After negotiations for a 5% wage rise failed, trade union FNV called a strike as of December 19, 2019 at the distribution centre of Etos Pharmacy in Beverwijk. According to the trade union, wages are now too low to live a decent life. This strike is the first strike in the century old history of the pharmacy chain which is a daughter firm of Ahold Delhaize.
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[close]A transport stoppage that has caused daily travel problems for millions of people in France surpassed the duration of a 1995 strike whose success unions are hoping to repeat. With no end in sight, train and metro transport was severely disrupted in Paris and on regional lines, as railway workers stayed off the job too. Talks between unions and the government failed to find common ground, and a new day of mass protest has been called for January 9 – two days after negotiations are set to resume.
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[close]Turkey will raise the minimum wage by 15% in 2020, for a monthly net minimum wage of TL 2,325 (€350), the country’s Labour, Social Services and Family Minister announced. The announcement was made after the fourth meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission in Ankara that was broadcast live on television and said the raise was 3 percentage points higher than year-end inflation expectation for 2019.
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[close]The country’s statistics office expects wages and pensions to rise by 2.5% in 2020 because of the existing indexation that compensates workers for consumer price inflation. The increase is set for the first month of next year as the annual inflation rate for December was 1.7%, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies revealed.
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[close]Philip Morris’ strategy to increase activities leading to more smokeless tobacco products will probably materialize in cutting 350 jobs in Neuchâtel and Lausanne. This prospect was published by a regional office of the Unia trade union after reading an internal email of Philip Morris. The job cuts will mainly affect the research and development unit.
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[close]The Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development published a report about economic trends in Slovenia including wages. According to this analysis, wage growth is higher in 2019 due to wage rises in the government sector. In the first ten months, year on year wage growth was 4,3% compared to 3,4% in the same period of the last year.
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[close]Call center workers in Portugal have intensified their strike, demanding an increase in wages and better working conditions. A strike notice was issued by the National Union of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Workers (SINTTAV), which is affiliated to the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Cgtp-in), for a business call center sector strike. The workers also demanded their total integration into the companies to which they provide services – including MEO, Vodafone, EDP, etc.
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[close]Analysis shows that the nominal wage is 10 times higher than 30 years ago under communism. Not only wages but also most prices rose significantly since 1989. The improvement in the standard of living can be measured by comparing the money spent on Christmas shopping. In 1989 this was four times an average wage, in 2019 only slightly over half the average wage. However, many people also become indebted around Christmas which poses a real problem across society.
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[close]Social partners have welcomed the renewal of collective agreements between two of Cyprus largest banks and staff unions. Working relations in the banking sector may be in for a bumpy ride as Hellenic Bank appears adamant on changing the way their employers are awarded for their achievements. Deals between bank employees’ main union ETYK with Bank of Cyprus and Astrobank have been perceived as positive following recent strikes at Hellenic Bank over the renewal of collective agreements.
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[close]The socialist trade union FGTB/ABVV has issued a call to take part in a nationwide demonstration on 28 January, 2020. The union fears that the social security budget will see a shortfall of €6.4 billion by 2024. The result will probably be a cut in pensions, health care and social benefits. Hence the necessity to protest and call for a policy change, the union declared. FGBT/ABVV also presented a ten-point plan to strengthen the social security safety net. The ten points will be the core of the announced demonstration
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