Collective Bargaining

The share of part-time employees in Romania who are willing and able to work more, also known as underemployed persons, was 31% in 2018, according to Eurostat data released on October 22. This was the seventh-highest share among the European Union’s 28 states and is relevant in the context of the tight labour market in Romania. Romania had 655,800 part-time employees in 2018, representing some 7.5% of the 8.7 million active population. The number of underemployed persons in Romania, 203,200 in 2018, accounted for 2.3% of the active population

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The Employers' Confederation made a proposal to the Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions to increase the minimum wage by 8%. If the proposal is approved, the minimum wage would increase to € 583.2 next year, instead of the € 578 on which the Employers' Confederation and the Trade Unions' Confederation agreed in August. The trade unions keep stressing their demand that the minimum wage should account for no less than 40 percent of the projected average wage, which would total at least € 600.

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The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP) issued a call for a work-to-rule protest of unlimited duration. The union wants to secure the dignity and prestige of the profession by raising wages. The demanded pay rise was not won during the nationwide strike of unlimited duration that started in April and was later suspended.

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Millions of people in the UK are in work, but unable to afford the basic needs of life. Nearly two thirds of families living in poverty, as defined by the Social Metrics Commission, have at least one adult in work. Last year the TUC found that one in nine workers – nearly four million people – are in precarious work.

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According to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI), the Netherlands has the best pension system in the world; this is the second year in a row that the Low Country has come out on top. The indicators in the study inform the three sub-indices: adequacy, sustainability and integrity. The scores on these indices contribute to the final aggregate score. The Netherlands does well on all categories, with its highest score being for integrity.

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Lithuanian firefighters have warned of plans to hold a strike over low funding that makes paying wages and attracting new workers difficult. Fire services are alarmingly short on funds not just to hire more fighters, but even to pay the existing ones. With night shifts, firefighters make less than 500 euros a month after taxes.

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The first agreement against harassment in the workplace was signed by the management of SIAM and the three Italian unions CGIL-CISL-UIL represented in this company that is providing water services in the Syracuse area of Sicily. The agreement commits the Parties to cooperate in maintaining a working environment that respects the dignity of each person and to foster relations based on the principles of equality and fairness. In addition, it establishes a Guarantee Commission, consisting of a company representative and a worker representative who will ensure a fair assessment of acts linked to harassment that could then lead, if proven, to sanctions imposed by the company.

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Postal workers’ representatives have announced a possible strike in November. According to the PAU union they plan to stop all deliveries, sorting and transport services for the duration of the strike. PAU says the strike won’t happen if they reach agreement with Posti, the government-owned postal monopoly, on a new deal covering wages, terms and conditions in the sector.

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The Christian Trade Union Confederation (CNV, Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond) concludes in a survey that one in three people employed through a temporary employment agency needs a second job. Almost half find it difficult to make ends meet. Six in 10 of the interviewed people said they would rather have a permanent job. Staffing agency workers are no longer being used to replace sick workers or take up the slack in peak periods but have become a structural part of the workforce.

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The country has the third lowest at risk of poverty and social exclusion rate in the European Union. Numbers have decreased over the last ten years. Now every sixth person, or a total of 872,000 people, is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The risk is unevenly distributed among the country. The Prešov Region and Banská Bystrica Region are worse off than the Bratislava Region, where only 7.9% are threatened by poverty.

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