Workers at Irish Water have overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action over staff reductions. In ballots, workers represented by trade unions Siptu (91%) and by the TEEU (84%) voted in favour of action including work stoppages. The unions say the dispute centre on the threatened displacement of water service workers by private contractors. The trade unions that claim there has been a breach of the Service Level Agreement will be meeting with the management of Irish Water to set out the position of their members.
English: http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-water-workers .
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In a dispute that started in October bus drivers are protesting against new policies set by state-owned operator RATP that adversely affect both public transport services and workers’ rights. According to CGT-Transport, the unions consulted widely before deciding that the strike should go ahead, defying massive pressure from management. The action is over deteriorating working conditions due to a lack of staff (with a shortfall of 1,300 jobs), the freezing of salaries and the scraping of social protection.
English: http://www.itfglobal.org/en/news-events/news/2015/november/paris-bus-workers …
More than a month after the Hellenic Bank and trade union ETYK engaged in negotiations the bank, the country's third largest lender, announced that it is offering its workers a voluntary retirement scheme as part of its effort to restructure its business model. The union had threatened to escalate labour action against the bank. ETYK enforced work-to-rule action over several months at Hellenic. The union was angered by the bank's decision to appoint or promote staff to managerial positions without its approval, as well as plans to expand customer service hours into the afternoon and Saturdays. ETYK's demand that workers continued to receive below market rate loans were also a point of contention.
English: http://cyprusbusinessmail.com .
The music streaming service Spotify has said it will offer all staff up to six months' parental leave on full pay, to ensure international workers do not miss a similar benefit already enjoyed in Sweden. While staff in the international company's Stockholm office currently benefit from the 480 days of paid leave that all employees legally are entitled to, those hired in other major cities including London, Sydney, Paris and New York have not been given the same deal. It is standard practice for Swedish employers to offer staff 80 percent of their salaries during their time away from the office (although this is capped for those earning more than 37,083 kronor).
English: http://www.thelocal.se/20151120/spotify-rolls-out-swedish-leave-benefits-worldwide
Trade union GMB published a comparison between average earnings data for April 2015 and equivalent figures for April 2008 for the UK and 12 regions. The union used official data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). The average pay of £26,137 in April 2008 has increased by £1,470 to £27, 607 in April 2015. That is an increase of 5.6 % while the inflation rate between April 2008 and April 2015 is 20.6%.
English: http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/average-earnings-still-down-on-2008
Following protests against major budget cuts in health care, reported in last month's newsletter, health care workers went on strike. Workers are angry that funds are reduced from an already low 3.1% of GDP to 3% next year. Fuelling the protests is the fact that the state budget as a whole is growing at the same time that health care funds are being reduced. Trade unions said the government is choosing guns over health care, as most of the money cut from different budget lines is going to the defence ministry. The union demands that the average healthcare worker's salary is raised 10% starting from 1 January 2016.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies .
http://www.baltictimes.com/latvian_government_reaches_for_guns_over_health_care/
The trade Union of Cabin Crew and Aviation at the national airline LOT (which brings together more than 600 people) announced a two-hour warning strike. The unions justify the decision on the strike with the failure of talks. They are demanding salary raises and the restoration of the principles of remuneration from 2010. Since 2013, the union and workers have been in a constant dispute with the management of the airline. At LOT, on-board crew workers belong to the lowest paid employees within the company.
English: http://lodzpost.com/polishnews/attention-passengers-polish-airline-lot-to-strike .
Eurofound produced an overview of industrial actions in 2014. Overall, strike actions across the EU dropped in 2014 following a crisis-related peak in 2010. However, evidence delivered by correspondents suggests that the more highly unionised public sector has been a focus of industrial action recently. In general, strikes have been triggered by pay freezes and cuts, as well as by other unpopular effects of fiscal tightening such as lay-offs or changed working conditions. It remains to be seen what impact the recently observed return to pay restoration and collective bargaining will exert on public sector labour relations in the times ahead.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/articles .
Life in the workplace is deteriorating as people work longer unpaid hours and struggle to balance work and private lives, a survey suggests. Workers in the services sector worked the highest additional unpaid hours, working on average the equivalent of an additional day per week (8.6 hours). The overall rating for quality of life in the workplace given by workers who participated in the survey for the 2015 Quality of Work Index, published by worker federation `Chambre des Salariés', fell slightly in 2015. The downward trend continues since the first index of 59 was published in 2013.
English: http://www.wort.lu/en/business/quality-of-life-in-the-workplace-survey .
German: http://www.csl.lu/index ...
French: http://www.csl.lu/index .
In a recent judgment, the European Court of Justice has specified its position formulated in the Rüffert-case on the application of minimum wages in public procurement procedures. In its judgment, the Court holds that Directive 2004/18 does not preclude legislation that requires tenderers and their subcontractors to undertake, by means of a written declaration enclosed with their tender, to pay staff called upon to perform the services a predetermined minimum wage. According to the Court, the obligation at issue constitutes a special condition in principle acceptable under the directive, since it relates to the performance of the contract and concerns social considerations.
English: http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload .