The youth officers of trade union GPA-djp have criticised for months the poor training conditions for apprentices and the assigned work that had no relation with their vocational training combined with irregular payments in the car rental company Charterline. The union went to court and has reached a compensation payment of €86,000 for the youngsters. Other young workers in training schemes are recommended to check the regularity of their working conditions.
German: http://www.jugend.gpa-djp.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=A01/Page .
Search results
Find articles
8810 articles found.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has published its 2012 frontlines report. The report focuses on deteriorating working conditions in the crisis. In Europe, special attention is paid to the Greek and Bulgarian cases. Despite a recent increase, the Bulgarian minimum wage is still around or significantly less than half the minimum wage applying in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia and Estonia and around one-fifth of that in Slovenia. Average wages in Bulgaria are a mere fraction of those prevail ing in the advanced countries of Europe. Bulgarian workers also earn less than workers in the other EU-12 countries. For example the average wage in Poland is nearly two and a half times that in Bulgaria. A key objective of the Troika policy since 2008 has been a dramatic reduction in Greek labour costs. For example, a key condition for the last loan was a 22% reduction in the nominal value of the na tional minimum wage which came into effect in February 2012. Today the minimum wage in Greece is only slightly more than a third of the Irish minimum wage.
English: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/new_frontline_forum_2012_en.pdf
Utility workers went on strike after mediation broke down. The bargaining parties did not agree on minimum wage rates, travel rules and payment of working outside normal working hours. But it is said to be crucial to the breakdown that the employers required changes to the workers' pension plan shortly before the arbitration deadline expired. If a planned mobilisation takes place, 1,000 of 2,500 utility workers in the municipal sector will be on strike.
English: http://www.world-psi.org/en/norway-utility-workers-strike
According to the acting Director of the FinUnions (the Finnish trade union representation to the EU) many decisions are actually being made in the name of economic policy coordination that will have a bigger impact on wage and salary formation and labour market reforms than the existing mechanism of working life directives. The European Commission, through its coordination role, is seeking to circumvent power traditionally held by the labour market organisations, the European Parliament and Council who, together, normally impose working life directives.
English: http://www.artto.kaapeli.fi/unions/T2012/p38
Both public and private urban transport in cities across the country was blocked during a one-day strike on 2 October. Trade unions Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugltrasporti and Faisa-Cisal protested against the unwillingness of employers to negotiate a new collective agreement to replace the old one that expired in 2007. Participation in the strike was high (between 75% and 90%) but unions respected the legal minimum service requirements. Union representatives warned that unless employers come back to the negotiation table fast, the next strike will be all-encompassing.
English: http://libcom.org/blog/transport-workers-24-hour-strike-08102012
In the Autumn 2012 Quarterly Economic Observer of the Nevin Economic Research Institute the focus is on the details of how fiscal policy in the Republic of Ireland needs to be adapted for 2013 in such a manner as to avoid causing further damage to domestic demand and to ensure greater social and economic equality. The context for this is the continuing unemployment crisis linked to evidence of rising income inequality over times. Loss of income, jobs and continuing erosion of purchasing power is depressing demand.
English: http://www.nerinstitute.net/download/pdf/qeo_pdf_final_autumn_2012.pdf
Summer 2012
On commission of Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Finnish trade unions, the Fafo foundation produced a report on minimum wages from a Nordic point of view. The report gives an overview of the minimum wage structures across Europe and explains why Nordic unions have been opposed to the introduction of statutory minimum wages in their countries. The report is now available in English, German and Norwegian.
English: http://www.fafo.no/pub/rapp/20243/index.html
In the report The Triangular Trap that was released as part of a global campaign to stop precarious work the trade union IndustriALL signals that agency workers are often unable to join bargain collectively. The defining characteristic of agency labour is a triangular relationship between the user undertaking, the agency and the worker, isolating the worker from the enterprise that effectively controls their work, their pay and their conditions so that the worker has no say in any of them and has no mechanism to negotiate improvements. On 7 October, the World Day for Decent Work, affiliates will be mobilising their members to take action against the spread of agency work and other forms of precarious employment.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/unions-fight-back-against-the-explosion-of ..
U.S. and Dutch unions are strengthening ties in a campaign to reverse the trend of stiffening anti-union attitudes. The campaign targets Royal Ahold NV, an Amsterdam-based corporation that owns supermarket chains in the United States and Europe. Ahold's growth strategy seems aimed at undermining unions, if not eliminating them entirely, according to members of a delegation of Dutch trade unionists visiting the United States. A similar pattern is evident in Europe, says the trade union FNV's special liaison to Ahold. A recent expansion of Ahold into Belgium saw the company employ legal loopholes to prevent unionisation of the new workers even though Belgium's labour law is otherwise friendly to unions.
English: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13936/european-style_union .
A 10-day strike at Brittany Ferries (see last month Newsletter) ended after a positive vote in a phone poll paved the way for a deal. Nearly 1,300 crew members staged several wildcat strikes over proposals to withdraw allowances and change working hours. The deal from the firm which has lost money for the last three years was accepted by 56.68% of the workforce. The company was seeking an agreement which achieves cost savings and productivity improvements. It includes an extra 11 hours a year working time, more multi-tasking and an end to free meals when staff is not on duty.
English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19784014