Administrative staff in universities went on strike three months ago against government austerity plans that include suspending 1,349 staff, a precursor to large-scale redundancies. The strike brought eight major universities to a standstill, and rectors warned that they would not be able to function effectively with the staff cuts demanded. Most universities are now back operating but although only three universities continued active resistance to the government's higher education actions, a high degree of opposition exists across the entire academic community.
English: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article ...
Search results
Find articles
8810 articles found.
Marks & Spencer workers voted by a margin of 94% in favour of strike action following the closure of the workers' pension scheme without agreement. Trade union Mandate announced that strike action, together with SIPTU, will take place across 17 stores nationally on Saturday 7 December, with two further days planned before Christmas. Negotiations with the management over the workers' defined benefit pension scheme failed. Management informed the workers that the retirement fund is a `discretionary benefit', whilst the trade unions said the scheme is performing and is in surplus to the tune of approximately €17m.
English: http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1129/489941-marks-and-spencer-strike/
Only 24 hours before the end of the national conciliation office process, ArcelorMittal and trade unions OGBL and LCGB had still not reached a deal on the next collective agreement. The largest open issue is the number of annual leave days. ArcelorMittal wants to reduce annual leave from 37 to 28 days in order to boost productivity. Unions, however, said they have already compromised on end-of-the-year bonuses and will not make concessions regarding wages or leave days. Both LCBG and OGBL consulted their members about possible industrial action. The LCGB and OGBL delegates decided to give talks for a new collective working agreement another chance, but also said that strike action remains an option.
English: http://www.wort.lu/en/view/ogbl-to-give-arcelormittal-talks-another-chance ...
http://www.wort.lu/en/view/arcelormittal-and-unions-have-24-hours-to-reach-agreement ...
Employers, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and other foreign chambers of commerce successfully opposed the amendment of the law on collective bargaining that parliament passed at the end of October. The revision planned to widen the general extension and to strengthen the position of trade unions. The president of the country has vetoed the proposal, but parliament can easily override the presidential veto. The binding nature of higher level collective agreements should be automatically extended to additional firms employing more than 20 people in a given sector without the consent of the individual firms. A tripartite commission, composed of representatives from unions, employers and the state and set up by the Labour Ministry, will have a final say on the proposals as well as the objections from employers.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/51937/10/us_businesses_call_on_president ...
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/52148/3/president_vetoes_collective_bargaining_law ...
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/51877/3/unions_gain_power_firms_cry_out ...
The Low Pay Commission, which advises the government on the level of the minimum wage, has been criss-crossing the country speaking to low-paid workers - from chicken factory operatives to corner shop staff - and to the firms who pay their wages. The commission, made up of employer and employee representatives and academics, will gather in January 2014 and, after two or three days of analysis, decide what they think the minimum wage should be. Since the measure was introduced in the late 90s the government has always followed the commission's advice. The founding chair of the commission has argued that the UK is at risk of creating a two-tier labour market in which growing numbers of workers earn very low wages partly because some employers use the minimum level as a starting point.
English: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/29/low-pay-commission-tours ...
Caterers, cleaners, security and porters that were demanding the same working conditions as in-house employees called for the first official strike by outsourced staff in the London University's 170 year history. Negotiations fell through after the employers failed to make any concessions to the trade unions. The outsourced workers only have statutory sick pay, which means they are not paid for the first three days they're sick. On the second day of a 48-hour walkout, Balfour Beatty Workplace, which delivers outsourced cleaning services, signed an agreement with trade union Unison announced that improves sick pay entitlement, increases holiday pay and gives access to its pension scheme to all its employees.
English: http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/victory-cleaning-staff-strike ...
http://www.theguardian.com/education/abby-and-libby-blog/2013/nov/27/university ...
http://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/press-release-ground-breaking-strike ...
Employers are campaigning against new laws on sick pay aimed at giving more rights to people on flexible contracts. Companies which employ large numbers of people on flexible contracts are worried they will be saddled with large bills if their temporary workforce becomes ill. While companies which employ staff through an agency will not have to foot the bill, employers who employ temporary staff directly, or have staff on zero hour contracts, may be liable. The new act is back-dated to January 2012.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/11/employers_worried ...
The National Assembly passed proposals to tighten the regulation of recruitment agencies with the purpose of preventing the exploitation of workers. The changes that aim to prevent violations of the rights of workers hired by temping agencies have been agreed with the social partners, including the association of employment agencies. The proposals look to limit precarious forms of work and improve the quality of job agencies' services. Key changes include a clearer distinction between the activity of recruiting workers for companies and providing services on the basis of temporary contracts.
English: http://www.sloveniatimes.com/tougher-regulation-for-employment-agencies
The country needs to create jobs and make sure that young citizens, especially young women, remain instead of moving elsewhere, according to a businessman. He also made a plea for the improvement of the teachers' wages. Job creation is necessary as several multinational corporations including Schibsted, Dalkia E.ON and Unicredit have announced their decision to pull out of the country. The economy is still largely financed by Nordic banks. One wonders what will happen when, for instance, the Nordic property bubble is to burst.
English: http://balticbusinessnews.com/article/2013/11/28/opinion-estonia-needs-to-borrow ...
A draft bill prepared by the government, variants of which have been debated in recent months, could reduce public debt. The bill aims to transfer to the state many assets held by private pension funds, in an attempt to slash public debt as it will allow for a portion of the private Open Pension Funds (OFE) invested in Treasury bonds to be channelled back into the country's social security system.
English: http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/154319,Komorowski-Pension-reforms-essential