After the national framework agreement was signed by the union confederations on 13 October, on Wednesday 23 November negotiations both for municipal and for state employees were completed. The agreement for 350,000 employees in the municipal sector takes effect on 1 January 2012 and expires on 28 February 2014. On 1 January 2012 all municipal employees will get a pay rise of 1.7%; the remaining 0.7% will be used for financing the qualitative changes agreed, including, among other things, six days of paid paternity leave and the scrapping of regulations that have discriminated against temporary employees with regard to their annual leave rights. A €150 lump sum will be paid in January 2012. The latter 13 months provides all employees with a pay rise of 1.46% on 1 February 2013, whereas further pay rise which will average 0.6% is to be negotiated at local level. The agreement for the state employees also follows the pattern outlined in the framework agreement. The agreement takes effect on 1 March 2012 and expires on 31 March 2014. Wages and salaries of all employees covered by this second agreement will be raised on 1 March 2012 by 1.9%, with a minimum of €39.50 per month. A €150 lump sum will be paid in March 2012. A further pay rise of 1.4% kicks in on 1 April 2013. On 1 March 2012 and on 1 March 2013 wages and salaries will be raised by on average 0.5% on the basis of the outcome of local negotiations (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 July-August, September and October 2011).
English: http://www.jhl.fi/portal/en/news/archive/?bid=1581&y=2011 http://www.jhl.fi/portal/en/news/archive/?bid=1577&y=2011 http://www.jhl.fi/portal/en/news/archive/?bid=1492&y=2011
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Growing discontent about the gulf between rich and poor was underlined on Wednesday 23 November by official figures showing the gap between Britain's highest and lowest paid workers has widened dramatically over 2011. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that workers in the worst paid jobs - such as dinner ladies, hairdressers and waiters - have seen their pay fall sharply in real terms, fanning fears about families' ability to cope with soaring food and energy bills. The bottom tenth of earners saw their pay creep up just 0.1% between 2010 and 2011 while the top tenth saw their pay grow 18 times faster. The number of people being paid less than the national minimum wage of UKP 6.08 rose in 2010 and there was a big divergence in earnings between London and the rest of the country, according to the ONS annual survey of earnings. However, there was a slight narrowing in the gender pay gap. Overall pay growth for UK workers hit a record low. Pay was up just 0.4% on a year ago in terms of gross weekly earnings, meaning that incomes are tumbling in real terms given that inflation stands at 5%.
English: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/23/pay-gap-rich-poor-widens
A number of warning strikes as part of the IG Metall union campaign for a new collective agreement for 75,000 employed in the steel industry in two bargaining regions, North Rhine-Westfalia and Lower Saxony and Bremen, resulted in a bargaining result that has been called satisfactorily by union officers. From 10 to 15 November, about 20,000 steel workers stopped production temporarily at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, ArcelorMittal, Vallourec & Mannesmann, Europipe and the Foundry of Friedrich-Wilhelm. The outcome is a wage increase of 3.8%, also for apprentices, as of 1 December 2011, in a collective agreement valid from 1 November 2011 to 28 February 2013, thus 16 months. Agreed is also the guarantee of unlimited employment for apprentices after completion of their apprenticeships. The agreement on part-time arrangements for elderly workers will be continued (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 October 2011).
Englishÿ: message of IG Metall for EUCOBAN network of EMF / EFFAT / ETUF-TCL / EMCEF; http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=28143&l=2
German: http://www.igmetall-kueste.de/www/news.php?id=736&portalid=1
An imminent VAT hike will hit poorer people three times as hard as the better paid, Unite, one of the country's largest trade unions, has warned. Unite has demanded Finance Minister Michael Noonan to reconsider his position over the planned increase to 23%. Jimmy Kelly, Unite regional secretary, dismissed claims by the minister that the 2% jump would not hurt the less well off as much as others. "This is purely and simply wrong," he said, pointing to research by the leading think tank ESRI which showed the impact of a 23% VAT rate. The union leader said the VAT hike would further stem consumer spending next year and lead to more business cutbacks, closures and job losses.
