Collective Bargaining

A new collective wage agreement for teachers was signed and the strike, which lasted almost three weeks, came to an end, according to the head of the negotiating committee. Teachers have demanded that wages be increased in line with comparable professions, as previously promised in an agreement with the state. According to the new agreement teachers' work evaluation will include more areas such as the number and the workload of students and pupils, their background and combination in a group, teaching and learning methods, preparation and teaching hours, paper work, setting of assignments, examination, marking, feedback, competence level, and possibly more aspects.
English: http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news ...

On the 2nd of April, the government has introduced an €8.50 national wage floor, which from 1 January 2015 will become the gross national minimum wage per hour. The law is expected to raise the salaries of 3.7 million workers, but also excludes several categories of workers from its scope. The minimum wage does not apply to long-term unemployed persons during the first six months that they are back on the job, underage employees without at least a vocational training diploma. Interns, trainees and voluntary workers are not covered by the law.
English: http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News ...

Translation office Euroscript has announced it intends to lay off 13 employees over the next two years. In 2013 the company already cut 70 jobs via a social plan, which the company now tries to evade by spreading the layoffs over a period of two years. Unions have responded enraged, arguing Euroscript is using the loss of a big contract to cut as many jobs as possible and does so without due process.
English: http://www.wort.lu/en/view/further-layoffs-expected-at-euroscript-luxembourg ...

Trade unions have demanded the Swiss-based multinational company Georg Fischer to put an end to violations of union rights in Turkey and demands immediate reinstatement of 37 dismissed workers. The Georg Fischer management has reacted harshly against union organising, and so far, 37 members of the Lastik-Is trade union have been dismissed by the local management. The simple reason is that workers exercised their legitimate fundamental rights of freedom of association guaranteed by international labour conventions of the ILO as well as the country's Constitution and national trade union legislation. Along with this, instead of settling peaceful labour relations at the plants, Georg Fischer management continues to use intimidation and pressure over the union members to rescind their affiliation with Lastik-Is.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/georg-fischer-consistently-spurns-union-rights ...

The Eurofound report Impact of the crisis on industrial relations and working conditions in Europe analyses the impact of the global financial, economic and public debt crisis on industrial relations and working conditions at national level in the EU Member States from 2008 to end 2012. The clearest finding has been an accelerated trend towards decentralisation in collective bargaining in many countries. The collective agreement itself is manifestly at risk and articulated multiemployer bargaining has come under further threat due to the ongoing crisis. Other changes have taken place in regard to collective bargaining and its related mechanisms: fewer extension mechanisms, more opt-out and derogation clauses, less favourability and more non-continuation of collective agreements upon expiry.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications ...

Mercure workers responsible for cleaning the rooms started a strike to protest against the management's plans to outsource their jobs and employ them via a private firm. Trades unions say 30 to 40 employees took part in the action, to support their 18 colleagues working in the hotel's housekeeping section. The trades unions claim that the outsourcing will trigger a higher work pressure and redundancies. They say that cleaning girls will have to clean 3 to 4 rooms per hour, which is impossible.
English: http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/Economy ...

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a conservative think-tank, has opened the attack on the statutory minimum wage for youngsters and the demand for a significant increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW). According to IEA, a statutory implementation of a minimum wage at the Living Wage level could have a significant impact on employment and the viability of firms in a range of sectors. IEA quotes estimations that it can cost 150,000 jobs, with substitution for older workers meaning 300,000 fewer young people employed. The trade unions and the National Union of Students have sharply criticised these `backward looking proposals'.
English: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-348e-Scrap-min-wage,-think-tank-urges ...
http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/the-minimum-wage-silver-bullet-or ...

Latvian union FNA and Estonian union EFL, both representing workers in the financial sector, have signed a memorandum of cooperation. The unions aim to strengthen the representation of finance workers by pooling resources and following common strategies. The stated objectives of the cooperation are to fight for job security and to increase social security.
English: http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/34643/

Trade union Unite has reached a settlement to offer compensation to eligible ex-Visteon employees who filed legal claims in connection with reductions in their pensions resulting from Visteon UK being put into administration in 2009. The Visteon Pension Action Group has been campaigning for years for action to restore pensions to those affected, some of whom lost up to half of their pensions following the administration.
English: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/visteon ...

The industrial workers struck a last minute wage deal, averting a strike that would have involved some of the country's top oil services firms, unions and employers said. The sides agreed on wage rises worth about 3.3%, which will favour lower paid employees. They also agreed on more beneficial terms for offshore workers and to negotiate new pension deals at a later stage.
English: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/132388/Norway_Industrial_Workers ...