Civil servants trade unions have succeeded in securing a pay rise. The new coalition government agreed on an increase to their wages of 1.9% in 2014 and a further pay rise of 0.1 percentage points above inflation in 2015. The move comes after protests held in December by civil servants, students and teachers over spending cuts proposed by the coalition.
English: http://austriantimes.at/news/Business/2014-01-20/50352 ...
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In a country survey, the OECD said that the country's weak productivity growth over the past 20 years has led to a widening of the income gap in relation to other OECD countries. The OECD looked positively upon ongoing reforms of compulsory education and of the vocational education and training system and expects these reforms will raise the skills of youth and improve transitions to the labour market. A recent reform of the flexjob and disability programmes `should help to better activate skills if adequately implemented'.
English: http://www.oecd.org/economy/surveys/economic-survey-denmark.htm
Trade union NGG and employers' group ANG have agreed on a minimum wage for the approximately 80,000 employees of the meat sector. The pay deal implies a minimum wage of €7.75 per hour from 1 July 2014 that will rise to €8 per hour from 1 December 2014. This is below an overall statutory minimum wage planned from 2015 at €8.50 per hour. However, in October 2015, workers in the meat sector will see their minimum hourly pay above average to €8.60 and from December 2016 to €8.75.
English: http://www.iuf.org/w/?q=node/3093
http://www.euractiv.com/cap/france-welcomes-minimum-wage ...
German: http://www.mindestlohn.de/news/meldung/2014/januar-2014/arbeitgeber-und ...
Workers at the Bergen op Zoom plant of US cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris are on strike. The workers want to force the company's board to agree on requirements for a new collective agreement. The management finds the demands of the trade unions unacceptable. After work interruptions in the first week and working half shifts the week after, the action committee decided to further increase the pressure on the management.
English: http://www.epa.eu/view ...
In an interesting Blog the dependency of Switzerland is described. Before the financial crisis the country had run large and rising current account surpluses and kept a stable exchange rate against the Euro without the need for any intervention, proving that these surpluses constituted market equilibrium. However, with the outbreak of the financial crisis speculators started to consider the Swiss Franc a safe haven, driving the currency to a level at which the export sector could not compete any longer. The SNB intervened heavily and then fixed the exchange rate against the Euro. The cost of defending the Franc limit is becoming apparent and the economy is far from immune to the risk posed by another exchange rate shock.
English: http://www.social-europe.eu/2014/01/swiss-policy/
The trade union confederation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions ICTU, told an EU Parliamentary inquiry into the operations of the mission in Eurozone programme countries that the Troika mission repeatedly violated core European Union principles of solidarity and social dialogue. According to the ICTU the Troika was ideologically blind; while there were regular meetings with the ICTU - the largest civil society body on the island - there was no dialogue.
English: http://www.ictu.ie/press/2014/01/17/troika-openly-violated-core-eu-principles ...
Slaughterhouse giant Danish Crown has closed two locations in the mid-Funen town of Faaborg. Just before the axe fell employees were called to an information meeting. The company said in a release that the changes were necessary if the company was to stay competitive. The last few months efforts were made to resolve how to responsibly resolve the current challenge of overcapacity while maintaining a sharp focus on costs.
English: http://cphpost.dk/news/danish-crown-lays-off-472-employees ...
The average retirement age for employees rose further in 2013 to 63.9 years, i.e. 0.3 years higher than in 2012. In the period 2000-2006 the average retirement age for employees was 61 years. Since 2007, the average retirement age has risen annually due to the introduction in 2006 of legislation changes aimed at encouraging people to work longer. As a result, the proportion of people going into retirement prior to their 60th birthday declined from 28% in 2006 to 6% in 2013. The proportion of employees who retire between 60 and 65 has also dropped dramatically in recent years: from 70% in 2008 to 46% in 2013.
English: http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/arbeid-sociale-zekerheid ...
The trade confederation has cautioned against selling the country's leading grocer Mercator at any price in a letter to Mercator's chief supervisor in the wake of reports that Agrokor further reduced the bidding price. The union threatened with industrial action unless commitments over jobs are kept.
English: http://www.sta.si/en/vest ...
For the past six years, the European Commission has predicted that Spain would return to solid growth in two years' time. They are now forecasting the same recovery in 2014-2015 that they predicted in 2010 for 2011-2012. However, further cuts would be a disaster for economic recovery, a disaster for public services, and for social cohesion. Even the IMF recognised that they have been more harmful than expected.
English: http://www.social-europe.eu/2014/01/austerity-must-be-avoided/