Collective Bargaining

In an effort to make the sector more attractive for youngsters a substantial increase of wages was agreed in collective agreement that was negotiated between the trade unions and the employers' organisation in hotels, restaurant and pubs (KHN). For starting employees the increase is 6.4%. All wages increase as of 1 October 2012 and 1 July 2013 with 0.75%. Hotel workers receive a night work bonus of 10% per 1 April 2013. The agreement, applicable to 300,000 workers, has a duration from 1 August 2012 till 31 December 2013.
Dutch: http://www.kenniscentrumhoreca.nl/artikel/nieuwe-cao-en-hogere-lonen ... http://www.fnvhoreca.nl/949/laatste-nieuws.html

New strikes are planned for Lufthansa cabin crews after wage talks broke down. Unions report they are prepared to go on indefinite strike as well as brief walkouts and that actions would affect all German airports. The workers are asking for a 5% wage increase after three years of wage moderation and object to the carrier's plan to employ more temporary staff on its cabin crews in order to cut costs. The announced strikes come as Lufthansa posted a net loss of 168 million euro over the first two quarters of 2012.
English: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16198060,00.html
http://news.ph.msn.com/business/lufthansa-union-calls-for-strikes-after-wage-talks-fail-1http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120829/world/lufthansa-cabin-crew ...
German: http://www.fr-online.de/wirtschaft/flugbegleiter-streiken-fruehestens ...

Teachers unions have announced a one-day strike for September 13. Unions fear that the €7.85 million cuts in the state budget for education will lead to a cut in salaries for all categories of employees in the education sector. The trade unions are demanding that salaries of teaching personnel amount to 1.2-2 times the current average salary. The education ministry has reaction that decent salaries are one of its priorities and that the budget will effectively be increased when additional European funds are counted in.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/47423/10/teachers_unions_planning ...
Workers win pay rise
July25, 2012
US Steele Kosice has agreed a deal which will see workers' pay increase by 4% in return for a two-hour increase in the working week and a 12% reduction in the workforce. The compromise comes after four months of negotiations and paves the way for the company to cut 1,650 jobs by 2015. The trade unions have accepted a voluntary redundancy scheme to reduce jobs, and have agreed that workers who leave will not be replaced - several hundred workers leave the company each year when they reach retirement age. The company has guaranteed that there will be no compulsory redundancies.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2012/06/articles/sk1206019i.htm

Growing political concern has been voiced over blacklisting, a practice of mainly construction companies to place workers who have been active for unions on a blacklist of workers never to hire. A list of union activists was circulated by the Consulting Association (that also filed MP's and academics like Charles Woolfson) to firms who subscribed to it. The list, first revealed after a raid in 2009, contained 3000 names of `troublesome workers'. In recent week, the Trade Union Congress passed a motion defining blacklisting as corporate bullying and demanding political action. A number of blacklisted workers, aided by the GMB, have launched a œ600 million law suit for tort of illegal conspiracy against one of the biggest firms using the covert black list database, Sir Robert McAlpine. Opposition raised again as it became clear that the director of one of the firms using blacklisting was awarded a seat on the board of the Health and Safety Executive.
English:http://www.shponline.co.uk/news-content/full/pressure-builds-on-ico ... http://www.hazards.org/blacklistblog/2012/08/
http://www.manchestertuc.org/news/822-illegal-corporate-bullying ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/03/blacklist-files-oil-safety-academic
Focus on the practice of blacklisting: http://www.hazards.org/blacklistblog/

Unionists have called for a social agreement to get the country out of the crisis and avoid tensions. The head of the ZSSS trade union confederation says politicians underestimate the value of a tripartite agreement and are frightened of talking to trade unionists ahead of a pension and labour law reform. ZSSS stated that a social pact would address the now rising tensions in the country and send out a good signal of stability that would benefit the recovery and financial stability. The unions recently expressed concerns over both the pension reform and the abolition of the paid lunch break contained in the labour law reform. The unionist also warned that in the absence of a social dialogue, actions can be expected this autumn.
English: http://www.sloveniatimes.com/unionists-fear-rising-of-tensions-in-autumn ...

This summer Siemens signed an international framework agreement on the principles of corporate responsibility with trade union IG Metall and global industrial union IndustriAll. In the agreement Siemens committed to fundamental employee rights, including equality of opportunity, the right to collective bargaining and the freedom of association. According to the company the agreement underscored the relationship of trust between the company, the works council and the unions. Shortly after a serious dispute has risen in a Pittsburgh plant that put the agreement to an early test. All workers received a letter from the operational director stating that `Siemens does not believe a union is in the best interests of our employees'. The company also hired an anti-union consultant.
English: http://www.industriall-union.org/siemens-gfa-put-to-early-test-in-the-ushttp://finchannel.com/Main_News/Tech/113599_Siemens_reaffirms_commitment ...

The Carlsberg group has signed a co-operation agreement with the trade union confederation LO that will help to provide its women sales promoters in Cambodia with decent, dignified and safe employment. The company and the trade union will also work to erode the negative stigma attached to beer promoters and encourage freedom of association and collective bargaining.
English: http://www.lo.dk/English version/News/cambodia.aspx

Workers who are occupying a coal mine are asking a revitalization plan for the mine to start. The miners want the mine to be diversified into a combined mining and carbon capture site - a process of storing polluting emissions underground to help prevent global warming.
English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19391468http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/377811/20120827/sardinia-coal-miners-occupy ...

Trade unions have put forward their demands and suggestions in a large scale consultation process regarding educational reform. The union demands focus on continuous training of teachers and the reform of the staff evaluation process to be geared more towards improving teacher quality. The teachers' unions also identified a need to work together better between teachers, management, support staff and parents.
English: http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/news_details/2270
French: http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/SNUIPP ...

The two strongest employer organizations (the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK and the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries) made proposals to renegotiate the existing framework agreement. According to the Trade Union News, the web publication that began its 16th year this August, they argued the need for the terms of the agreement to be renegotiated on account of worsened economic conditions. All public sector employees and over 90% of the private sector employees are covered by industry-specific collective agreements that apply the framework agreement that was negotiated and signed last autumn by the labour market central organizations. The trade unions reiterated that the framework agreement can only be terminated or suspended if the parties who signed it agree to do so jointly.
English: http://www.artto.kaapeli.fi/unions/T2012/p33