Collective Bargaining

Following recent scandals over social dumping by private contractors, the Fagforbundet municipal union reports that the government is determined to maintain and improve a regulatory framework to protect contractors' employees, based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 94, that was introduced into Norwegian law in 2008. The ESA, the body that monitors legislation in the European Economic Area, argues that Convention 94 conflicts with EEA/EU rules and so the government is looking at new legislation in response to these criticisms (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 June 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/436
Norwegian: http://www.frifagbevegelse.no/meninger/article5704445.ece

Unions representing staff at every level of the National Health Service (NHS) are meeting on 25 August in London to plan the first NHS-wide strike, in anticipation that current negotiations with the government over public sector pensions will fail by the autumn. Doctors, nurses, midwives, hospital administrators and cleaners will discuss plans to shut down swaths of the NHS in industrial action which could take place by Christmas if negotiations fail. Union leaders are keen to start early contingency planning to ensure that any strikes do not compromise patient safety. UNISON, whose 1.4 million members include 460,000 NHS workers, is hosting the meeting.
English: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/24/unions-plan-nhs-strike-pensions

In July, Statistics Netherlands published that in 2010 the population's average purchasing power fell by 0.5%, whereas CPB, the government's main economic body, predicted a continuous decrease in purchasing power of on average 1-2% yearly till 2015. Against this backdrop, on 23 August the FNV union confederation wrote a letter to MP Mark Rutte, arguing that the effects of the budget cuts announced by the government are highly unfair and will heavily hit the low- and middle-income groups. The confederation points at the cumulative negative effects of a number of measures, rising the costs of for instance child care and house renting. At a press conference, FNV bargaining co”rdinator Catelene Passchier characterised the expense cuts of the government, totaling €18 billion till 2015, as too large; she stressed the importance of maintaining purchasing power for the recovery of the Dutch economy.
Dutch: NRC-Handelsblad, 23 and 24 August 2011; De Volkskrant, 12 July and 23 August 2011

In December 2010, due to very low wages and an almost 22 year-old collective agreement with inacceptable conditions the LANV union association has cancelled the collective agreement in the private transport sector. New negotiations will start in the beginning of September. Negotiations on a new collective agreement for the retail trade have failedÿ; the union insists on higher wages, referring to wage levels in Switzerland. Further negotiations regarding the security and the gastronomy and catering sectors are on their way. In particular negotiations in the catering sector will be challenging as two employers' organisations are mutually hostile, and the respective collective agreements cannot be declared binding as both organisations do not have enough members,ÿa situation that leaves many workers without agreement.
English: message of Petra Brunhart, international secretary Liechtenstein Employees' Association (LANV)

Employees in the majority of small businesses continue to face a pay freeze with the trend set to continue in 2012, according to a survey by the employers' association, the Small Firms Association (SFA). The study found that wage increases were only being given to reward productivity and innovation. The survey of 592 companies found 76% have frozen basic pay rates this year, with 69% planning to continue the trend next year. 13% have implemented a basic pay increase of 2.5% on average, with 22% expecting to increase basic pay in 2012 by 3% on average if their firms continue to grow.
English: http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0822/pay.html
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Ireland

The Czech Health and Social Care Trade Union insists on a 10% increase in the salaries of all employees in the sector next year, its chairwoman Dagmar Zitnikova said on Wednesday 17 August. The government promised in a memorandum it signed with doctors' unions exactly half a year ago to raise the salaries of doctors by 10% as from March, while the salaries of other health care employees are to be raised in 2012. However, health care insurance companies have already stated to pay hospitals 5% less for treatment next year, and therefore the unions say they are afraid the hospitals will not have money to raise wages of employees other than doctors. The unions argue this may result in social unrest and they want to discuss the issue with government and employers in the tripartite meeting in September. On 12 July, unions staged a protest rally against the government's health reform package outside the Health Ministry.
English: http://praguemonitor.com/2011/08/18/czech-unions-call-higher-pay ... http://praguemonitor.com/2011/07/13/trade-unions-stage-rally-against ...

In July 2011, the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) presented its interim report on collective bargaining. The study evaluates the collective agreements concluded by trade unions affiliated with the DGB in the first half of 2011, affecting about 25% of all employees covered by such agreements. Calculated on an annual basis, the average nominal increase in wages and salaries will be around 2% in 2011, slightly above the average of 1.7% for 2010. This rise reflects the improvement in the economy. However, as prices in 2011 seem to be increasing more than predicted, employees in some industries might not enjoy real wage increases. On the other hand, data provided by the Federal Statistical Agency indicates that effective gross wages might increase more than collectively agreed wages. The average increase in eastern German pay levels is estimated to be about 2.2%, thereby bringing the 2011 increases above the western German level.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/07/articles/de1107019i.htm
German: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_ta_hjb_2011.pdf

The fact that male workers have more chances to be entitled to additional social benefits (pension plan, additional sickness insurance, et cetera) enlarges the gender pay gap. This is a main conclusion of recent research by the HIVA institute and the Faculty of Economics of the Catholic University Leuven. Based on the vacancy and salary survey 2008, the researchers calculated the "net" pay gap at 14.3%. If the additional social benefits are included, the gap increases to 18.0%.
Dutch: http://www.abvv.be/web/guest/news-nl/-/article/313194 ...
French: http://www.abvv.be/web/guest/news-fr/-/article/317103 ...

The legal minimum wage in Lithuania was last increased in January 2008. It is almost the lowest in the EU, currently equal to LTL 800 or €232 per month respectively LTL 4.85 (? 1.41) per hour. During 2011 the trade unions have exerted pressure to increase the minimum wage, arguing that its very low level does not encourage people to take up employment, inhibits competition in the labour force, hampers recovery of the domestic market, facilitates a grey economy, and is one of the factors behind large-scale emigration from the country. Union demands, however, have until now been rejected by government and parliament. Employers' organisations are also split on the issue. On 28 June, parliament failed to adopt a resolution to increase the minimum to LTL 900 (? 261) per month with effect from 1 October 2011 and to LTL 1,000 (? 290) per month from January 2012. Unions have now approached Lithuanian Members of the European Parliament as well as the ETUC for help.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/05/articles/lt1105029i.htm

Shortly after midnight on Tuesday 9 August, a judge in Frankfurt rejected an appeal from the air traffic controllers' authority, the DFS, thus allowing a six-hour strike planned by air traffic controllers' union GDF for that morning from 4 to 10 AM. However, just after the final decision was announced, the DFS said it would enter mediation, thus invoking a no-strike clause for four weeks. In the weeks before the union had rejected renewed talks, after it declined a management offer for a 4.1% salary increase. GDF, claiming to represent more than 3,000 of 5,500 air traffic controllers, is demanding a 6.5% rise.
English: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/09/uk-airtraffic-germany ...
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15301861,00.html