At the end of an IMF-mission the IMF staff directly interfered in the current debate on labour market reform and wage development. The organisation welcomes the labour reform initiative (New Social Model). Unveiled about a year ago, its aim is to modernise labour relations, upgrade social benefits, and reform social security. However, with significant changes envisaged in each of these areas, the economic, financial, and social implications need to be carefully considered. The IMF is very much concerned about the improvement of the business climate and recommends that it `would be prudent to pause minimum wage hikes, depoliticise the process of setting them, and start addressing legitimate concerns about income inequality through other means'. Based on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB), the Central Bank updated all data and statistics.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics .
The IMF-missions statement: https://www.imf.org/external .
The DSBB-data: https://www.lb.lt/eng/statistics .
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The large TSN home care agency was declared bankrupt with the loss of thousands of jobs. The company is making a `structural loss' and management said there is no `real prospect' of providing home help services in a financially responsible way. Some 4,500 of TSN's 12,000 workers have been taken over by other home help agencies but the fate of the remaining staff is unclear. Trade union FNV is worried that the partial takeover will lead to serious losses of workers' rights. The union announced strikes in case this would happen.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives .
An archive of the TSN-case (in Dutch): http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4516/Gezondheid .
Women workers in the country earn on average 21.6 percent less than men, according to government data. Only two countries in Europe recorded wage gaps between women and men that are higher. The wage gap between women and men is largely the result of differences in employment and promotion opportunities, patterns of employment and the role of women in society. Trade union confederation DGB cooperates with the government in a campaign `What should a woman earn? Economic independence'.
English: http://www.dw.com/en/study-german-wage-gap-between-men-and-women .
Website campaign (in German): http://www.was-verdient-die-frau.de/
Relevant links (in German): http://www.bmfsfj.de/BMFSFJ/gleichstellung .
The Constitutional Court ruled that the amendment to the law on collective bargaining from 2013 regarding the extension of the binding force of collective agreements of higher degree is unconstitutional. The amendment was attacked by a group of 32 opposition MPs, who complained that it entitled the government to extend the binding force of these collective agreements without having to consult the employers to whom it directly pertains. They argued that the law infringed upon the right to private property as well as the right to do business and that the law also did not guarantee a balance between public and private interests.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20118417/2013-amendment-to-law-on-collective-bargaining .
A labour dispute at a Rio Tinto aluminium smelter has escalated. The management has proposed that contractors be denied the right to strike. The company is also proposing to expand the use of lower paid contractors at the site. Rio Tinto's drive to increase the use of precarious labour and inflexibility in prolonged negotiations provoked workers that load the aluminium onto ships for export to begin an indefinite strike. The company has replaced the strikers with local management and management from France. Rio Tinto imported two more strike breakers from France. Both have a long history as Rio Tinto human resource managers and a reputation as being inflexible in labour negotiations.
English: http://admin.industriall-union.org/rio-tinto-undermining-right-to-strike
The editors of the Annual report on collective bargaining write that 2015 was characterised by a number of hard-fought industrial disputes. These took place in negotiations to secure a major upgrading of the status and terms of staff in social and childcare services, the conflict at Deutsche Post AG over the company's attempt to lower agreed pay rates for delivery staff in newly-established regional subsidiaries and the dispute between Deutsche Bahn AG and the train drivers' trade union GDL. Employees at the Berlin university hospital Charité went on strike to secure a collective agreement on staff appraisal. In addition, numerous strikes accompanied negotiations over pensions between the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit and Deutsche Lufthansa. Workers at Amazon undertook a number of strikes to secure union recognition and a collective agreement. Although the 2015 bargaining round resulted in lower nominal pay increases than in 2014, the very low rate of consumer price inflation led to a real increase in agreed pay of 2.4%.
English: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf .
Trade union Solidarity has proposed a ban on Sunday shopping and related businesses. The trade union is launching a signature collecting campaign with the aim of initiating relevant legislation on the matter. The idea of a ban on Sunday shopping has encountered mixed opinions among politicians, employers and employees, alike. The president of the Private Employers Confederation `Lewiatan' is not in favour of the measure proposed by the union and considers that is better to give people a free choice and not force anyone to work on Sundays but at the same time not forbid it.
English: http://www.thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/244278,Shopping-to-be-banned-on-Sundays .
Workers at Limasa, the company in charge of Malaga's rubbish collection service, have been striking for nine days. They were protesting plans to cut annual holiday leave as well as calling for all the conditions of the employment agreed upon in 2010 (the last time conditions were validated) to be reinstated. The City Hall had rejected the proposals from the Limasa workers and sent them a counter-offer, which included the stipulations that the workers must not strike in 2016 and 2017 and do away with the practice of hereditary job positions within the company. After long negotiations a deal was concluded that includes a productivity bonus and a retroactive pay due for last September.
English: http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/27216/malaga-rubbish-collectors .
About the deal (in Spanish): http://www.laopiniondemalaga.es/malaga .
Employers of au pairs must comply with the law and make them aware of their rights and entitlements, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has said. The union backed the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) which called for those employing au pairs in their home to abide by employment legislation, including payment of the minimum wage. This followed a ruling from the Workplace Relations Commission in which a family employing an au pair was found to be in breach of the National Minimum Wage Act and other labour laws. The Spanish worker was awarded €9,229 including back pay and compensation.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/au-pairs-must-be-paid-minimum .
Siemens plans to cut 2,500 jobs related to its oil, gas and mining businesses, with the bulk of the job losses (2000 jobs) in Bavaria. The Munich-based engineering giant blamed `increasing competitive intensity' in the commodity sector for the losses. In order to improve profitability, the new chief executive has worked (since July 2013) to simplify operations and reduced Siemens's workforce by roughly 13,000 jobs to around 348,000 employees. Trade union IG Metall criticised the massive cuts and reminded the company of earlier promises restoring calm.
English: http://www.ft.com/fastft/2016/03/09/siemens-to-cut-2500-jobs .
German: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/jobabbau-aufstand-der-siemens-blaumaenner .
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/jobabbau-siemens-streicht-arbeitsplaetze .