English: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/vat-hike ... via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Ireland
For Thursday 17 November, the CGT energy union called for a one-day strike in gas and electricity production and distribution, including facilities of the major energy companies EDF and GDF SUEZ. Thus, the union continues its campaign for wage increases in the energy sector that it started up in September 2011.
English: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/14/idUSL5E7ME1MC20111114 via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=France
French: http://www.daily-bourse.fr/salaires-la-cgt-energie-annonce-un-preavis-de-grev ...
Several trade unions have asked the government to fulfill its commitments towards wages for health professionals and to keep the promise made after the doctors' mobilization of last year, as to raise wages for medical staff across the board by 10%. The unions conclude that the government is back tracking, but say they will not accept anything less than 10%. The Czech Trade Union of Health Sector and Social Care of the Czech Republic (OSZSP), part of the Z3 coalition, asks for the raise to be part of the annual budget decree, but concerning the health sector that has not been published yet. The Z3 coalition has announced to continue its campaign with the slogan: "WE STAY - we want promises completed!" (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 October 2011).
English: http://epsu.org/a/8140
Czech: http://epsu.org/IMG/pdf/PR_2011_11_14_health_Czech_Z3_tiskova_zprava.pdf
On 14 November, at the annual congress of the governing Christian Democrat (CDU) party in Leipzig Chancellor Angela Merkel has got an overwhelming vote in favour of a binding minimum wage in sectors which do not have such a wage determined by collective bargaining. Nearly 1,000 delegates voted in favour of the proposal, and only four were against. However, the orientation on a level of €7 per hour, that the "social wing" of the CDU had planned earlier, was not made explicit. Coalition partner FDP remains vehemently opposed against a general minimum wage. In an interview CDU Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, Ursula von der Leyen, promised to take initiatives towards the implementation of the general minimum directly after the party congress, including talks with the FDP. Anyway, with the progressive parties in favour it is clear that the general minimum wage is backed by a large majority in the Bundestag, the federal parliament (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 October 2011).
German: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,797776,00.html http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,797240,00.html
Young female professionals in Sweden find it harder to secure permanent contracts than their male counterparts, according to a report from the TCO white collar union confederation. Currently almost 25% of female professionals aged between 20- and 34-years-old have temporary employment contracts, against 10% of men, the report states. "This is a serious warning about the conditions in working life," said Eva Nordmark, TCO chairperson. She argued that the lack of a permanent contract means that female workers have a weaker position in the labour market and added that this problem is getting worse.
English: http://www.thelocal.se/37346/20111114/#
By the end of October, a seven-days' strike action of members of the CGT, UNSA and FO trade unions to support their claim for a €250 monthly bonus for all sewage workers in the Paris region (working for the SIAAP regional body) resulted in gains. During the strike, the SIAAP management resorted to intimidation and sent letters directly to all strikers giving them an ultimatum to end the strike and withdraw pickets, or face legal action and arrest. The unions decided to return to work having accepted a monthly bonus of €75 for those mainly involved in maintaining sewage works and systems (?50 or €25 for other technicians). The unions remain united and will discuss further action to secure their €250 target.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/446
French: http://www.spterritoriaux.cgt.fr/IMG/pdf/UNE_LUTTE_EXEMPLAIRE_AU_SIAAP.pdf
On 2 November, the FNV Abvakabo and CNV Publieke Zaak trade unions organized demonstrations in Rotterdam and The Hague in protest over the breakdown of collective bargaining in the local government sector. Negotiations have stalled for quite some time and in fact did not take place after May 2011, while the collective agreement for local government expired formally by June. In the The Hague meeting it was stressed that work in the sector was being "dehumanized" with money now being more important than the quality of work and the quality of services. Further actions were being planned in other cities, particularly Nijmegen, Eindhoven and Leidschendam (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 March and May 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/446
Dutch: http://www.mijnvakbond.nl/Startsein-acties-gemeenten?referrer=266 http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao's/Alle-Cao's/gemeenten1/