Rubbish collectors in Copenhagen are on strike and the trash is piling up. The binmen are refusing to sign contracts with City Renovation, who won a tender for rubbish management in the capital, replacing the former contract holder. The workers are asking for more guarantees, as they fear to be laid off. The strike has affected the entire capital and covers all types of waste collection, from bulky and garden waste to household waste. Negotiations between the trade union 3F, representing the rubbish collectors, and the waste-management company, City Renovation, are ongoing. If the conflict parties can't reach an agreement, City Renovation probably will lose the contract with the municipality.
English: http://cphpost.dk/rubbish-in-copenhagen-is-piling-up/
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Dunnes Stores workers say `absolutely everything is on the table' in their dispute with management - including an all-out strike (see our March Newsletter). Many staff members were out on picket lines across Ireland on April 2 in a dispute over zero-hour contracts and working conditions. Trade union Mandate, which represents about two-thirds of the workforce, said that it is considering legal action over its claims that some workers were dismissed for taking part in the one-day strike.
English: http://utv.ie/News/2015/04/27/Dunnes-Stores-dispute-may-escalate-beyond .
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/everything-on-the-table-in-workers-dispute-with-dunnes .
Nearly 7,000 staff in the State-owned electricity utility ESB may be set to receive pay increases of 2%. Trade unions representing staff had sought a three-year 3.5% per annum pay increase. However, the internal joint industrial council in the ESB recommended a 2% pay rise for employees. The group of unions in the company had entered a hearing on pay last month with a position that the 3.5% rise should be applied from the conclusion of a long-standing pay freeze at the ESB, which ended a year ago in March 2014. If the proposed 2 per cent rise is accepted it will apply from 1 April 2015. This means the joint industrial council decided not to back the call for retrospection of the increase to cover the year since the freeze expired.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/7-000-staff-at-esb-look-set .
After the trade unions representing Volkswagen's Czech Skoda Auto issued a strike warning a pay deal could be reached. Unions and management had been in negotiations over a new collective agreement. Skoda management said that a one-off bonus plus a three per cent wage increase was their final offer, which unions rejected. Industrial action was announced for 15 April with workers cutting one hour off shifts. The agreement includes a wage increase of 3.5% and covers about 24,600 employees.
English: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/23/volkswagen-skoda-pay .
Rail operator Deutsche Bahn and trade union representatives are negotiating an agreement over wages and other points of contention that has to be concluded by 1 June. Trade union GDL stated that it had been `teased' with the prospect of an agreement by the Deutsche Bahn management in talks over recent weeks, and accused bosses of negotiating in bad faith.
English: http://www.thelocal.de/20150423/train-drivers-hang-on-for-second-strike-day
The statistical office published the annual employment report (for the year 2014). Over the period December 2007 to December 2014 total unemployment staid very low, with only a slight increase at the start of the financial crisis. By the end of 2014 2.4% of the workforce was unemployed.
German: http://www.llv.li/files/as/arbeitslosenstatistik-2014.pdf
The Nokia acquisition of the business operations of the French telecoms equipment company Alcatel-Lucent has made Finnish trade unions worried for jobs. The merger of two major companies will probably mean job cuts. Nokia has set itself the goal of saving 900 million euro by 2019 through `operating cost synergies'. Nokia has promised not to cut French jobs for two years after the deal is signed. It has pledged its intention to establish a 100 million euro fund to invest in start-ups in France and intends to maintain employment in the `key sites' of Villarceaux and Lannion.
English: http://heikkijokinen.info/en/trade-union-news-from-finland/762-the-nokia-and-alcatel .
The long debated increase of the minimum wage seems to enter its final stage (see our March Newsletter). The country's tripartite council, made of trade unions, employers' organisations and the Government's representatives, has assented to the increase of the monthly minimum wage as of 1 July 2015 so that the minimum wage reaches 325 euro. The last increase of the monthly minimum wage was in October 2014.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics/?doc=105260
On Labour Day, 1 May, passenger ferries will remain tied up at Greece's ports, as the PNO trade union of ferry workers declared it a strike day. The trade union is demanding, among other claims, that workers be paid several months of overdue salaries, particularly at NEL lines, as well as more social security benefits.
English: http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections .
Professional health care workers from all over Latvia gathered in Riga, with posters pointing out the current situation in healthcare (see our March Newsletter). The posters featured slogans such as `Our silence is harmful to your health' and `Ambulance drivers on minimum wage driving cars made out of gold'. The event is monitored by about 20 security guards, as well as several dozen police officers. Medics, patients, trade unions, and parties were standing shoulder to shoulder to advocate the human right to good health.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=105186