The government has introduced new conditions for employers who win government contracts. The measures to combat precarious work have been particularly welcomed by the General Workers' Union which has been campaigning for some time for tighter regulation of government contractors. Employers, however, say the government has not consulted them properly, and the strict new rules will damage the private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2013/07/articles ...
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The World Economic Forum has published its Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 that assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing insight into the drivers of productivity and prosperity. Switzerland retains its first place. Besides Singapore (2nd) the ranking is dominated by Northern and Western European countries with regulated markets. Therefore, this report can hardly be a further argument for deregulation. Some of the presumptions are questionable: for instance in the pillar Labour market flexibility more points are allocated to wage bargaining at decentralised level than to centralised bargaining processes.
English: http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2012-2013 http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf
The trade union confederations SAK, STTK and Akava reached a central agreement on wages and salaries with the employers' organisations on Friday 30 August. The agreement offers a modest rise in pay across the board over the next two years. All monthly salaries will be raised by a flat rate of €20 beginning four months after the agreement is valid. A year later salaries will be increased by 0.4%. The agreement covers two years with an option to extend it for a third year. The fate of the national agreement is now in the hands of the different unions and employer organisations that have until 25 October to bargain for new collective agreements within their branches. If there are enough unions and branches willing to accept the national agreement, it will become valid.
English: http://www.jokinen.kaapeli.fi/index.php/en/trade-union-news-from-finland ...
http://www.jokinen.kaapeli.fi/index.php/en/trade-union-news-from-finland/183-unions ...
An annual remuneration study by Fontes company shows that monthly salaries increased by 2.8% in the last year, while yearly salaries increased by 3.8%. The study also shows that 78% of Latvians still earn exactly the same wage as a year before, whereas 20.5% earned on average 11.1% more and 1.5% experienced a decrease in their wages.
English: http://bnn-news.com/51-latvias-working-population-received-bonus-money-year ...
The Tax Office Workers Trade Union is taking the Government to court over rising of the civil servants' working week to 40 hours. The union states the austerity measures are in violation of the constitutional right to decent working condition.
English: http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/first-40-hour-week-legal-challenge ...
Romanian Post has laid off 11% of its workforce in an attempt to halt rising debts and adjust to greater competition since the liberalisation of the market on 1 January 2013. In total, 3650 employees were laid off. Of the former employees, 2392 chose to enlist in the collective redundancy scheme, whereas 1268 were singled out after professional tests.
English: http://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-post-lays-off-over-3600-employees ...
Meat packer Danish Crown and trade union representatives put forward an agreement that would see slaughterhouse workers accept pay cuts in exchange for the company investing an equal amount in domestic pig farming in order to promote increased production. Labour market experts call the pending agreement that would take a pay cut in exchange for the employer investing in the company a precedent that could become common practice among businesses seeking a way to deal with high wages and low productivity.
English: http://cphpost.dk/business/pay-cut-deal-could-set-precedent
http://cphpost.dk/business/political-praise-pay-cut
In reaction to trade union representatives that were to decide on the launch of a strike over plans to cut the workforce by 10% the government has stated that there will be no staff cuts at the State Railways company (BDZ) or the state-owned postal operator Bulgarian Posts EAD. It was added that the only job losses which could be expected concerned employees reaching retirement age.
English: http://www.novinite.com/articles/153342/No+Staff+Cuts+at+Bulgarian ...
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is a survey that serves as a source of information on living conditions, housing, local environment, health, public services, social cohesion and quality of society, as well as subjective well-being. In the country profile on the quality of life based on the third EQLS and published by Eurofound the conclusion is drawn that in Iceland income is by far the most important predictor of life satisfaction. The employment rate for women in Iceland (77%) is the highest in Europe. Work-life conflict is experienced by 54% of people, a similar level to the EU27 average of 56%.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2013 ...
Eurofound published profiles on the quality of life in seven EU enlargement countries based on the 3rd European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) that took place in 2012. The EQLS serves as a source of information on living conditions, housing, local environment, health, public services, social cohesion and quality of society, as well as subjective well-being. Some of the Croatian results are worth mentioning. The poverty rate of 21% is higher than the EU27 average (16%), while income inequality, a Gini coefficient of 31 in 2011, is similar to the EU27 average of 30.7. The perceived social exclusion index (2.4) is above the EU average (2.2).
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2013/501/en/1/EF13501EN.pdf
Focus on EQLS: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/eqls/2011/enlargementcountries ...