The main industrial trade union Fellesforbundet reached a wage deal with employers, averting a strike affecting more than 26,000 workers. The deal with the employers' Federation of Norwegian Industries (Norsk Industri) came some 12 hours after a self-imposed deadline had passed. The outcome of the talks sets a benchmark for negotiations for other workers, including those in service industries and the public sector. Wage negotiations for the major oil unions have not yet started. A key part of the deal was extending the time workers who have lost their jobs can receive unemployment benefits from 30 weeks to 52 weeks. The right-wing government agreed to the change, despite being against such a move ahead of the talks. In return, the parties agreed a moderate growth in wages of 2.4 percent overall.
English: http://www.euronews.com/business-newswires/3175222-norway-union .
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The Food & Beverage Industry Employers Association (TUGIS) representing the company Kent Gida reached an agreement with Tek Gida labour union on a collective agreement at its Gebze factory covering the period January 2016 to December 2017. According to the agreement the trade union members will receive a salary raise of 20 percent. The confectionery company Kent Gida, engaged in the production and sale of candy, chewing gum, chocolate and cocoa products, is a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes Overseas Ltd.
English: http://www.reuters.com/article .
Blacklisting scandal leads again to compensation pay
April 29, 2016
Thanks to a very active core of trade union activists, the longstanding trials and juridical fights for a compensation to workers blacklisted because of their trade union background or the simple fact that they were active as safety reps comes to results. Some of the former carpenters and bricklayers who had their careers ruined when they were listed as troublemakers for requesting better working conditions will receive compensation pay. The financial settlement is expected to run into tens of millions and before a High Court hearing into the blacklisting scandal. It is the second wave of pay-outs; earlier this year 71 former bricklayers and carpenters were awarded up to £200,000 compensation each in a settlement totalling £5.6m.
English: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-biggest-building-firms-agree .
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/29/blacklisted-workers-secure-compensation .
The Tanítanék (`I would teach') movement, an informal association of teachers, is demanding an end to sweeping educational reforms introduced under the second and third Orbán governments. The movement called on the representatives of the government to meet. Should the government fail to attend their demands and reach an agreement Tanítanék will announce another two-hour demonstration similar to the one-hour protest that took place earlier. More than 15,000 citizens participated in demonstrations held across the country and all top ten high schools participated. The president of the Teachers' Union announced that if the meetings with the government fail, they will call for a one-day strike.
English: http://budapestbeacon.com/public-policy/teachers-gearing-up .
The prime minister has stated that he has no doubt an increase of incomes can be discussed with the IMF by the end of the year if positive economic trends continue. He pointed in particular to the education and health sectors, the military, the police and pensioners. The country is having its fourth and a fifth review of the agreement with the IMF in June 2016.
English: http://www.b92.net/eng/news/business .
The national statistical office has completely updated the labour market statistics over the period 1999-2015. Additional graphs and tables (only available in French and Dutch) illustrate the growth of the labour market participation (age groups 15-24, 25-49 and 50-64 years) , the average working time, the different forms of flexible work, the employment development and the entrance of youngsters on the labour market.
English: http://bestat.economie.fgov.be/BeStat/BeStatMultidimensionalAnalysis .
French: http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/travailvie/emploi/
Dutch: http://statbel.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/cijfers/arbeid_leven/werk/
Protest of health care general practitioners (GPs) grows further as ten more regions will join in it. The protest began when GPs from four regions closed their surgeries. It spread the days after, with respectively five and nine other regions joining. The protest is foreseen to spread gradually until it encompasses the entire territory of the country. A meeting between the leadership of the Association of general practitioners and the health ministry did not yield any results, with the GPs saying that they will not back down from their demands and the protest will continue. They have assured that one medical crew in each practice will remain on duty in order to take care of patients in need of acute medical help. GPs are discontent with the policies and reforms proposed by the government, especially those concerning the outside hospital healthcare.
English: http://www.novinite.com/articles .
The trade union confederation LO publishes a regular newsletter (Danish Labour News) that is now online. In the first edition of this year LO reflects on the labour market proposals for refugees (see our March Newsletter), on the development of the labour market and the importance of vocational training.
English: http://www.lo.dk/English version/~/media/LO/English .
The statistical office Eurostat published its annual statistics with wage data for the year 2015. Average hourly labour costs (made up of wages and salaries and non-wage costs such as employers' social contributions) in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be €25.0 in the whole European Union and €29.5 in the euro area. This average masks significant gaps between member states, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (?4.1), Romania (?5.0), Lithuania (?6.8), Latvia (?7.1) and Hungary (?7.5), and the highest in Denmark (?41.3), Belgium (?39.1), Sweden (?37.4), Luxembourg (?36.2) and France (?35.1).
English: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained .
Press release in English, French and German: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web .
The activity report 2015 of the trade union association LANV has one section on social partnership and collective bargaining. Out of the 20 existing collective agreements that LANV concluded with the Chamber of Commerce 14 agreements are generally binding; 9 of these agreements were renewed in the autumn of 2015. In manufacturing an increase of the monthly minimum wage with 150 Francs was concluded in the autumn of 2015. In the sectors and branches with a long tradition of social partnership the negotiations went relatively well. However, the negotiations in the commercial sector came to a standstill. The enforcement of generally binding collective agreements is controlled by a paritarian committee (ZPK); the ZPK has serious problems to tackle breaches by foreign employers that post workers to the country.
German: http://www.lanv.li/Portals/0/Content/Organisation/Jahresbericht_2015 .
A research project by the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs describes a mobile, seasonal workforce in the tomato fields work, living in extreme poverty, often without water and sanitation, housed in abandoned buildings or tent cities with little or no healthcare and controlled by work gangs. The report describes how a vast army of vulnerable, often stateless North African and Eastern European migrants is controlled by illegal work-gang masters and held in slave-like conditions in rural ghettos. The calls for action come as rising numbers of migrants travel to Europe from North Africa and the Middle East, raising concerns of increased exploitation of migrant workers. Many of the workers are waiting for the state bureaucracy to process their asylum applications, leaving them with no legal right to work and with little choice but to rely on local charity or find work illegally, making them vulnerable to exploitation.
English: http://gulfnews.com/news/europe/italy/modern-day-slaves-in-italy-s-tomato-fields .