Turnout by EDF and GDF SUEZ workers for a day-long strike on 7 April called by five unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, and CFTC) was enough to cut power output by over 15,000 megawatts across the country, according to one of the unions. Over 80% of workers of the two former French government companies were on strike over a plan by the companies to reduce the preferential rates that workers get on electric and gas bills. The unions endorsed the industrial action as a way to express workers' displeasure with the proposed take-aways. The partial rate discounts amount now to between €1,000 and €1,500 annually; workers consider the discounts an addition to their stagnant wages.
English: http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4366-French-Power-Cut ...
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On the final day of the second round of negotiations for an agreement covering 550,000 workers of 1,900 chemical companies, the IG BCE union won a 14-month wage increase of 4.1%. The increase will become effective at different times in different regions: retroactive to 1 March for chemical workers in North Rhine, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Hessen; on 1 April in Westfalen, Bayern, Baden-Wrttemberg, Niedersachsen/Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg, and Berlin; and 1 May in Saarland and the North-East. The agreement also gives flexibility for employers still recovering from the economic crisis to effectuate the wage increase in May, while most of the major chemical companies that are on strong standing will have already given the increase. The 2011-12 accord also grants current apprentices an increase of €35 per month. "Last year, we signed an agreement that was a bridge between crisis and recovery," said IG BCE President Michael Vassiliadis, "Now, as we predicted, we signed a growth agreement. This shows the social partnership in chemicals remains on solid footing in solving some very difficult problems."
English: http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4362-IGBCE-Carves ...
The minimum monthly salary in the metallurgy sector has been increased from BGN 350 (? 179) to BGN 400 (? 205), according to a new collective agreement signed by the metallurgy unions of the major confederations, the Confederation of Independent Bulgarian Trade Unions KNSB and the Podkrepa Labor Confederation. The deal provides a 14.3% monthly salary increase together with a 12.5% increase in food allowances and 20% additional pay for night shifts. The new agreement also provides for investments in education and human capital.
English: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=127084
On 6 May, the CGIL union confederation organised a general strike with a set of 12 key demands, but particularly to protest against a tax reform that is widely seen to unfairly affect salaried workers. The main strike rally of the day was held in Naples, but demonstrations took place in more than 100 towns and cities, including a rally of tens of thousands of people in Milan. CGIL leader Susanna Camusso said the strike was ultimately aimed at "shifting the balance of force with regard to a government which thinks that nothing about the redistribution of incomes in our country needs to be changed" (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 April 2010).
English: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/178563.html http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/05/06/11/thousands-rally ...
Italian: http://www.cgil.it/htmlviewer.aspx?id=%24Sciopero.generale.6.maggio.2011
By 1 May, new legislation comes into effect that will impose tougher sanctions on employers who fail to pay the minimum wage that has been negotiated in their sector. Restrictions on migration to Austria (and Germany) from the EU Member States in central and Eastern Europe end by then and the GB trade union confederation argued for the new law on minimum wages to ensure that neither domestic nor foreign employers could exploit the opening of the labour market to avoid paying collectively agreed minimum wage rates.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/415
German: http://www.gpa-djp.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename .
The GDG-KMSFB local government union has negotiated a new agreement covering around 15,800 employees of Viennese municipal companies, including energy workers. The basic increase is 1.65% plus a flat rate increase of €5. This means that the actual increases range from 2.02% for the lowest paid up to 1.81% for the higher paid.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/415
German: http://www.gdg-kmsfb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename .
The two-year agreement in local and regional government has been approved by the members of the main municipal union FOA. The union was pleased about the 84% "yes" vote but conceded that the lack of enthusiasm for the deal probably explained the low turnout of only 32.6%. At the time of the last agreement in 2008, the turnout was 65.2%. The FOA hopes that the modest pay increase (0% in 2011 and 2.65% in 2012) will be acknowledged by the employers and that they will not push for further cuts and job losses (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 February and March 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/415
Danish: http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid ...
Ver.di union members in regional government voted 83% in favour of the recently negotiated pay deal that runs to December 2012. The deal includes a 1.5% increase this year plus €360 as a lump sum. The increase in 2012 will be a flat-rate amount of €17 per month plus 1.9% which the union says is worth around 2.55%. Ver.di is now urging all regional governments (except Hessen and Berlin that have separate agreements) to implement the new agreement immediately. This is in response to threats from regional employers in Bayern and Saarland not to honour the deal (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 December 2010 and Year 4 January and March 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/415
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews?id ...
Public service federations have been trying for some time to negotiate improved rights for around 900,000 workers in central and local government and the health service who have employment contracts rather than full civil service status. Although the unions want to see more of these workers given civil service status they have signed the current agreement in order to provide more protection for those on contracts. They are also pleased that the agreement acknowledges that civil service status should be the normal state of affairs in the three parts of the public sector.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/415
French: http://www.spterritoriaux.cgt.fr/spip.php?article4645
http://www.fo-fonctionnaires.fr/
The ver.di services union has attacked the federal government for failing to take account of two recent regional court judgements which backed the union's right to organise strike action against church employers. In a recent statement the Labour ministry said that church organisations had a special status in relation to the constitution and the issue of labour rights. Ver.di maintains that church employers are just like any other employers. They operate in the same labour markets, attempt to worsen pay and conditions and get together in employer associations (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 February, April and June 2010 and Year 4 March 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/415
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews?id ...