Health workers in the Madrid region have organised two days of strike and announced to more action days in the beginning of December. The health workers are protesting against plans to privatised six brand new hospitals as well as against the €1 fee for the issuing of prescription drugs. Unions report that about 80% of health workers participated in the strike; minimum services were guaranteed throughout the strike.
English: http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/27/inenglish/1354020373_890781.html
Spanish: http://www.fspugt.es/Convocadas_cuatro_jornadas_de_huelga_en_la_sanidad ...
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Iberia has announced it will be cutting 22% of its workforce, amounting to 4500 jobs in an attempt to save the loss making company. Iberia said it will restructure to focus on fewer but profitable routes. The company set a deadline f0r 31 January 2013 to agree with trade unions on a social plan. The announcement of the cuts was made on the same day it became known that the airline is seeking to buy low cost carrier Vueling. Trade unions have threatened to start a six day strike just before Christmas if the current plans go ahead.
English: http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/09/inenglish/1352456804_467980.html
http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/27/inenglish/1354029177_012016.html
Spanish: http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2012/11/09/actualidad ...
Hospitals unions have ended the strike as a deal was reached on pay increases. As reported in the September and October newsletters, health care workers went on strike as the Hospitals Association failed to meet wage demands, posed by the unions to halt an exodus of health workers to better paying EU member states. The workers declined a wage offer of 3% for doctors and 6% for nurses and caregivers made on the eve of the strike and last month declined a follow-up offer of 15 % for caregivers, 10% for nurses and 6% for doctors. The pay deal that ended the strike and on the basis of which a collective agreement will be drawn up, now includes a 23% increase for caretakers, 17.5% for nurses and 11% for doctors.
English: http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/32037/
http://news.err.ee/health/cb6aab5f-cb85-49b8-af73-0df0296b9d26
The European Work and Employment Research Centre published a comparative report on public sector pay and procurement during the crisis. Studying developments in France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and the UK, the EWERC concludes that social dialogue arrangements in the public sector that existed in the good times were often circumvented in the last years when cut backs were made. The authors of the report call special attention to flawed outsourcing and public tendering procedures that fail to uphold working conditions and pay levels.
English: https://research.mbs.ac.uk/european-employment/Ourresearch/Currentprojects ...
After a first warning strike (see our September newsletter), teachers took to the streets again to demand higher wages. The government has offered a pay increase of 5%, but unions demand at least 10%. According to estimates, about 80% of primary schools, 90% of secondary schools and 30% of universities were closed due to the strike, which was joined by kindergarten staff. It is unclear how long the strikes will last.
English: http://www.demotix.com/news/1634338/slovak-teachers-strike-higher-salaries ...
Marchers that want to highlight opposition to emigration forced by cuts took to the streets as part of an anti-austerity march organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU), the Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes, the Communities Against Cuts Campaign and the Spectacle of Defiance and Hope group. The event attracted 15,000 demonstrators from across the country. According to DCTU chief Michael O'Reilly the gathering was just the first of many steps in the campaign against the cuts: `The evidence is clear - you cannot cut your way out of a recession. On the contrary - with each cut in public spending and with each euro taken out of the pockets of low and average earners, we are digging ourselves further into a hole.'
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1124/1224327041977.html
The Employers' organisation COSLA has offered to increase pay by 1% for Council workers from 1 April 2013. The offer also includes a proposal to bring in a living wage of 7.50 per hour in every council in Scotland. GMB Scotland is delighted to see a living wage coming in across all Councils as this has been a long held goal for us. This will introduce the living wage to 17,000 workers in Local Government. However, after 3 years of wage restraint the union does not believe the increase of 1 % is enough to address the drop in living standards.
English: http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/latest_news/gmb_scotland ...
The German company Wintershall is offering large bonuses to grab the most Statoil employees when it assumes operatorship of the Brage field. A company spokesperson motivates the move: `Having continuous and reliable operation at Brage is vital for us. We know there's a good working environment at Brage and would like this to continue.' A 6% wage increase for offshore employees with statutory pay is also part of the deal.
English: http://www.aftenbladet.no/energi/aenergy/Wintershall-pays-huge-bonuses ...
APMT dockers fight for local collective agreement
November 8, 2o12
Dockers at global network terminal (GNT) operator APMT have filed an official request for a local collective agreement matching all terms and conditions of the national collective agreement for dockworkers. APMT is the only GNT operator who is not affiliated to the national employers' organisation and has refused to sign up to the national collective agreement.
English: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm ...
In 2011, nearly 16 per cent of all wage and salary earners had a temporary job. Almost two thirds of fixed-term employees would like to have a permanent job but have not been able to find one. In 2011, private sector permanent employees earned €19.11 per hour on average, whereas fixed-term employees were paid an average of €15.69 per hour. The gap stood at 18%. For central government the gap was 9% and for local government 8%.
English: http://www.stat.fi/til/pra/2011/pra_2011_2012-10-19_kat_001_en.html
Around 200 former port workers held a protest walk in Valletta, calling on the prime minister to meet them by the end of the month to discuss their call for participation in the Port Workers Contingency Fund. The workers, led by the General Workers' Union, are seeking an out-of-court settlement to be given what they claim they are due. The workers had contributed to the fund which now runs into several million euros.
English: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/former-port-workers ...