Collective Bargaining

The government and a majority of the public sector unions have signed a public sector pay deal, which constitutes the first public sector raise since the crisis. The deal, signed by 28 of the 40 public sector unions, contains a 3.47% increase of wages in in 2016 with an agreement to continue negotiations for the 2017-2019 period. The government originally offered a 2.8% increase, but accepted a higher increase after negotiations. The deal also leads to an increase in annual leave pay and a relaxation of the promotions freeze.
English: http://www.sloveniatimes.com/govt-and-unions-sign-public-sector-pay-deal .

A Collective Bargaining Survey reveals that the number of collective agreements registered has increased to 1.971 (37.6% higher than last year). The collective bargaining coverage increased to 5.58 million workers, 29% more than in October 2014. Therefore, collective agreements apply to 795,637 undertakings, an increase of 28.9%. From the total of registered applicable collective agreements 72.8% are company level agreements, applying to 6.1% of the total number of workers. The other 27.2% corresponds to higher bargaining levels and cover 93.9% of employees (5.2 million). In 2015, there have been 1269 deviations of the applicability of pre-existing agreements, most of them after agreement between the company management and the employees' representatives. Until October 2015, the average wages increase has been 0.75%. The average working time amounts to 1,758.3 hours per year per worker.
Spanish: http://prensa.empleo.gob.es/WebPrensa/noticias/laboral/detalle/2701

The labour court arbitrator in a long running conflict between the ministry of Education and trade unions has proposed a pay deal for non-teaching school staff that is likely to be accepted. In the proposal, secretaries and caretakers' minimum hourly wages would rise from €10.25 to €13 between 2016 and 2019 in four separate hikes. The proposal furthermore includes a clause guaranteeing that the higher wages will not lead to staff being allotted fewer hours. Between 7,500 and 8,000 non-teaching staff, who predominantly work part-time, are expected to be affected by the pay deal.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/up-to-8-000-non-teaching-school-staff .

Police officers took to the street after the government announced a set of surprise proposals, which would half their retirement compensation. The proposals, which would not apply to officers currently in service, would mean retirement compensations will be cut in half, and paid leave will be reduced from 30 to 20 days as of Wednesday 4 November. Police officers reacted with spontaneous demonstrations, which the prime minister has called illegal. After five consecutive days of protests, the interior ministry agreed to withdraw the proposals in order to discuss the cuts with trade union representatives.
English: http://www.novinite.com/view_news .
http://www.novinite.com/view_news .

Following a large-scale strike, reported in last month's newsletter, a conflict between trade unions and Irish Rail has been moved into arbitration. The agreement to hold mediated talks means a second strike, which was planned for 6 November, is narrowly averted. The rail workers are demanding a pay rise, which Irish Rail has offered in exchange for longer standard working hours and lower staffing levels. Unions refused the offer, arguing Irish Rail is trying to get employees to finance their own raise.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/irish-rail-claims-it-made-concrete .
http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1103/739215-iarnrod-eireann/

The health ministry has said doctors, nurses and other hospital staff will be paid overtime if they agree to use time cards. In an attempt to bring down waiting lists, the ministry is seeking to boost efficiency and work hours. Hospital staff, who had demanded to be paid overtime, have now heard their request will be granted, if they agree to punch a time card when arriving to and leaving from work.
English: http://in-cyprus.com/state-doctors-to-clock-on-for-work/

Dockworkers in Lisbon, Setubal and Figueira da Foz have called a 10-day strike protesting against the sale of the ports to a Turkish company, Yildirim. The sale implies the end of the current collective agreement and dockets fear they will be worse off under the new owner. The strikes are accompanied by an indefinite towage strike in the port of Barcelona, Spain. The strikes are not expected to hit the two biggest ports, Sines and Leixoes.
English: http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/175862/spanish-portuguese-ports-hit .

City councils in several towns have formed alliances to support the fight of dockworkers who have been locked out since May 2014, as reported in several newsletters. The Norwegian Employers' Association (NHO) has launched several attempts to replace the unionised dockworkers by unorganised foreign workers, leading to a large-scale conflict in ports across the country. Several unions have raised funds to support the dockers' campaign financially and three political parties have started to form alliances to guarantee the implementation of the ILO convention 137 on dockers.
English: https://vegardholm.wordpress.com/2015/11/04/tough-dockers-stand-their-ground .

In a report of the statistical office with finalised data for 2014 the long-term unemployment rate was evaluated. The recent growth of the economy brought beneficial effects on the development of the long-term unemployment rate. In 2014, the share of the unemployed for over one year in the total labour force attained 2.7%, i.e. by 0.3 p. p. less than in 2013. However, differences among regions have remained high.
English: https://www.czso.cz/documents .

The government announced that it will begin reforming the labour code early 2016 by tackling the way companies can adjust working hours. The redraft of the 3,800 pages of the labour code probably will take several years. A first step, the revision of the 125 pages on working hours, will be presented as soon as the first quarter of 2016. The government has pledged not to unstitch statutes stating that the legal workweek is 35 hours, which will be part of a framework of rights that will remain enshrined in law and not modifiable by employers and unions.