Collective Bargaining

The trade union movement is taking up growing migration as a major problem and a big challenge. Currently, 30% of the workforce consists of migrants, of which large numbers have entered the island illegally; 55% of the coast line is not controlled by the legal, internationally recognised government of the Republic of Cyprus. Heavy employer exploitation of migrants is going on, and the extremely low wages of migrants drive many Cypriots into unemployment - currently up to 7% as against 3% three years ago. Moreover, uncontrolled migration may well give rise to xenophobic and in some extreme cases racist attitudes.
English: Tasos Kakoullis, union correspondent

Despite lengthy opposition of some employers' federations, the trade unions representing workers in the federal health sector have negotiated a "mini-agreement" that provides €50 million of extra funding for 2011. This will go towards creating 400 jobs and improving pay and conditions. The jobs will ensure that vacant posts are filled and will be targeted at parts of the sector that did not benefit from the employment measures in the 2005-2010 agreement. The extra funds will also ensure that more workers will get supplementary payments for working after 19.00 as well as going towards the second pillar pension scheme. In due course, the agreement will be integrated in the sectoral collective agreement.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/409
Dutch: http://www.bbtk.org/nieuws/Pages/gezondheidszorgsocialeakkoord ...
French: http://www.setca.org/News/Pages/secteurfederauxsanteminiaccordsocial ...

The FS-CCOO and FSP-UGT public service federations are continuing their fight against austerity policies around the country. On 1 March they organized a demonstration of 50,000 people in protest at the regional government's budget plans. The unions are refusing to sign an agreement with the regional government and are calling for the resignation of the president. They argue that the cuts will not just affect public employees but will also threaten local services.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/409

At the occasion of the European Summit of 24/25 March focusing on economic governance in the EU, on Tuesday 24 March trade union demonstrations and rallies took place in Brussels, as part of ETUC's European Day of Action. The Belgian union confederations, FGTB/ABVV and CSC/ACV, contributed 20,000 militants that made the trade union opposition to the European economic governance proposal which was to be examined during the Summit, clearly visible and loudly heard. Supported by their executives, members of FGTB/ABVV unions blocked the main motorways leading into the Belgian capital.
English: http://www.etuc.org/a/8505; http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en .
Dutch: http://www.abvv.be/web/guest/news-nl/-/article/184540/&p_l_id=10187
French: http://www.abvv.be/web/guest/news-fr/-/article/184493/&p_l_id=10624

The VIDA services union thinks that the equal treatment law that took effect on 1 March will help progress towards pay equality. The law requires employers to provide details of men's and women's pay, including various additions and allowances. The law initially applies to employers with over 1,000 employees but will be extended to smaller employers over the next three years. The equality report will be confidential within the company and either provided to the works council or, where there is no works council, to the whole workforce.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/409
German: http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03 ...

After some difficult bargaining the negotiations covering workers in municipal and regional government have ended and union members now have the chance to vote on the deals. Similar to the state sector agreement agreed one month earlier, there will be no pay increase in 2011 (this relates to links with private sector pay developments) but the pay rise in 2012 will be 2.65%. One disappointment for the unions was not getting any job security provisions at a time when hospitals are cutting jobs. However, there are some pay equity elements in the municipal deal along with increases targeted at the lower paid and funds for skills development. Yet, the FOA union has put progress in equal pay into perspective by concluding that progress could take over 500 years if future agreements follow the one just negotiated. The union argues that parliament needs to contribute to the process and pass legislation and agree funding that would ensure equal pay for work of equal value across the public sector (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 February 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/409; http://www.epsu.org/cob/411
Danish: http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid={74 ... http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid={11B539A6-E622-4701-AB83-BC3A10C9E5DE} }

Doctors are to get pay rises worth between CZK 5,000 (? 206) and CZK 8,000 (? 330) monthly as part of a deal that will increase their salaries to around 1.5 times the national average salary by 2013. A major national campaign had seen around 3,800 hospital doctors threaten to resign on 1 March 2011 if the government did not make concessions on pay. The increase is about 11-16% of the current doctor's gross monthly pay including pay for overtime and extra shifts (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 February 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/409 http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-govt-approves-higher-base-pay ...

The two union confederations that did not sign the 2011-2012 national framework agreement for the private sector, the socialist FGTB/ABVV and the liberal CGSLB/ACLVB, both organised a day of action on 4 March. FGTB/ABVV chairman Rudy de Leeuw on his blog reiterated earlier arguments for his confederation's refusal. He emphasized that the efforts towards a new European stability pact and the Merkel initiatives in that direction did not help either to accept the IPA (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 December 2010 and Year 4 January and February 2011).
Dutch: http://www.abvv.be/web/guest/files-nl/-/file/162499/&p_l_id=10184

Pay settlement levels continued to rise in January 2011, almost entirely due to private sector deals, according to data from the Labour Research Department (LRD). Yet, with a three-monthly median (mid-point) for the November to January period at 3%, pay increases still did not match price inflation. This was 4.0% as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Other pay analysts even came to lower pay increase estimates. Industrial Relations Services (IRS) concludes to a three-month median increase to end January 2011 of 2.0%, Incomes Data Services (IDS) to a three-month median to end December of 2.2%. According to LRD, recent deals ar the 3% level include those for media workers at ITV, for administrative and headquarter staff at train operator Southern and at the Lincolnshire-based steel services provider Tube City IMS.
English: Labour Research Department, Workplace Report, No. 33, February 2011

Trade union leaders have sharply criticised a concept for a new constitution put forward by parliament's ad-hoc committee. Participants in a public hearing of the parliamentary committee said that the concept did not include stipulations concerning trade unions, guarantees for coordination between employers and employees, the security of employment and of wages or controls over working time. Tamas Szekely, head of the federation of trade unions for employees in the chemical and energy industries, said that the minimum wage should be defined in the constitution and that it should stipulate that social security contributions should not be spent on anything other than social services. Laszlo Varga, head of the cooperative forum of trade unions (SZEF), said the concept was neither clear nor straightforward. Peter Pataky, president of the national federation of trade unions (MSZOSZ), said a number of international documents referred to trade union rights and "if those documents are not ashamed of using the word trade union then the Hungarian constitution should not be either."
English: M t‚ Komiljovics, union correspondent