National Bank Governor Miroslav Singer said at a discussion meeting with industrialists that unemployment will be falling to record lows above 5 percent next year, which will lead to wage hikes. Wages have not much increased since the crisis. Singer said the Czech Republic has overcome the longest crisis that is ending, as shown by economic data, and a slightly lower wage growth is the biggest surprise.
English: http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/48226-tuesday-news-briefing-june-9-2015
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Workers at Dunnes Stores continue to organise protest against insecure labour contracts. On 6 June, the workers took to the streets in Dublin, continuing the protests reported in last month's newsletter. The workers have been campaigning for better pay and working conditions. While several wage hikes have been proposed by Dunnes management, the company has not addressed the disputed zero hours contracts. Unions say that due to Dunnes Stores' refusal to guarantee working hours, workers could earn full time wages or nothing from one week to the next.
English: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/news/uni-supports-dunnes-stores-workers .
The government approved amendments to the Labour Code and other legislation related to labour relations, state social insurance, employment and creation of jobs and will submit them to parliament. In the proposals the length of holidays for healthcare and education employees will be maintained. Severance pay will be increased from one monthly wage to two monthly wages. Meanwhile social insurance fee will be reduced by 1 percentage point every year starting with 2017.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics .
Europe's biggest bank, HSBC has announced it will be cutting its workforce by 25,000, amounting to 10% of its current employees. In total, 8,000 jobs are to disappear in the UK, which HSBC ensures will be reached via natural attrition. Trade union officials announced they would be closely following the process.
English: http://www.bbc.com/news/business .
IKEA workers organised the first of a series of strikes on 6 June. The 16 hours strike was called in the end of May, after IKEA unilaterally renounced the collective labour agreement. Strikes took place simultaneously in eight locations; turn out reaching 95% in some stores. Trade unions have announced that these eight strikes will be followed by nationwide strikes. Among the reasons to protest was the proposal to cut extra pay for Sunday work, one of the unpopular measures announced for the `co-workers' (as called by Ikea). Part-time workers, which in this company account for about 70% of the workforce, may lose up to 1500 euro per year.
English: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/news/first-strike-ikea-italy-against-unilateral .
The Principality is home to around 36,000 jobs, of which almost half are performed by the local working population. The other half, more than 18,000, are performed by workers who live over the border in the Rhine Valley area near St. Gallen, in Vorarlberg and in the region around Lake Constance and commute to Liechtenstein every day. Almost 60% of workers in Liechtenstein are employed in the services sector, with the financial services sector particularly well-developed. Just below 40% of jobs are in the industrial sector. Unemployment stays very low, over the years the percentage has gone down to 2.4%.
English: http://www.liechtenstein-business.li/en/for-employees/cross-border-commuters/
Updated labour market statistics (in German): http://www.amsfl.li/ams/daten .
Strike actions by day care workers, reported in the last two newsletters, were suspended as trade union Ver.di and VKA employers agreed to enter an arbitration process. Bone of contention is the low pay scale in the sector, resulting in the workers being low paid relative to their tasks, responsibilities and skills.
English: http://www.epsu.org/a/11496
German: http://www.verdi.de/themen/geld-tarif/soziale-berufe-aufwerten .
A report by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has found that women form a growing share of trade union members and the 43% of leadership positions in the European federations are held by women. The report also notes that only 14.5% of real leadership positions in the national federations are held by women. The report highlights the importance of women in halting the decline in unionisation.
English: http://www.epsu.org/a/11474
A new bill drafted by the Federal Employment Ministry intends to tackle social fraud in the construction industry. Once the bill is passed, construction companies that work with fraudulent and dishonest subcontractors will be held responsible for any social fraud committed from day one. The bill is based on an EU directive to tackle social fraud and unfair competition in the construction industry.
English: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/Economy .
Nurses have organised a 48 hour strike over pay and working hours. The Portuguese Nurses Union, representing about 40,000 nurses, said the strike is part of the protests that started in 2013, when nurses' working weeks were raised from 35 to 40 hours, overtime pay was reduced and a freeze on promotions introduced.
English: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article .