Eight public sector federations are planning mobilisations across the country on 31 May that will include strikes and demonstrations. The unions are calling for a public-sector wide increase in pay. The government has frozen pay and has said there will be no general pay rise for another two years. At the same time it claims that other changes in pay mean that many individual public sector workers will see their pay increase. The unions challenge this saying that even with these changes in pay, workers overall are still losing out in terms of purchasing power and have seen their take-home pay hit by increases in social contributions (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 February 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/422
French: http://www.cfdt.fr/rewrite/article/33732/l-actu/pour-la-revalorisation ...
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Despite unions offering to negotiate far-reaching reforms to the collective agreement in order to underpin job security, negotiations have stalled as local government employers are taking a hard line on both pay increases and changes to employment conditions. The unions say that the pay rises offered of only 1% in 2011 and 2012 are inadequate with inflation expected to reach 2.5% in 2012. They also say that while they are willing to see changes to the collective agreement -covering 180,000 employees-- to allow more flexibility and mobility in the sector, they cannot agree to the employers' plans to repeal all local employment rules by 1 April 2013 with no protection guaranteed for existing staff (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 March 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/422
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao's/Alle-Cao's/gemeenten1/
http://www.mijnvakbond.nl/Overleg-CAO-Gemeenten-mislukt?referrer=272
From 2 May on the living wage, as calculated by the Greater London Authority (GLA), is set at UKP 8.30 (? 9.42) gross per hour, an increase by 5.7% from UKP 7.85. The amount is based on a cost-of-living calculation and is used by the GLA as a minimum pay rate for contractors. There are now 3,000 workers employed by companies with contracts with the GLA who are guaranteed the living wage. Other public institutions around London also apply the living wage in their countries, including most recently London Metropolitan University. On Friday 29 April, the PCS civil service union used the Royal Wedding and called for a living wage for cleaners at the Royal residences in London including Buckingham Palace. The union was posted outside the Palace gates with a giant `fair pay for royal cleaners' card for members of the public to sign. PCS argued that the cleaners, employed by private contractors, just got UKP 6.45 an hour, slightly above the national minimum wage but below the living wage rate (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 November 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/422; http://www.epsu.org/cob/420 http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=6823 http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news_centre/index.cfm ...
Having already responded to government projections for future pay increases, municipal union Kommunal has criticised finance minister Anders Borg for saying that starting salaries in local government are too high. General secretary Annelie Nordstrm said it was hard to believe that anyone could say a gross monthly salary of SEK 16,070 (? 1,788) was too high and furthermore, with so many women workers on part-time hours, many were earning much less than this. Earlier, Kommunal had shown anger about the fact that wage moderation in the public sector would mean that a sector dominated by women will be getting lower increases than sectors dominated by men and so will increase the gender pay gap.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/422; http://www.epsu.org/cob/420
Swedish: http://www.kommunal.se/Kommunal/Nyheter/2011/Maj/Annelie ...
The VPD-SSP public services union is planning a day of action on 14 June as part of a campaign to secure a range of measures on equality. The union is calling for demonstrations and strikes in order to achieve progress towards equal pay, securing a minimum wage, improving childcare and parental leave and many other policies that would help achieve greater equality.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/422 French: http://www.ssp-vpod.ch/actualites/nouvelles/ansicht/article/en-marche ...
The trade union movement continues to campaign for a national statutory minimum wage but in the meantime the introduction of sectoral minimum rates has now spread to nine sectors, covering about 2.2 million workers. The rates range from €6.53 an hour in the security industry in the east to €12.95 in the construction industry in the west. Other rates include €8.24 in waste management and €7.50 (east) and €8.50 (west) in care services. In another three industries minimum wages have been agreed but these are not yet mandatory extended.
German: http://www.boeckler.de/320_113970.html
The union confederations, CGTP and UTP, after a first meeting with the delegation of International Monetary Fund (IMF)/European Commission (EC)/European Central Bank (ECB), stated their main concerns about the potential bailout. Secretary General of CGTP, Manuel Carvalho da Silva, said they had asked for an extension of the period to reduce the deficit to less than 3% at least until 2013, and expressed opposition to measures similar to those applied in other countries. The CGTP leader added that his confederation had insisted on proposals that promote economic growth and avoid situations of social disruption, reaffirming its opinion that "austerity packages do not lead to economic growth." Secretary General of UGT, Joao Proena, declared that his confederation had advocated the implementation of the tripartite agreement for competitiveness and employment signed in March. UGT drew attention to the fact that the system of collective redundancy in Portugal is one of the most liberal in Europe. During the 1 May celebrations, CGTP and UGT focused on the ongoing negotiations and once again highlighted their concerns. During these celebrations CGTP called for a national demonstration on 19 May 2011. This call resulted in two CGTP manifestations on 19 May with mass participation, one in Lisbon with about 50,000 participants and one in Porto with 15,000.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/05/articles/pt1105019i.htm
Portuguese: CGTP leaflet and further information
Slovak physicians are warning that they may submit mass resignation notices to demonstrate their frustration over poor pay and low status, following the example of their Czech colleagues who used a similar tactic earlier in 2011. Medical Trade Unions Association (LOZ) chairman Michal Polician said while it is unclear how many doctors might submit such notices, he expects physicians who are not members of LOZ to join the protest. Polician said the threat of mass resignation could be ended only if the government meets the healthcare unions' demands, including observance of the restrictions on working hours in the Labour Code and a gradual increase in health-care workers' salaries so that they reach between 1.5 and three times the average wage by 2013, depending on qualifications. Anton Szalay, chairman of the Trade Union of Medical and Social Services Employees (SOZZaSS), said he considers the option of mass resignation a very last resort, but added that his union will talk with LOZ to discuss the protest action and will survey its members about their attitudes towards this tactics.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/42646/3/doctors_threaten ...
After long negotiations, on 13 May the Joint Committee for the textile industry, in which the unions and the Fedustria employers' federation are represented, accepted the mediation proposal of the Committee's chairwoman for a set of new collective agreements for blue-collar workers. It includes a wage increase of 0.25% by 1 September 2012. The wage indexation system, earlier attacked by the employers' delegation, will remain, and internal flexibility will not be expanded. Training efforts in the sector will be intensified. The employers' side and the unions shared their lack of enthusiasm for the final outcomes, the unions in particular as the wage rise is lower than the 0.3% hike laid down a few months earlier in the IPA, the national framework agreement for the private sector.
Dutch: http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/996/Economie/article/detail/1259046 ... http://kanaalz.rnews.be/z-nieuws-items-textiel-maakt-cao-waar-niemand-tevreden-mee
IMPACT union's general secretary Shay Cody has said that in spite of the collapse of social partnership in Ireland, his union and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) confederation believe there is a need for a new framework or pact to get the country out of the current crisis. "We can and should be self-critical about our past experience of social partnership. Over time, we became too deeply embedded with the system. We got sucked into that process and we should learn from the lessons of that," Cody told delegates at the IMPACT conference in Tralee. "Nevertheless, IMPACT was and remains a supporter of social partnership," he added, "We are not advocating the low-level social dialogue mentioned in the media where we say `howya' on the street, but a more serious engagement for the public and private sectors to get the country out of the mess it's in."
English: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/unions-are-prepared-to-enter ...