Union members of the Nautilus trade union at Orkney Ferries are continuing to work to rule after the council continued to refuse to make an acceptable pay offer. The Orkney Island Council offered 1% increase in pay - well below the current inflation rate. Union members voted to take action short of a strike in March, but said they did not want to stage a full walk-out because of the damaging impact it could have on the islands' population who rely on the lifeline services. The union is now seeking direct talks with councillors in the Northern Isles, as the pay dispute for the ferry workers remains unresolved after a year.
English: http://union-news.co.uk/2013/04/solid-ferry-workers-n-4-month-orkney ...
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In protest over attacks and threats against them and visitors by pickpockets the security staff at the Louvre organised a wildcat action that did not go down well with many visitors. With nine million visitors a year, the museum cannot afford to close its doors for a day but unions warn they are ready to take further action if necessary. More than 100 staff stopped work to denounce raids by organised gangs which they said were growing in number and becoming `more aggressive', targeting both visitors and staff in the vast galleries.
English: http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/10/louvre-museum-closes-doors ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/10/louvre-closed-pickpockets
The Chamber of Labour (AK) and the Chamber of Commerce (WK) have started a row about unpaid overtime after Statistik Austria published data, which state that 69 million overtime hours have not been paid. AK is not pleased about the problem of unpaid overtime. According to figures used by the WK 94% of employers say that overtime is remunerated.
English: http://www.austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2013-04-11/47926/Unpaid_overtime ...
The engineering group Siemens has announced a new round of job cuts in its industry division, which employs more than 100,000 people globally. In a presentation the company said 500 jobs would be cut at its Munich headquarters; while a further 500 positions would be lost by reducing the German mechanics factories from four to two. The total workforce will be reduced by 3,000 workers. Meanwhile the protest has started against a planned outsourcing at the Munich IT-plants with more jobs at risk.
English: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/siemens-industry-unit-plans ...
http://www.themunicheye.com/news/Protests-against-job-cuts-at-Siemens-in-Munich-381
A report published by the European Commission shows that the on-going economic crisis poses a serious challenge to the dialogue between workers' and employers' representatives and governments. Recent government reforms have not always been accompanied by fully effective social dialogue, leading to increasingly conflictual industrial relations in Europe. The report acknowledges that countries in which social dialogue is well-established and industrial relations institutions are strong, generally are those where the economic and social situation is more resilient and under less pressure.
English: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=7498
Workers at Hotel Capitole in Geneva went on strike to protest against lay-offs during the temporary closure of the hotel for renovation. Their employer, Capitole Management SA, is in advanced talks with Accor, the French transnational hotel operator, for a management contract at the re-opening. Workers asked to be employed in one of the other 11 hotels that Accor operates in Geneva and to be re-hired at the re-opening. During a meeting with trade union Unia and workers' representatives, both Capitole Management and Accor refused to find solutions for workers affected by the closure. The strike is the first in a Geneva hotel for 10 years. The company has responded by forcing workers from its other hotels to move to Hotel Capitole to replace their striking colleagues.
English: http://www.4-traders.com/news/IUF-International-Union-of-Food-Agricultural ...
The utility company Vattenfall has reached a deal with the trade unions Ver.di, IG BCE and IG Metall over pay and job security for in total 15,000 workers. It means that Vattenfall will no longer face the risk of strike actions at its power plants. The deal includes a pay rise from 1 March 2013 retrospectively of 2.6%, and a further increase with 1.8% from 1 April 2014. The union demand was higher, but a job security guarantee till 2017 that the company was willing to give made the unions accept the bid. The bargaining partners agreed to restart negotiations if Vattenfall loses the concessions in Hamburg and Berlin that expire at the end of 2014.
English: http://www.argusmedia.com/News/Article?id=842272
The labour law reform introduced by the Fidesz government has come into force. The law, heavily criticised by trade unions, creates far greater flexibility in the hiring and firing of employees. Even employer organisations, which are generally happy with the law, have expressed their dissatisfaction at the lack of social dialogue in the coming about of the law. Amongst other things, the law creates a three to six month probation period, during which employees can be fired without any reported reason. In case of unfair dismissal, the court no longer holds the power to reinstate workers, but only to impose a fine. The law raises the number of allowed over hours and allows employers more flexibility to change work schedule, however, it also does allow more leave days for workers with children. The law limits employer liability in case of work related accidents and allows employers not to pay wages in case of external influences, such as power cuts. Trade unions also lose some power and protection in favour of works councils. The law restricts the number of trade union officials that receive legal protection to five per workplace, and less in smaller companies. Union officials' work time exemptions have been reduced and at least 10% of a company's workforce must be members of the union concerned in order to settle collective agreements.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2012/11/articles/hu1211011i.htm
Focus on Hungarian industrial relations:
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/country/hungary_4.htm
The government has revived an old proposal for a 10% solidarity tax on wages of public sector employees earning over €1,000 per month. The tax is meant to be a temporary measure and its revenues will go into the funding of energy subsidies or the recalculated pensions of military personnel. The tax will apply to all workers in the public sector as well as in companies owned wholly or in majority by the government. Public sector unions have announced they will fight the tax, which they consider discriminatory and unwarranted considering the 25% wage cut that civil servants took in 2010. The leader of the liberal coalition partner also expressed disagreement with the tax, claiming that the party is against raising taxes and that the revenues from the solidarity tax would be too small to make any difference on the state budget. Prime minister Ponta also said the government coalition is considering a tax reform towards a more progressive system.
English: http://www.romania-insider.com/solidarity-tax-on-state-wages-above-eur-1000 ...
http://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-ruling-coalition-leaders-publicly-disagree ...
Trade unions have filed a complaint with the ILO for infringement of their right to strike. In the end of 2012, workers of the Neunberger hospital went on strike when it became clear that the hospital's new owner intended to repudiate the collective agreement and worsen working conditions. The hospital then sacked the workers on strike, who took their employer to court for illegally dismissing them. However, after Swiss courts have upheld the dismissals, the unions now take the case to the ILO.
English: http://www.epsu.org/a/9447
German: http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/der-vpod-reicht ...
French: http://www.ssp-vpod.ch/actualites/nouvelles/ansicht/article/le-ssp-depose ...