At the end of December 2011, 170 IF Metall union reps from sites across the country agreed to a new 14 month contract with employers' associations, starting February 1, 2012, and running up to March 31, 2013. Salaries will be increased by 3%. Similar agreements have been approved by other unions, including Pappers, Unionen, the wood- and graphics workers' union GS, and Livs, the Swedish Food Workers' Union. In total, 540.000 industrial workers are covered by the new agreements, which are normative for the rest of the economy. In IF Metall, the agreements concern 171 000 members in technology, steel, mining and chemistry. The union and the employers will continue to negotiate about a system to retain jobs and invest in education during recessions, aiming at a final proposal by the end of February 2012. Unionen, representing 120,000 workers in many sectors, negotiated 0.2% on top of the 3% for professional development. The union represents white-collar, technical, engineering, administration, and other staff. Pappers took a major step closer to a June deadline in finalizing industry-wide language banning all social dumping concerning agency and precarious work. The other unions also made strides in limiting and regulating temporary and short-term work.
English: http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=28514&l=2; http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4833-Sweden-s-Industrial ...
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Seven public service union federations (CFDT, CFTC, CGC, CGT, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA) have written a joint letter to the Public Service Minister on the issue of minimum pay and the purchasing power of public sector workers. The unions are unhappy about the unilateral decision by the ministry to increase the minimum salary in the public sector to bring it in line with the national minimum wage (SMIC), which was as of 1 January 2012 increased by 2.1% (to €1393.82 a month), while maintaining an overall freeze on public sector pay. The unions are calling for a pay increase to the index point on which all public sector salaries are based, along with a further increase to take account of several years of below-inflation pay rises. They also want to see a general review of the public sector pay system. The FO-Fonctionnaire federation has also criticised the ministry's policy and called for a 5% increase on the public sector pay index point as well as allocating an additional 44 points to all public sector salaries.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453
French: http://www.spterritoriaux.cgt.fr/spip.php?article5152 http://www.fo-fonctionnaires.fr/
The regional government of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) has agreed to implement new procurement regulations that include a requirement on contractors to comply with a minimum wage of €8.62 an hour. The rules also require compliance with collective agreements in the transport sector along with ILO conventions and measures relating to women workers and the environment.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453
German: http://www.boeckler.de/wsi-tarifarchiv_35834.htm?id=38548 http://www.boeckler.de/index_tariflichermindestlohn.htm#cont_17936
State employees will see their pay increase by 1.3% on 1 April 2012 rather than the 1.7% forecast as part of the two-year agreement negotiated last year. This is part of the public sector pay mechanism that makes adjustments to keep pay in the state sector in line with developments in the private sector. Pay increases in the private sector turned out lower than anticipated.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453
Danish: http://www.oao.dk/index.php
The FP-CGIL public services federation along with the three other federations in the private waste sector (FIT-CISL, UIL TRASPORTI and FIADEL) is planning two further days of strike action on 16 and 17 January, following the one-day strike on 29 November last year. A central demand in the dispute is maintenance of the sector agreement, which is under threat as a result of demands to liberalise the industry. Another issue is safety at work in the sector. The November strike had a high turnout, with the support of an estimated 80% of workers. A meeting with employers on 1 December did not resolve the dispute (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 November 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453; http://www.epsu.org/cob/450#a8234
Italian: http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/20823 http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/20503
Less than two years after their major strike, on Monday 2 January cleaners, supported by the FNV Bondgenoten union, started a national campaign with strikes on ten railway stations. In the next days, major principals like banks, universities and casinos were targeted. Negotiations over a new collective agreement for 150,000 cleaners stalled in December, and by 1 January the former agreement expired. The union asks for a 5% pay increase, employers' paying for the first days of illness, more training facilities, and less work pressure. The employersÿ` association offered a 2% pay hike and 1% contribution for training and pension goals. FNV Bondgenoten in particular demands more respect from employers and principals, and compliance with the training paragraph in the former agreement. Instead of the planned 30,000 cleaners, only 3,000 have received training, according to Bondgenoten negotiator Ron Meyer. On 5 January, 2,500 cleaners demonstrated in front of Philips' headquarters in Amsterdam (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 February, March and April 2010).
English: http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/dutch-cleaners-take-national-strike-action
Dutch: De Volkskrant, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 January 2011; http://www.fnvbondgenoten.nl/nieuws/acties_en_campagnes/gewoon_goed .
The FSC-CCOO and FSP-UGT public service federations have criticised the centre-right government for imposing a further pay freeze in the public sector in 2012. The previous socialist government had imposed an average 5% cut in 2010 followed by a pay freeze in 2011. Unions estimate that the combined effect of these measures is that public sector workers will have seen the purchasing power of their salaries fall by 13% in real terms over three years. They have also criticised the freeze on recruitment, particularly at a time of such high unemployment and above all huge unemployment among younger people.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453
Spanish: http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/menu.do?Inicio:292440 http://www.fspugt.es/FSPUGT_rechaza_las_medidas_de_recorte_que ...
The Kommunal local government union has signed a new collective agreement with the EIO employers' organisation. The agreement will cover workers employed by EIO companies that provide technical and property services to local and regional authorities. The agreement provides for adult rates of pay at the age of 18 with a minimum pay rate of SEK 16,600 (?1,875) a month, rising to SEK 18,000 (?2,030) in the second year plus any negotiated increase. The agreement includes details on skills development, linking skill levels to pay.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453
Swedish: http://www.kommunal.se/Kommunal/Nyheter/2012/Nytt ...
A report by Queen Mary College, University of London estimates that low paid workers have seen their pay increase by UKP 33 million (?40 million ) since 2010 as a result of a successful campaign to get employers sign up to a living wage. A number of major private and public sector employers in London have agreed to apply a UKP8.30 (?10.00) an hour minimum wage instead of the current UKP6.08 (?7.40) National Minimum Wage rate for adults. The researchers claim that a growing number of employers is recognising the benefits of this in terms of increased productivity and lower turnover rates. Nevertheless, employers' association CBI sticks to the viewpoint that a widespread living wage policy in an economic downturn would be irresponsible.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/453 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-penny-finally-drops ...
The main municipal workers' unions, UNISON and GMB, have agreed to undertake negotiations on changes to the local government pension scheme following commitments from the local government employers and the government. This follows the public sector-wide strike action on pensions on 30 November 2011 and confusion over the government position just before Christmas. The two unions now think there is a reasonable framework for negotiations and that the feared significant short-term increase in employee contribution rates will not now take place. The Unite trade union has rejected proposals on the health sector (NHS) pension scheme. Earlier the main civil service union, PCS, had also rejected the latest government offer which it says will mean higher contributions, less protection against inflation and a retirement age rising to 68. Also, NASUWT and NUT, the two largest teachers' unions, have demanded further talks with the government after refusing to sign up to pension reforms (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 April, May, June, July-August, September, October and November 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/451; http://www.epsu.org/cob/453 http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2559 http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/latest_news/local_government_pensions ... http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/unite_unanimously ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/06/teaching-unions-refuse-sign ...