Four trade unions were leading 12,000 textile workers from more than thirty producers in a sector wide strike. The strike started on 15 August, four months after the last collective agreement expired and fruitless negotiations began. Textile is a low wage sector, many workers are reported to live in poverty, 55% earn no more than the legal minimum wage of 978.60 Liras (?380) and the average pay of the unionised workers is 1,165 Liras (?450). The trade unions reached an agreement on 23 August, putting an end to the strike. The main point of conflict were the temporary wage cuts, which trade unions accepted in the previous agreement in order to help the company survive in crisis times. Trade unions demanded bonuses and an end to the crisis wages, whereas management wanted to keep the lower wages. The agreement will see bonuses return to previous levels of a 120-day salary instead of the current 72. The three-year agreement includes a 5% rise on salaries in the first six months, 3% in the second, 3% in the third, 4% in the fourth, 3% in the fifth, and 4% in the sixth. If inflation surpasses these rates, additional payments will be made. Workers who work overtime on weekdays, general holidays, national holidays and regional holidays will receive double pay.
English: http://www.just-style.com/news/turkey-strike-ends-as-apparel-workers-reach-deal ...
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/textile-workers-strike-ends-with-deal ...
http://www.industriall-union.org/12000-turkish-textile-workers-on-strike
http://www.industriall-union.org/12000-turkish-textile-workers-win-0
Search results
Find articles
Members of the Fire Brigades Union have voted in favour of industrial action, in a dispute over pensions. The outcome of this vote could trigger the first national firefighters' strike in more than a decade. FBU members in England, Scotland and Wales were balloted, with 78% of them voting in favour. Under government plans, firefighters in England will get their full pension at 60. Changes to pensions in Scotland and Wales have yet to be settled. FBU says many fire fighters will not be able to maintain fitness standards into their late 50s and this will endanger the public and firefighters.
English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23884078
http://www.fbu.org.uk/?p=7089
Recent rulings from the Court of Cassation clarify the rules that grant fixed-term contract workers the entitled right to severance payment once their contract has ended. The bonus (indemnit de prcarit) applies to all temporary workers, including those on fixed-term contracts, known as `contrat de travail
dure dtermine' (CDD). French courts have consistently supported the payment of such a premium due to the insecure nature of such contracts.
English: http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News/France ...
The latest figures released by the Slovak Statistics Office (SU) show that some 13.2% of the population, or 715,000 people, was faced with the risk of poverty. The poverty limit was at €4,156 per year, which equals €346 a month for single-member households. The highest degree of risk was observed among jobless people, measured at 44.6%. This was a rise of 2% on a yearly basis. Households with three or more dependent children or single-parent households were also included among the groups at highest risk. Poverty among the working population decreased slightly, as 6.2% of working individuals faced the risk of poverty in 2012. The findings were extrapolated from data gathered from 6,000 households.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/51144/10/in_slovakia_715000_people_faced_risk ...
http://portal.statistics.sk/showdoc.do?docid=359
More than 200 production staff at Wigan's Hovis bakery began a week-long strike in a row over contracts and pay. Subject of the dispute are the introduction of agency staff and a reduction in hours. The workers fear replacement of full-time staff with agency labour. The walkout follows 26 redundancies in April, with a further five expected in October and a reduction in hours allowed from 52 to 40 per week. The management said limited use of agency labour was `commonplace'.
English: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/21/hovis-bakery-workers-strike ...
The government has planned to come to a deal with the social partners to overhaul the pension system through a lengthening of people's working lives. Main scenario is to make workers pay pension contributions for a period of up to 44 years starting in 2020, government sources say. As things stand, a pay-in period of 41.5 years is to be made mandatory for all by 2020, whereas today people retire after around 40.5 years in work. Notwithstanding this rapprochement the CGT, together with FO and others, continues with the preparation for a general mobilisation on 10 September. According to the CGT the prime minister dismissed the CGT's proposals for a radical reform with short-term and long-term.
English: http://www.english.rfi.fr/economy/20130828-unions-pledge-fight ...
http://www.independent.ie/business/french-government-nears-deal-with-unions ...
French: http://www.liberation.fr/economie/2013/08/26/une-journee-de-concertation ...
The two biggest trade union confederations, which together represent around one million workers, staged a general strike against government austerity measures, causing disruption to public transport, flights and hospitals. The walkout was their fourth joint protest in 25 years. UGT-P and CGT-P want the country's centre-right government to ease off austerity measures that they say are contributing to a downward economic spiral and surging unemployment rate. The latest plans include increasing the working time of state employees to 40 hours a week from 35, increasing their monthly pension deductions while lowering the pension entitlements and laying off some 50,000 government workers out of the total of about 583,000.
English: http://www.france24.com/en/20130627-portugal-brought-standstill-workers-strike ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/portugal-general-strike-austerity ...
Dissatisfied with the functioning of the country's scandal-hit jobs agency (Arbetsfrmedlingen) the trade union IF Metall has launched its own job-placement scheme. Despite high demand for welders and machinists the funds to educate job seekers are not adequately used. Among the union's members, almost 10% are out of work at present. The union's Competence Database (Kompetensbanken) will help the union's 340,000 members to find jobs.
English: http://www.thelocal.se/49874/20130827/
http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications ...
Cargo transport workers at Polish State Railways (PKP) voted to take industrial action over the company's privatisation, unless their demands were met. The PKP Group wants to sell a 50% stake in its freight company, which is the second largest cargo carrier in Europe. The workers asked for an average wage increase of 450 Zloty per person (?106), the payment of pending bonuses and a six year job guarantee. PKP management first reacted that the demands were unrealistic given the company's turnover. But, according to the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily, the board of PKP Cargo is due to sign an agreement with the workers.
English: http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/145451,Polish-railways-privatisation-in-October
http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/141691,Polish-railway-workers-threaten-strike-action
The announcement by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) that it is to reduce the role of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) has been criticised by the TUC. Under the GLA-scheme the forestry sector, land agents and cleaning contractors operating in the food processing industry are regulated. Agencies in these sectors will no longer have to get a GLA licence before they start operating or be subject to inspections by the GLA. The TUC says the moves will put thousands of vulnerable workers at risk and encourage rogue employment agencies to flout basic rights at work.
English: http://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-22501-f0.cfm?