reduce its labour force. After it scrapped 29 white-collar positions as of 1 April (see our March Newsletter), the steelmaker will cut another 29 jobs as of 1 May as part of its organisational changes. The trade unions are unhappy about the most recent move, pointing out that the company did not consult the introduction of a new organisational structure with them sufficiently in advance. This time, workers attending to telecommunications facilities or those measuring noise levels or dust nuisance at workplaces will have to leave. On 17 April the social partners signed a collective agreement addressing labour legislation and wage issues for 2016-2020. Based on it the company's average wage (some €1,570 in 2015) should increase by over 3 percent by 2020. The collective agreement, equally as the previous one, bans mass lay-offs, i.e. laying-off more than 30 employees at once. Trade unions opine that the company is avoiding this by scrapping of only 29 work positions during one month.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20141778/more-job-cuts-in-steelmaker-in-kosice.html
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A survey done by interest association ANBO among 9 thousand retirees reveals that nearly 40 percent of the pensioners are struggling to get by on their retirement income. The elderly people's income and purchasing power have been under pressure for 8 years, due to cuts to pensions or non-indexation.
English: http://www.nltimes.nl/2016/04/18/many-dutch-pensioners-unable-make-ends-meet/
The survey results (in Dutch): https://www.anbo.nl/sites/default/files/uploads/rapportage .
After 7 days and 320 km of walking, miners and energy workers reached Bucharest. The march aimed to draw the government's attention to problems in the energy sector, but also save some 800 mining jobs. State-owned energy company Oltenia Energy Complex had proposed laying off the staff after reporting yearly losses of almost 200 million euro in 2015. On arrival in the capital, delegates from the National Quarry and Energy trade union federation had a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and government officials.
English: http://www.euronews.com/2016/04/18/i-would-walk-200-miles .
Results of a survey, conducted by Mandate Trade Union, show that workers in unionised employment in the retail sector earn 30pc more than workers in the non-union sector. Workers in unionised work earn an average of €13.03 per hour compared to €10.04 for non-union workers. The survey also shows that union workers in the retail sector tend to have more secure hours and better contracts of employment.
English: http://www.mandate.ie/news/Mandate/1166/retail-workers-in-unions-earn-30pc-more .
Tesco management and unions are to set the date for conciliation talks at the Workplace Relations Commission over the company's plans to change the pay and conditions of around 1,000 of its 14,000 employees. The supermarket multinational wants to transfer pre-1996 employees from their existing contracts to what the company calls 'modern' post-1996 contracts. Workers affected voted overwhelmingly to back strike action, saying they would lose out under the proposed changes. There was an 85% turnout and 99% of those voted to back industrial action. Workers have warned they will place pickets outside stores as soon as the company changes their pay and conditions.
English: http://www.rte.ie/news .
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/staff-will-immediately-place-pickets .
Air traffic at Brussels Airport was seriously disrupted after a wild strike staged by the air traffic controllers. The strike was about a draft accord on early retirement at Belgocontrol. Air traffic controllers would no longer have to turn up to work from the age of 58 - instead of 55 now - and they would receive 85% of their salary. Controllers are also unhappy about increased working pressure due to staff cuts. The number of breaks they can take will go down. The trade unions were divided on the matter.
English: http://www.france24.com/en/20160414-reopened-brussels-airport-paralysed .
The electronics manufacturer Bang and Olufsen has decided to lay off 55 employees as a consequence of the company's new partnership with the South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics. LG Electronics will take over some of the company's development tasks within mechanical and TV production. Forty-seven of the affected employees work at the company's headquarters in Struer in west Jutland. At the same time, the company has announced plans to hire up to 30 software engineers, to be employed both in Struer and in the business department in Lyngby.
English: http://cphpost.dk/news/business/bang-olufsen-laying-off-55-employees.html
Following various meetings between the government and the social partners regarding tax reform, the trade union confederation LCGB stressed that the proposed reform is not sufficient and requires further measures. The LCGB advocated for measures of tax relief for employees and pensioners including the revaluation of the meal voucher amounting to € 10.80. The union proposed other additional measures to be included in the tax reform, in particular: regular adjustment of tax rates to the increase in cost of living to prevent future wage erosion; full exemption of minimum social wage equivalent income up 5.1% of net earnings; adaptation of the structure of the tax schedule to spread and flatten the progression of different tax rates; correction of inequalities in the tax classes, which disproportionately penalises single parents compared to married couples.
French: http://lcgb.lu/fr/2016/04/21/reforme-fiscale-un-resultat-decevant .
Trade unions and student groups and marched in Paris and other large cities against a planned labour reform they say will worsen working conditions and increase unemployment. The reform would put almost all aspects of the country's strictly codified labour relations up for negotiation. The trade unions see the law as a `complete reversal' of the existing labour laws that will make it easier for struggling companies to fire workers. The anger over the reforms has spawned a protest movement dubbed `Up All Night' that is taking over city squares, with young people gathering until dawn demanding social change.
English: http://www.france24.com/en/20160409-protesters-keep-pressure .
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160410/fresh-violence-in-protests-over-french-labour-reforms
According to the EU-Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Austria has declined by 148 000 persons since 2008. Nevertheless, 18.3% of the population has been at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2015. These persons had low household income, were severely materially deprived or lived in households with low work intensity. A quarter of those affected (385 000 persons) were confronted with more than one of these social risks.
English: http://www.statistik.at/web_en/press/107543.html
German: http://www.statistik.at/web_de/presse/107519.html