A report on how to improve the unemployment benefit system was released with recommendations to make it easier to earn additional time on the benefit - but thousands of Danes still risk losing it altogether. The unemployment benefit known as `dagpenge' (literally 'day money') is a voluntary unemployment benefit administered via state-subsidised private organisations (the' a-kasser'). The benefit pays a maximum of 17,918 kroner (2,402 euro) per month. A commission established in June 2014 by the previous government was set to release its long-awaited recommendations, which if implemented would make it easier for the unemployed to earn the right to extended time on the benefit.
English: http://www.thelocal.dk/20151019/new-overhaul-of-denmarks-unemployment.
Danish site of the Commission (also with English studies): http://bm.dk/dagpenge.
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Sanoma Corporation, a leading media group in the Nordics, announced that that 241 people would be losing their jobs at the company. About 200 of those losing their jobs are based in Finland. The company said the move was part of a 50 million euro cost saving initiative. Meetings with affected employees have started. Sanoma is actively supporting the affected employees through an extensive change package that includes training and help with re-employment.
English: http://yle.fi/uutiset/sanoma_to_slash_241_jobs/.
Rail workers went on strike on 9 October to protest against austerity cuts. Ten days later a similar day of action by the socialist rail union ACOD/CGSP caused disruption to a number of train services in the Liège, Luxembourg and Namur provinces and part of Walloon Brabant. International train services were affected as well, as Eurostar trains went no further than Lille and Thalys routes were cancelled. The aim is to make rail passengers aware of their grievances about the Federal Transport Minister plans for the railways.
English: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2472752
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/europe/2015/10/10/447977/International.
Workers at Ambulancezorg Nederland (AZN) organised a series of strikes after talks over a collective agreement failed. The negotiations have been underway for over a year, but no agreement was reached. The ambulance workers are demanding a 2.5% pay hike over one year, more training and for workers over 55 years to be exempted from night shifts. But, the employer sticks to an offer of 3%, spread over two years. During the strike, ambulances remain available for emergencies, but scheduled patient transport is cancelled. The two parties have agreed to search for an independent mediator to lead the stalled talks.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/10/ambulance-workers.
http://www.nltimes.nl/2015/10/07/ambulance-crews-first-ever-nationwide-strike.
A series of public sector strikes that was announced last month, as reported in the September newsletter, kicked in on 15 October. As no agreement was reached in the weeks leading up to the strike, 3,500 civil servants in 158 state agencies went on strike. Indefinite strikes were called at the National University Hospital, which has been plagued by strikes in 2014, but also at customs, the Directorate of Internal Revenue and the prefectural authorities. A second 48-hour strike of about 5,000 members of SFR Union of Public Workers and the Icelandic Union of Nurses' Aides began after negotiations were not successful. However, the state mediator said there was definite willingness among negotiating parties to find a solution.
English: http://icelandreview.com/news/2015/10/18/second-strike-starts-tonight http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/politics_and_society/2015/10/15/massive_civil.
http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/politics_and_society/2015/10/15/strikes.
A new increase in the relative median of at-risk-of-poverty gap and a strong inequality in income distribution are indicated in a report from the National Institute of Statistics released to commemorate the International Day of Eradicating Poverty. The number of elderly people who experienced material deprivation rose between 2013 and 2014, reaching one in four of this population group. The report found that whilst the largest group facing such deprivation, minors aged under 18, was broadly unchanged with 27.5% at risk, it was among the elderly that this risk had most risen, up from 23.1% to 25.2% between 2013 and 2014. The study also looked at overall household expenditure, running from utility bills through to repairs and maintenance and found that the 2014 figure of 13.4% of average expenditure on such items to be the highest in a decade.
English: https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_destaques&DESTAQUES.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a country profile titled How's Life in Hungary as part of the international economic organization's `Better Life Initiative'. The report spotlights the fact that children of poor families have it especially hard. There are marked regional disparities in the level of education, income and access to things such as broadband internet between Central Hungary and the Northern Great Plain regions. Other findings are that life satisfaction falls below the OECD average, that the household disposable income per capita is one of the lowest and the wage level is one of the lowest of average earnings in the OECD.
English: http://www.oecd.org/hungary/Better Life Initiative country.
Trade union Vida is examining very critically the development at Lufthansa and its cheap carriers. The reason is that the crew of some Vienna based Eurowings airplanes, against earlier promises by the management, will be no longer engaged under Austrian wages and working conditions. One of the key points is the fact that a large part of the cabin crew is contracted in temporary engagements. The union's demand is a clear commitment to binding agreements with decent working conditions.
German: http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20151016_OTS0159/lufthansa.
http://www.oegb.at/cms/S06/S06_0.a/1342559895236/home/unterwanderung.
In the 2015 Labour and Social Cohesion Report, released by the statistical office STATEC, some positive results are revealed, but also a set of alarming figures. With an unemployment rate of 5.9% Luxembourg, compared to the European average of 10.4 %, is still doing well and comes in fourth after Germany, Austria and Malta. Most affected are people with little education. Since 2000, salaries have risen by about 46%, more than in any other EU country. However, purchasing power has not matched this rate and only increased by 8% since 2000. Since the crisis, it increased slightly for the first time in 2013, +1.9%, and +1.2% in 2014. Moreover, one in five citizens (19%), according to Europe-wide calculations, lives in threat of poverty and threatened with social exclusion. In 2003, this rate was still at 15.8%. Chapter 3 of the reports provides detailed figures on wage developments, purchasing power and the effect of the economic crisis on earnings.
English: http://www.wort.lu/en/business/statec-social-report-2015-risk-of-poverty.
http://www.statistiques.public.lu/en/news/social-conditions/social-live/2015/.
French: http://www.statistiques.public.lu/catalogue-publications/cahiers.
More than 15,000 teachers took the streets to protest against the actual education policy. The protesters demanded an increase in funds spent on education (in 2015, the percentage of GDP invested was of only 2.52 percent) and an increase in teacher's wages. An increase in teacher salaries has been frozen for three years. Teachers demand financial recognition for the teaching profession and a 10% increase in wages.
English: http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/news_details/3757