Collective Bargaining

Healthcare employees will receive a 7% wage increase in 2016, according to a bill on distribution of extra 10 million euro for healthcare workers' wages that the government approved. Nurses' wages will increase 9% to 10%, while salaries for higher-paid healthcare employees will increase less, as will wages for unskilled workers - their wages will increase regardless thanks to a higher minimum income from 2016. The amendments will come into force on 1 January 2016.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies .

The labour ministry has launched a reform of the labour law. The two main objectives are to revise the entire labour code and to give company-level agreements a central role. Proposed is a labour code with a new architecture resting on three tiers and focusing on collective bargaining at branch or company level. The first tier would guarantee fundamental principles such as the minimum wage and working hours (the famous 35 hours) - peremptory norms from which employers would not be able to depart. A committee has formulated the fundamental principles that will serve as the basis for the bill to be presented in January 2016. The second tier would be comprised of the areas open to negotiation, at branch or company level. And the third tier would cover the provisions applicable where there is no branch or company-level agreement between employers and unions, in other words, the supplementary provisions. Trade unions and employers agree that the labour code is overly complex, although not for the same reasons. The main disagreement lies on the balance between the peremptory norms that apply across the board to all workers and the supplementary provisions that would only apply in the absence of branch or company-level agreements.

English: http://www.equaltimes.org/french-labour-code-reform . 

The European Social Dialogue Committee for Central Government Administrations adopted an agreement on information and consultation rights of civil servants and employees of central government administrations in Europe. The agreement has been negotiated throughout the year 2015 and sets out common minimum standards for the rights of workers and their trade union representatives to be informed and consulted. Workers will be better placed to deal with their employers when these seek changes in the work place. It gives workers a say when the employer proposes restructuring, or changes in working time. It also allows workers to propose health and safety or work/life balance improvements. Other topics are to be covered either by information or consultation. A `non-regression clause' ensures that more favourable national legislation in this field will continue to apply.
English: http://www.epsu.org/a/11913
The press statement: https://www.etuc.org/sites .

Dock workers started a 24-hour strike in protest against the privatisation of two of the country`s key ports. The trade union of dockworkers stated that they will not allow the ports to be sold off, in response to the plans to privatize sites in the harbour cities of Piraeus and Thessaloniki. Merchant shipping is most affected by the industrial action, with cargo vessels and tankers in both of the major ports left without workers to load and unload the ships.
English: http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/1st-leadgreek-dockworkers-launch-strike .

Dockworkers' union FNV Havens said its members in the container sector had voted `massively yes' to take strike action in the New Year at the Port of Rotterdam. The union stated that its members `almost unanimously' rejected a final offer from the employers. The workers are said to be hoping that the strike action will help achieve their demand for a guarantee of job security over the next nine years in the face of two new highly automated container terminals.
English: http://shipandbunker.com/news/emea/492330-port-of-rotterdam-union-votes .

Workers at warehouses of U.S. online retailer Amazon.com were called out on a new strike by trade union Verdi as part of a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. Verdi said in a statement that workers at six of the nine Amazon warehouses were joining the strike, which will run until 24 December at four of the company's centres. Verdi has organised frequent strikes at Amazon since May 2013 as it seeks to force the retailer to raise pay for warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements in the mail order and retail industry. Amazon has repeatedly rejected the union demands, saying it regards warehouse staff as logistics workers.
English: http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews .

The Hans Böckler Foundation produced a preliminary assessment of the consequences of the introduction of the legal minimum wage (from 1 January 2015 onwards). Almost one year after the introduction of the legal minimum wage, there are no substantially negative effects signalled. Moreover, the direct employment registered in the social security system has increased, especially in the sectors that traditionally work with low-paid labour. For instance, in the hospitality sector the registered workforce increased with 6.5% (in one year). The statistics show a decrease of the so-called `mini-jobs'. The authors suppose that this is due to a modification of these vulnerable contracts into normal labour contracts.
German: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf .

The Private Sector Committee of trade union confederation Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has advised to private sector unions to seek pay rises of between 2.5% and 5% in 2016. In a briefing issued to all affiliates, the ICTU said that unions should be in a position to seek these pay adjustments, based on analysis conducted by the Nevin Institute and on `prevailing conditions' in the sector. It also urged unions to give consideration to seeking the Living Wage, which is currently fixed at €11.50 per hour. Payment of the Living Wage is a key component of the Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work, on which the ICTU has been campaigning.
English: http://www.ictu.ie/press/2015/12/21/unions-in-private-sector .

The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that, according to the results of the quarterly survey of earnings, the index of real earnings rose by an average of just over 2.4% in the third quarter of 2015 year on year. The index of nominal earnings increased fewer than 2.6% in the same period. Employed persons benefitted almost from the entire increase as the consumer price index rose by just 0.1%. Both the earnings components of paid regularly and extra payments contributed to the growth in earnings. The large increase in nominal earnings continued for persons employed with below-average earnings, as was the case in the first two quarters of 2015.
English: https://www.destatis.de/EN/PressServices .

The main grocery trade groups, NGO's, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a memorandum on 15 August 2015 setting out the lines on how to follow the UN principles concerning the grocery trade supply chain. The company Lidl joined the discussions initially but then pulled out and did not sign the memorandum. At the moment, Lidl is the only national grocery store chain that refuses to provide information on its subcontractors. Therefore, the industry watchdog Finnwatch has initiated a campaign to put pressure on Lidl to provide consumers with information on its supply chain.
English: http://heikkijokinen.info/en/trade-union-news-from-finland/929-campaign .