The Democratic Trade Union of Teachers opposes the plan to increase the number of working hours of teachers, according to its chairman Laszlo Mendrey. He argued that the proposal was prepared by the Economy Ministry without coordination with the parties affected. Mendrey quoted a study prepared last year showing that the average weekly hours teachers had to spend in class or preparing class was 51, and argued that it would be impossible to increase this any further. In addition the increase would result in thousands losing their jobs, according to the union chairman. The government is expected to discuss the plans later.
English: M t Komiljovics, union correspondent
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The Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions has proposed to the Employers' Central Confederation to start negotiations on raising the national minimum wage from €278 to €325 euros per month by June. According to Harri Taliga, chairman of the Trade Union Confederation, the constantly growing cost of living has severely curbed the purchasing power of minimum wage earners. "As prices have shot up compared to last fall, and are predicted to grow further, we also had to adjust our minimum wage proposal from the previous €320 to €325 euros," Taliga added.
English: http://news.err.ee/Economy/1a6329ec-efc4-4d89-aebb-c3f35e2041e6
The trade union representing workers at the country's biggest electricity producer PPC has announced to stage rolling 48-hour strikes in protest at government plans to reduce the state's share in the firm. "We decided to move to rolling 48-hour strikes," said Costas Koutsodimas, vice-president of the GENOP union. "We want to show the government that keeping the (state's) 51% stake is a matter of principle," Koutsodimas added. The strikes would start a week before the government submits fiscal and privatisation plans to the parliament, which is expected by May 15.
English: http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=103399 via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Greece
On 27 April, trade unions from six countries gathering in Brazil launched a global campaign against Sodexo, demanding the French catering and food services giant to respect the rights of employees. Unionists from the United States, France, Colombia, Morocco and the Dominican Republic joined organisations from Brazil at a press conference to highlight what they say are glaring abuses by the company which employs some 380,000 people in 80 countries. "Sodexo must respect the rights of workers to organise, respect the laws of different countries, " Jean-Michel Dupire, representative of the French CGT union CGT, told a press agency, "We also have demands for decent wages, better working conditions and respect for workers in general." Just over half of Sodexo's global work force is employed in the six countries from where unions gathered in Sao Paulo.
English: http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/labor-unions-demand ...
Thousands of BBC journalists are being balloted for strike action in response to the threat of compulsory redundancies across the Corporation. Around 100 BBC journalists based in the World Service, BBC Monitoring, Online, and in Scotland and Wales are threatened with compulsory redundancy. The NUJ (National Union of Journalists) is to ballot members after the BBC management refused to consider further moves to secure redeployment or find alternative opportunities for around 100 staff. NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: "For months we have been negotiating with the BBC and have been able to resolve most cases by agreement. But the BBC's refusal to consider workable alternatives for around 100 staff has left us with no choice but to ballot members for industrial action to defend jobs and services."
English: http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2063
Union rejects pay offer at London Underground
April 26, 2011
RMT (Rail Maritime and Transport union), the union representing staff of the London Underground (Tube) services, has rejected a proposed five year pay offer from the TFL (Transport for London) authority. The union is launching a campaign for a substantial, above-inflation one-year deal that reflects the additional workload placed on staff as a result of the repeated breakdown in services, a large increase in passenger numbers and the knock-on effect from a programme of staff reductions. RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "When you peel away all the spin from TFL, the reality is that with February's RPI (increase in retail price index) being 5.5% it means that the first year of this offer is not a rise at all, but is actually a real-terms pay cut of 1.5%" (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 November 2010).
English: http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=144166
On 26 April, white- and blue-collar pulp and paper workers continued strike activity after the national mediator Esa Lonka did not succeed in resolving the dispute in the sector. According to the Pro union, the walk-outs included 1,500 of its members at the Stora Enso and Metsaliito plants. Pro moved the strike one day forward as it accused the employers of recruiting outside labour during the union's overtime ban. Union official Jukka Hmlinen said that this happened at least at Efora, the maintenance joint-venture of Stora Enso and ABB, in the Stora Enso factories in Oulu and Imatra. Indeed, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation has advised its member companies to use outside labour. As announced, from 6 to 20 April about 1,000 office workers, members of Pro, were already on strike at all UPM operations in an effort to speed up negotiations (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 March 2011).
English: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/04/26/business-materials-eu-finland ... http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Union+accuses+paper+industry+of+using ...
On 25 April the oil shale production company Eesti Energia Kaevandused and the Association of Oil Shale Producers' Trade Unions signed a new collective agreement which foresees a 5 to 11% increase in miners' wages. Miners who have worked in the company for three to four years without a raise will receive the 11% increase, and although some benefits were excluded from the new agreement, the pay of each miner will rise by at least 5%.
English: http://news.err.ee/Economy/0c6dc4b4-a428-4cfb-9d44-9bf0c19a0f05
The trade unions representing 130,000 state employees and 338,500 workers in local and state authorities have indicated that they will not accept a lower pay rise than their private sector counterparts in anticipation of the wage negotiations starting on 27 April. Leaders of the four main unions involved have made this abundantly clear. Jan Davidsen, president of the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees (NUMGE), with 300,000 members the largest union in the LO confederation, even said to believe that the state and local workers' deal would be better than the one agreed during private sector negotiations "because of the lag in wage growth and what management has received in the state sector."
English: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2011/04/27/state-unions-to-demand ...
The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Labour Confederation are to appeal against the government's three-year budget prognosis in the Supreme Administrative court. This reaction follows a statement of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, according to which the country's pensions and wages may increase only after 2013. CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov said that under the Labour Code, all acts concerning labour, insurance and the living standard should first be agreed at the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. "This is a violation of the Labour Code and that is why we will appeal against the decision of the Council of Ministers," Dimitrov added.
English: http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n248123 ; http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2011-04-27&article=36123
Port workers have clashed with police in a number of protests following the announcement of sweeping job cuts. The job cuts constitute part of the Berlusconi government's latest round of austerity measures. The state-owned shipbuilder, Fincantieri, is imposing job cuts and changes to terms and conditions that will affect around a third of its employees or 2,500 workers. These include forced early retirement and reduced hours, which the unions claim will result in the closure of the historic shipyards at Sestri and Castellammare. In response, port workers have staged protests at a number of locations, which have resulted in clashes with management and police. The company has so far stated that the offered changes are "take it or leave it". Further negotiations with unions are scheduled for 3 June.
English: http://libcom.org/news/clashes-italian-ports-over-job-cuts-25052011