Collective Bargaining

The socialist public workers trade union has announced plans to strike early October. The strike call should only be made to rail workers in the capital but because of the nature of the rail network with most services being directed through Brussels disruption could be extensive. The rail workers are protesting against government plans. According to the rail workers section of the union the 'bleeding' of rail workers with life tenure must be avoided at any cost.
English: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News .

The head of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), has said that the labour situation needs to `be more civilised'. He took a strong stand against the use of temporary contracts designed for casual labour under which employment rights are limited, with employers not making health insurance or pension contributions.
English: http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/222948,Central-banker-Poland .

The members of the trade union of public servants (SFR) and the Paramedics Society of Iceland (SLFI) have voted to go on strike. SFR stated that about 64% of SFR workers and about 70% of SLFI workers took part in the vote. Of those, just over 85% of SFR workers and 91% of SLFI workers voted in favour of going on strike. The strikes will begin on 15 October if no collective bargaining agreement is reached with state negotiators.
English: http://grapevine.is/news/2015/09/29/public-servants-union-vote-to-strike/

Revoz, the subsidiary of the French carmaker Renault, will lay off some 150 workers, mainly temporary workers, due to the lower than expected demand for the Renault Twingo and Smart Forfour models. The company hired more than 1,000 workers in the initial phase of the project. After launching two shifts and a half in December 2014, the company returned to two-shift production in late February when some 450 agency workers lost their jobs.
English: http://www.sloveniatimes.com/revoz-slashing-150-jobs

Workers have been left devastated after the announcement of the closure of an iron and steelmaking Redcar plant, with the loss of 1,700 jobs. The Thai-owned firm SSI said it had option but to close down. The trade unions are seeking an urgent meeting with the management in order to understand the details and to start the defence of workers' interests.
English: http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/ssi-steel-plant-to-be-mothballed .

The European Parliament has produced an interesting report, EU Social and Labour Rights and EU Internal Market Law. In analyses of EU case law and legislation tensions can be observed between Internal Market law and social and labour rights. Restrictions on collective bargaining and supporting industrial action emanating from economic freedoms and competition law have been at the centre of discussions. The report, provided to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs explores responses by socio-economic and political actors at national and EU levels to such tensions. Based on the current Treaties and the CFREU, the constitutionally conditioned Internal Market emerges as a way to overcome the perception that social and labour rights limit Internal Market law. On this basis, alternative responses to perceived tensions are proposed, focused on posting of workers, furthering fair employment conditions through public procurement and enabling effective collective bargaining and industrial action.
English: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015 .

A conference at Bern University of Applied Sciences, bringing together academics and policy makers, addressed gender and anti-migrant bias on the labour market and how to combat it. Foreigners and second-generation migrants tend to have more problems finding work than Swiss do, men earn more than women do, and older workers are less desirable to employers. These are some of the ways in which discrimination is perceived. Participants also discussed the economic costs of discrimination.
English: https://www.wirtschaft.bfh.ch/de/ueber_uns/news .
Conference website: http://www.wirtschaft.bfh.ch/de/forschung ...

Trade unions OGBL and LCGB and the workers representatives concluded a social plan with the management of EQOS-Energy. The company had announced the dismissal of a group of workers. During the talks it was possible to reduce the total of dismissals to 12 workers, as a result of a voluntary scheme to leave with a 15,000 euro compensation payment. Workers that lose their job receive time off to search another job.
French: http://www.lequotidien.lu/economie/plan-social-chez-eqos-energie-foetz/
German: http://www.tageblatt.lu/nachrichten/luxemburg/story/Sozialplan-fuer-EQOS ...

The World Bank does not agree with the government's intention to raise public sector salaries and pensions. The bank rejects a general salary increase, but if the government would focus on decisions to raise salaries for people who, objectively speaking, are underpaid, that would aid the process of implementing reforms in the public sector. The government has asked the Worldbank for assistance in the financial restructuring of utility company Srbijagas, and the bank requests in return that the government undertakes certain obligations before the engagement starts.
English: http://inserbia.info/today/2015/09/wb-does-not-agree-with-serbian-govt-intention .

The General Workers' Union (GWU) and Malta Public Transport (MPT) got in conflict over new bus routers and drivers' rosters, forcing MPT to postpone the introduction of the new routes. Trade unionists reported that the roster with different routes and working hours was announced unilaterally by management. GWU warned MPT that it would order its members not to work the new hours until talks had been concluded. The union said that the roster did not allow enough time for breaks, as the roster did not take into account the time it takes to unload and load passengers. During a day of strike GWU and Malta Public Transport reached an agreement through which bus drivers will be given 15-minute breaks, one of the main issues that prompted the union to order the bus strike.
English: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/57491/bus_strike_all_day .
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/57065/new_bus_routes_postponed .