Collective Bargaining

Hundreds of the remaining workers at Saab's factory in Trollhätten are set to lose their jobs, according to the Chinese company Nevs which owns the Swedish car business. The factory has been out of action since May 2014, with Nevs unable to pay its suppliers. Trade union IF Metall reacted and stated that `faithful and competent auto workers are being laid off again, and the faith in the future that many felt in Trollhaettan runs the risk of turning to resignation'.
English: http://www.thelocal.se/20140924/two-hundred-jobs-go-at-swedish-saab-plant

The trade union confederation union LO (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge) has mobilised its members in a campaign against the government's proposed changes to work conditions legislation. The government wants to make it easier for employers to take on staff in the short-term and not offer permanent positions. Several thousand union members walked out in short strikes and gathered in Oslo and Trondheim.
English: http://www.thelocal.no/20140924/mass-strikes-in-norway ...

Deva Holding a Turkey-based pharmaceutical company belonging to EastPharma Ltd., established in 2006 and incorporated in Bermuda, has sacked 24 workers, simply for signing up with a union. Four years ago, the company management used different tactics to demolish a 40-year-long union existence, contractual labour relations and mature social dialogue with trade union Petrol-Is. Management announced that there would no longer be a collective agreement using the pretext of high production costs and government policies in the pharmaceutical industry. It exerted pressure on workers to sign individual labour contracts in place of the collective agreement and then dismissed 70 employees because they had refused to sign individual contracts. The local labour courts ruled that Deva terminated employment contracts of the dismissed workers on unjustified grounds and all of them must be reinstated. However not one sacked worker has been able to return. Over the years, working conditions have deteriorated with low wages, insufficient social benefits and continuous threat of dismissal, mobbing, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. In June 2014, an overwhelming majority of Deva workers started to re-join Petrol-Is.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/turkey-deva-continues-to-sicken-union-members ...

Services union Ver.di has hit Amazon's distribution centres with another series of walkouts. Work stoppages were organised in facilities in Leipzig, Bad Hersfeld, Rheinberg and Graben. On the third day of strike workers at 6 out of 9 logistics centres participated. Ver.di's actions have been going on for one and a half year and were repeatedly reported in this newsletter. Amazon management has been applying the wrong collective bargaining agreement, refusing to bring its employees under the applicable agreement, which would mean raising the wages.
English: http://www.zdnet.com/in-germany-amazon-workers-strike-again ...

After the decision of a court that gave the green light for a second port the transport trade unions have made clear that there is a clear need for discussion around a phased implementation of Maasvlakte 2 with the trade unions. This must include a dialogue involving all stakeholders, including the representative trade union, FNV Havens, and it must cover areas such as job creation, job stability and sustainability. Without that process, the future of one of the world's busiest and most successful ports - and one with a record of good labour relations - will be put at risk.
English: http://www.itfglobal.org/press-area ...

A group of 30 cleaners attended the first European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg on 16 September, exactly one year after they were unexpectedly fired by the Ministry of Finance. The 30 cleaners are among 595 workers - mostly women aged between 45 and 60 - who used to work for the Ministry of Finance and were laid off and replaced by a private cleaning contractor. Their wages ranged from €205 to €757 a month (net) and their layoffs were part of the public spending cuts imposed by the Troika of Greece's international lenders (the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank).
English: http://www.equaltimes.org/armed-only-with-rubber-gloves ...

After 14 weeks of strike action, an agreement has been reached at Greyhound Recycling, bringing a bitter labour conflict to an end. The conflict started when Greyhound proposed major wage cuts, allegedly to keep the company from going bankrupt and closing down. When the actions intensified, Greyhound locked the workers out, claiming they endangered the jobs of all 400 employees and threatening with legal action against the protesters. Reduced cuts of 30% to 35% were rejected in the beginning of September, as the picketing continued. The agreement that ends the conflict includes a wage reduction between 15% and 20% for workers who decide to stay with Greyhound and a redundancy package of two weeks' pay plus statutory entitlements of two weeks per year of service for the workers who have decided to leave.
English: http://www.siptu.ie/media/pressreleases2014 ...
http://www.thejournal.ie/greyhound-court ...

Public sector workers have taken to the streets in a 24-hour strike against the upcoming round of public sector cuts. The cuts, imposed by the EU and IMF lenders, are expected to lead to more layoffs and pay cuts. Unions report a readiness to continue to fight, while media note that it is increasing difficult to mobilise the population that is growing hopeless after years of protests, during which very few successes were achieved.
English: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/23-Sep-2014/public-sector-workers-strike ...

The trade union Unison is seeking to enlist one of the world's biggest pension funds to put pressure on Care UK into paying a living wage to disability support workers in Doncaster. Unison held talks with Calpers - the California Public Employees Retirement System - and local authority pension funds in the hope that they will push Care UK's private equity owners to do a deal with the employees who are seeking a living wage of £7.65 an hour. Pension funds are significant investors in funds set up by Care UK's owner, Bridgepoint Capital, including those with Care UK in their portfolios.
English: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/pension-funds-urged-to-act ...

The labour inspectorate has published a brochure that explains to workers the difference between a business trip and the posting of workers. In the brochure potential abuses are defined as the withholding of payment, the deduction of administrative costs and the refusal of a decent contract. The Annexes provide a clear reference to the legislation applicable in case of cross-border employment. The publication fits in a campaign that is developed in cooperation with inspectorates of other countries (notably the Finnish inspectorate).
English: http://issuu.com/tooinspektsioon/docs ...