Pope Francis met leaders of Poland’s Solidarity movement on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its foundation. The movement was founded by Lech Walesa and others in 1980 at the former Lenin Shipyards in Gdańsk, becoming the first independent labour union in a Soviet bloc country. The Pope recalled that through the 1980’s it had been the protagonist of political and social changes in Poland and has also played an inspiring role beyond the country’s borders.
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[close]The Union of Icelandic Journalists (BÍ) stroke for the fourth time. The strike included print journalists at Morgunblaðið and Fréttablaðið, as well as photographers and videographers. The Union members voted down a proposed agreement with the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (SA). The Confederation met with the Union of Icelandic journalists but they adjourned without a contract. The two parties have not scheduled another meeting.
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[close]On 30 November and following tough negotiations, a collective agreement has been signed in Germany’s insurance sector covering the 170,000 employees in the sector’s various services segments. The agreement secures the sector’s employees a two-staged 4.8% salary increase, as well as a one-off bonus of €225 for December.
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[close]Thyssenkrupp is in serious problems with 160,000 jobs all over the world at risk. In addition, Thyssenkrupp Elevator, the source of huge profits, will be sold or taken to the stock market. 2,500 workers of Thyssenkrupp Elevator protested in Essen demanding job guarantees. They succeeded in concluding a no-redundancy agreement for the steel business.
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[close]The Industrial Union has announced a strike that will cover 35,000 employees from the technology, chemical, wood product and special branches sectors. Negotiations for a new collective agreement for the technology industry faltered on the question of pay rises. Other issues in the agreement are more or less agreed upon.
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[close]Castorama, owning 80 stores, sacked 10 activists after they got unionized by ‘Solidarnosc’. The company justified the dismissals on the ground of ‘carrying out activities to the detriment of the company’ and ‘damaging the employer’s image.’ The trade union responded by taking legal action and picketing and distributing leaflets right outside the stores. If necessary international trade unions will campaign against both Castorama and the British owner Kingfisher.
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[close]A 2-hour warning strike by teachers and other education personnel in Lithuania has brought a swift resolution to their dispute. The government has now promised to implement the €117 mln budget increase for education which they agreed upon in 2017.
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[close]The Congress of trade unions has advised unions in the private sector to seek baseline pay increases of between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent in 2020, on the basis that Ireland remains a low-pay economy. In response, the chief executive of employers’ group Ibec, said the increases being sought by Congress ‘look too high’.
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[close]Croatian teachers are still on strike. Their demands have so far either gone unheard or have been met with unsatisfactory ‘solutions’ from the side of the Croatian Government. The views of the Croatian teachers and their unions and the Croatian Government and their offer on the table have not shifted at all. The unions insist on a 6.11% increase in the coefficient.
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[close]Thousands of workers protested against the Constitutional Court’s (STC) judgment in favour of the objective dismissal of workers for even justified leaves of absence. The court’s decision was based on Article 52.d of the Statute of Workers, which, though in existence since 1980, was substantially strengthened by the government’s labour reforms of 2012. Trade unions across the country, including the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) and the General Union of Workers (UGT), organised demonstrations in provincial capitals and called for a protest march to the Congress of Deputies in Madrid.
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