Trade unions and employer confederations disagree with the government's claim that any increase in the national minimum wage would be an extra cost for business and that, in the current context of the economy, it would act as a barrier to employment. The national minimum wage, currently at €485 per month, is the lowest in the Eurozone. Social partners argue that the minimum wage should have been increased towards European rates.
English: http://algarvedailynews.com/news/9124-portugals-business-leaders-call-for-rise ...
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Adult education centres (Volkshochschule) in Burgenland are conducting a vocational training related project (`Du kannst was'). Vocational qualification is considered to give the participants new perspectives. Another advantage is the protection of the profession. The main target group is the part of the workforce that has no formal diploma. The project is open for temporary workers that have at least 5 years of experience.
English: http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Education/2013-03-08 ...
German: http://www.vhs-burgenland.at/downloads/dkw_info.pdf
Workers of trains operating in Lazio held a strike on Friday 8 March. The strike action was organised by the Lazio branches of the FILT, FIT, UILT, UGL and FAST trade unions. The protest only involves regional trains; national services are not affected. Other strikes are announced for local transport and airline workers.
English: http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/2002094/train-strike-in-rome-and-lazio ... http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp
According to the latest figures released by Eurostat, the gender pay gap reached 27%, more than the double of neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania and well above the EU average of 16%. Among the reasons for this phenomenon researchers mention the concentration of women in underpaid professions, but also the confidentiality of salaries in the private sector, gendered patterns in occupation choices, the incompatibility between demanding careers and family life, the double burden of paid work and household chores and workplace discrimination.
English: http://www.equaltimes.org/news/will-women-be-excluded-from-booming ...
Focus on the gender pay gap: http://www.sm.ee/fileadmin/meedia/Dokumendid ...
Statistics Iceland has reported on wages in the private sector by economic activity and occupational group in the fourth quarter of 2012. Wages increased by 0.8% on average from the previous quarter according to the quarterly wage index in 4th quarter 2012, with wages increasing by 1.3% in the economic activity of financial intermediation. During the same period wages in construction increased by 0.8%. Wages increased by 4.8% on average from previous year, 5.1% in the private sector and 4.0% in the public sector. The annual change of wage index ranged from 4.1% in wholesale to 9.0% in the economic activity of financial intermediation.
English: http://www.statice.is/Pages/444?NewsID=9458
A report from the European trade union federation for the public sector (EPSU) shows that austerity measures have been particularly harmful to women, who in most countries make up the majority of those employed in the public sector. The report looks at eight countries where governments have pursued a policy of public sector cuts. EPSU therefore calls for reversing these negative trends in the advancement for equality and asks the European Commission to take meaningful measures.
English: http://www.epsu.org/a/9357 http://www.epsu.org/IMG/pdf/Impact_of_cuts_initial_drft_report_layout.pdf
Trade union FNV Bondgenoten has embarked on a series of actions following a breakdown in negotiations to secure decent transfer conditions for Unilever workers scheduled to be outsourced to the catering/services giant Sodexo. Unilever has rejected the trade union demands. Under the terms of a Unilever/Sodexo deal struck in 2012, all Unilever 'facility management services' employees in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, the Nordic countries, the UK, Ireland and Poland directly employed by Unilever or already outsourced to a service provider will be transferred to Sodexo. These include cleaners, catering workers, security, receptionists etc.
English: http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/2265
Actions against social dumping
March 26, 2o13
The trade union confederation LO sent the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise NHO a letter, warning 90 Industri Energi members at Subsea 7 will go on strike in protest against social dumping from 23 April if the oil giant does not comply with demands for equal pay and working conditions for employees. It applies to personnel on multipurpose vessels operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
English: http://www.aftenbladet.no/energi/aenergy/Norway-union-threatens ...
Union wins major court victory for foreign shipyard workers
March 6, 2o13
A long lasting legal battle over equal pay for foreign workers in Norwegian shipyards was won by the trade union movement, as the country's supreme court rules that foreign workers have the right to all entitlements in the collective agreement on equal terms with Norwegian workers. Shipyard employers have been hiring foreign, mainly central eastern European workers to perform work for lower wages. The current ruling foresees both in equal wages, as well as equal rights to other allowances like free board, housing and travel.
English: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2013/03/06/labour-unions-hail-court-victory/
Ambulance workers are taking industrial action after negotiations for a collective agreement broke down in February. The workers are taking more time to explain medical issues to patients, cleaning the stretchers and keeping to the regular speed limit and traffic rules. The actions, which are limited to non-emergency services, amongst others point out that the ambulance workers are under too much time pressure. Trade unions have stated that the negotiations have not yielded any agreements in the area of wages, scheduling, work guarantees and retirement schemes.
English: http://www.epsu.org/a/9381
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/nieuws/nieuws/ambulanceacties-breiden-uit
Cameroonian workers that came to Sweden to work for an afforestation company in the northern parts of the country had been promised a monthly salary of €2,150 (see the January Newsletter). Many of the men took big loans to afford going to Sweden and paying for visas. When they arrived, it was no longer a monthly salary but instead a piece rate of €0.02. As a result, the men stranded without work permits. Several fundraising initiatives were launched and together over 900,000 kronor were raised.
English: http://www.goteborgdaily.se/news/close-to-a-million-raised-for-stranded ...
Germany does not have a national minimum wage even though specific industrial sectors have one. The upper chamber of parliament, the Bundesrat, has proposed a minimum wage of €8.5. The debate over introducing a general minimum wage has therefore emerged and the economic think tank Bruegel has summarised this debate.
English: http://www.bruegel.org/nc/blog/detail/article/1036-a-review-on-germanys-minimum ...