According to the environmental assessment agency PBL, the number of jobs in the cities increased by 30 percent over the past 25 years, compared to 20 percent in non-city areas. Amsterdam and Utrecht in particular showed a strong growth in jobs. Cities also have many high paying jobs. However, the PBL-report The divided triumph reveals that, while the economy is improving, the gap between rich and poor in cities is also increasing. Over the past years, the wage difference between the highest and lowest earners increased by 3.5 percent in the larger cities, even by 4 percent in Amsterdam.
English: http://www.iamexpat.nl/read-and-discuss/expat-page/news/dutch-cities-increasingly .
http://www.pbl.nl/sites/default .
The report (in Dutch): http://www.pbl.nl/sites/default/files .
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Workers at an Amazon warehouse are starting a new round of strikes in an attempt to pressure the online retailer to increase pay. Trade union Ver.di has organised frequent strikes at Amazon warehouses across the country since May 2013 as it seeks to force the retailer to raise pay for warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements in Germany's mail order and retail sector.
English: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/22/amazon-workers-go-on-strike .
Trade unions and labour experts are worried about the rapid spread of a payment scheme originally used only for seasonal farm labourers which they say is being abused by employers and undermining workers' rights. Under the system, workers are not paid directly in money but with vouchers which the employer buys online, or at a post office or tobacconist, for 10 euros, 20 euros or 50 euros each. Workers then cash their vouchers in and receive 7.5 euros for each 10 euros of face value, with 2.5 euros going to the state to cover insurance and pension contributions. There is no contract, so workers have no rights in areas such as sick pay, holidays or leave, with obvious advantages and savings for employers. Workers paid in vouchers can continue to claim what benefits they are already entitled to, but do not accrue any right to jobless benefits when their employment ends. The government has announced a revision of the voucher system.
English: http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/189437/Labor-ministry-plans .
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/210519/italy-pushes-labour-flexibility-to-limit .
A 23-hour strike that was announced for Wednesday 23 March has been called off by trade union CCOO The trade union wanted to protest the failure by Renfe, the train operator, and Adif, the company in charge of the track network, to fulfil an agreement to hire more workers. According to CCOO, the situation involved not just the loss of collective bargaining rights but also a commitment to provide jobs with the creation of 930 new positions within Renfe and Adif. The union said in a statement that it has decided to cancel the strike following attaining agreement with Renfe and Adif.
English: http://news.newsdirectory2.com/desconvocadas-the-two-strikes-planned .
Spanish: http://www.elmundo.es/economia .
Quarterly labour cost rose by 5.8% in October-December 2015 compared to the same period of 2014, statistics show. A breakdown by economic activities reveals that the highest annual growths in total labour costs were recorded in `Administrative and support service activities' (14.2%), `Real estate activities' and `Construction' (11.0%). The lowest increase in total labour costs was observed in `Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities' and `Transportation and storage' by 2.3% and 2.5% respectively. In the structure of the total labour costs, the wages and salaries costs per hour worked grew by 5.9% in comparison with a year earlier, while the other (non-wage) costs rose by 5.2%.
English: http://www.novinite.com/articles/173650/Bulgaria .
Management of the metallurgical plant KVV Liepajas Metalurgs stated that, according to preliminary estimates, about 300 of the total of 402 workers currently working in the plant would have to be laid off. The layoffs will be effected in compliance with the legislation as regards the notice periods and compensations due to the workers. A personnel audit will be carried out at the company to determine the minimum personnel required for infrastructure maintenance during the idle time, and over 800,000 euro will be paid to the laid-off workers.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies .
The Institute for fiscal studies has published an assessment of what has happened to living standards across the distribution and what has been the direct effect on incomes of tax and benefit policy. IFS formulated four conclusions. First, tax and benefit changes had little effect on pensioners and much bigger effects on those of working age, especially those with children. Second, as a result of various cuts to working age benefits, the measures led to significant losses for those of working age in the bottom half of the income distribution. Third, those from the middle of the distribution most of the way up (most people on average earnings and above, certainly up to £50,000 or so a year) saw very small changes in income, on average, as a direct result of tax and benefit policy. Finally the top decile, and in particular those on the very highest incomes, earning more than £100,000 a year, faced some tax increases.
English: http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/8210
A compromise agreement was reached between the trade unions (SEK and PEO) on the one hand and the two employers’ association (Cyprus Hotel Association and the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises) on the other hand, after the involvement of the Minister of Labour and under a mediation procedure according to the Industrial Relations Code. The agreement has been ratified by assemblies of the hotel workers-members of SEK and PEO that represent the vast majority of hotel workers covered by collective agreements, in the districts of Nicosia, Limassol, Famagusta, Larnaca and Paphos. The most important elements of the 3 year agreement (2016-2018) are the fact that the provident fund, a 5-day working week, and the compensation of public holidays are now guaranteed and protected by law.
English: http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/03/21/new-collective-agreement-for-hotel-workers/
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A mass lay-off of nearly 3000 Almaviva contact centre employees (1,670 collective redundancies in Palermo, 918 in Rome and 400 in Naples) was formalised, according to the information provided by the trade union representing workers in the telecommunications sector Uilcom. The redundancies account for 6% of staff currently employed by the group in seven countries. Almaviva explained the lay-offs by a direct margin that is well below target as a result of the delocalization of lowest-bid tenders and inadequate regulations governing telcom outsourcing. Almaviva employees in Palermo are to strike, with a demonstration in Piazza Indipendenza.
English: http://www.ansa.it/english/news/business/2016/03/21/almaviva-to-shed .
As the economy recovered, the gender wage gap increased within the financial institutions. A survey of men's and women's salaries within Icelandic finance companies showed the gender wage gap grew between 2013 and 2016. In fact, in 34 of 38 companies, men had considerably higher salaries than women, with a wage difference on average of about 12.9%. While the gender wage gap exists in many sectors of business, it has actually increased within finance companies during this three-year period.
English: http://grapevine.is/news/2016/03/18/gender-wage-gap-increases .