Collective Bargaining

In a protest against the company's arbitrary actions that do not comply with the signed collective agreements workers have walked out of their jobs at the Vassilikos cement factory. The trade union SEK accused the company of taking advantage of its effective monopoly on the island. On 20 March 2012 workers had returned to work after labour minister Sotiroulla Charalambous mediated between them and the management.
English: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/vassilikos/cement-employees-strike-over ...

Following violent clashes with the police, steel workers have decided to end their nine month strike at Halyvourgia steel plant in Aspropyrgos, western Attica. The conflict started when the company used newly enacted austerity legislation to lower salaries to €500 per month and lay off a number of workers. Whilst the strike was ruled illegal by court order weeks ago, workers continued the strike and occupied the plant. After a new court order, Prime Minister Samaras ordered the riot police to end the strike, which resulted in a violent clash in which the police used tear gas to drive the strikers out. Following the clashes, 107 out of 150 union members voted to end the strike and returned to work. Meanwhile, management fired another 50 workers and it is rumoured production will be moved from Aspropyrgos to another plant in Volos.
English: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi ... http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/304830/greek-steel-workers-end ... http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article ... http://www.steelguru.com/international_news/Steel_workers_prevented_from ...

Data on minimum wages referring to monthly national minimum wages are published by Eurostat bi-annually. The statistics reflect the situation on 1 January and 1 July of each year respectively. In a guiding article it is illustrated how minimum wage levels (gross amounts, before deduction of income tax and social security contributions) - established by legislation or by collective agreement - vary considerably among EU Member States. The report is available in all languages.
English: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained ...
German: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained ...
French: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained ...

Bank workers have held a 24-hour warning strike demanding recapitalisation of the banks to avoid job losses. The unions fear that international creditors will drive the government into making decisions that will result in major job losses in the banking sector. The union spokesperson said banks should be recapitalised and jobs guaranteed. The Hellenic Financial Stability fund has said the banks need mergers to reduce costs and make them attractive to investors.
English: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-27/greek-bank-union-calls-strike ... http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_27/07/2012_454201

Car maker Audi announced it is laying-off hundreds of temporary agency workers at its plant in Neckarsulm. Audi will gradually reduce its now 1400 agency staff over the rest of the year. Many of the temporary workers were hired for the manufacturing of the Audi A7, whose production process has now moved to a next stage.
English: http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News ...

In reaction to a Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) decision to fire critical judge Miroslava Todorova, chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association and judge at the Sofia City Court, over a hundred judges and several NGOs gathered in front of the VSS headquarters to protest. Todorova,a well-known critic of the Supreme Judicial Council, was fired on 12 Julyfor unreasonable delay of proceedings without being heard by the VSS. Several groups of judges, NGOs and parliamentarians have made statements in support of the ousted judge. The dismissal of Todorova is rumoured to be a consequence of a longstanding conflict between her and the internal affairs minister, whom she recently sued for falsely accusing her of incompetence and patronizing organised crime. Both the minister and prime minister have spoken out against the dismissal. Todorova appealed her dismissal at the Supreme Administrative Court, which so far refused to put the dismissal on hold temporarily but has not yet judged on the case itself. Several groups and associations of judges have repeatedly called for the resignation of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council.
English:http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=141225http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=141711

Trade union TUMTIS reports that DHL has fired 18 workers in warehouses in Kira‡, Esenvur and Gebze for taking part in the union's organising efforts. The International Transport workers' Federation came out in support of TUMTIS over the layoffs at DHL.
English: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index ...

Social partner-led monitoring agency SNCU published a report in which it identifies 500 suspected collective agreement violations in the temp agency sector in the first half of 2012. Rogue agencies have been a hotly debated topic in the Netherlands since the start of the regulation of the branch in the beginning of the 2000s and are one of the ministry's priorities.
English: http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News ...

The Federation of Staffing Firms Polish HR Forum has warned that an increasing number of rogue employment agencies are active on online job-sites. The agencies are not registered with the labour inspectorate and advertise vacancies that turn out to be illegal labour.The rogue agencies also try to charge jobseekers for temporary and permanent vacancies and primarily offer work abroad.
English: http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News ...
Strike and lock-out at LG supplier Chung Hong Electronics
July23, 2012
Workers at the Chinese LG supplier Chung Hong Electronics factory, operating out of a Special Economic Zone near Wroclaw, have entered into an industrial conflict. The workers started collective labour negotiations demandinga wage increase, the restoration of the social fund, the reduction of the annual overtime limit and the restoration of free transport for workers, which the company refused. The workers voted to strike in the end of June, after which one employee was fired. In reaction to the dismissal 40 more employees went on a two-week strike, 24 of which were then dismissed for disciplinary reasons. While workers laid-off for disciplinary reasons are not entitled to unemployment benefits, the strike continues and unions accuse Chung Hong Electronics of violating core trade union rights. The workers have instated a solidarity fund for the dismissed workers, asking the public for contributions.
English:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/23/sackings-poland ...

Leather workers union Deri-Is, supported by Labour Start and IndustriALL, has collected 12,000 signatures and organised protests demanding the reinstatement of 35 colleagues that were fired at Togo Footwear, Ankara, for union organising activities. The Deri-Is members were attempting to initiate collective bargaining at the factory. So far, the ministry of labour has refused to issue collective bargaining authorization papers to the unionists.
English/French/Spanish:http://www.industriall-union.org/demand-reinstatement ...