Collective Bargaining

In the night of 15 December, the three unions involved, Abvakabo FNV, CNV Publieke Zaak and BVPP, have reached a basic agreement with TNT Post, after four strikes in one month. Still 11,000 jobs at TNT Post will get lost, but forced dismissals have been reduced from 4,500 to 2,300. In the final negotiations, TNT Post gave up its earlier condition of wage moderation, and that opened the way for an agreement. The unions are glad with the result, but still worry about the concrete shape of reorganisations within TNT, which as they say need to monitored closely (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 June, October and November 2010).
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2010/12/tnt_post_unions_reach ...
Dutch: De Volkskrant, 14 and 16 December 2010; NRC-Handelsblad, 16 December 2010

The two major railway unions, affiliated with the CITUB and CL Podkrepa confederations, have opposed vigorously the terms of a loan memorandum that the government signed with the World Bank, and declared determination for all-out strikes. Leaders of the two unions said to have had "long and hard talks" with representatives of the Transport Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the memorandum. According to the union leadership the stipulation in the memorandum for a 30% reduction of the spending for personnel remained unacceptable, as they would cause massive layoffs with thousands of workers losing their jobs as well as create a direct threat to the safety of railway operations. "The railway workers will strike to the very end if the text of the memorandum is not amended," declared the president of the KNSB railway union, Petar Bunev.
English: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=123214

PASYDY, the civil servants' union, on 13 December cancelled a planned strike over government austerity measures after a meeting of the three major unions, PASYDY, SEK and PEO, with the country's Finance Minister, Charilaos Stavrakis. Yet, the teachers' unions went ahead with their two-hour work stoppage on Thursday 14 December. Initially the unions were furious as they said the government proposals targeted the masses and left the wealthy untouched. For example, the measures included the introduction of a 5% VAT on food and medicine in 2011. Stavrakis pledged to re-table proposals to tax wealth as soon as possible in consultation with the political parties and unions. PASYDY president Glafkos Hadjipetrou welcomed the agreement with the government, saying that "we can find the appropriate measures to exit the crisis through dialogue, without provocation and recriminations."
English: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/round-one-civil-servants/20101214

As of 1 January 2011, 45,000 German paper workers will see a 2.5% wage increase. That was the negotiated result in the third round of bargaining that concluded on 2 December between the IG BCE union and Deutschen Papierindustrie (VAP), the employers' association. The new collective agreement will run until 30 November 2011 and for the first time ties together under one agreement workers employed at some 220 paper mills in Germany's western and eastern regions. IGBCE also attained improvements in the pension plan, in holiday pay and in shift pay. The two sides reached agreement over the use of temporary workers, preventing the abuse of such workers.
English: http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/?date=2010-12-13#4168

The Finnish Parliament voted on 19 November 105 to 67 to challenge the government's job creation policies in a no confidence ballot aimed at stemming the grey economy. The vote was highly significant since was supported by many parliamentarians of the country's centre-right ruling government and met little employer opposition. It sets the stage for better and more worker-friendly amendments in 2011 to be included in the Finnish law on the Contractor's Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out. The SAK union confederation, commenting on the vote, said any new national legislation would likely limit employers' use of fixed-term contracts and prohibit employers from repeatedly using temporary workers when their need is a permanent workforce (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 November 2010).
English: http://www.icem.org/en/73-Contract-and-Agency-Labour ...

Bulgarian orthodox priests have founded a trade union unit as part of the Podkrepa CL confederation. The news has been confirmed by the leadership of Podkrepa. The organization unites priests, sextons, administrative servants of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and candle manufacturers. The unrest among church servants started in the town of Vratsa, where priests in complained they did not receive their salaries on time and lacked health and retirement insurance. "Priests to have a trade union? This is absurd!", Vratsa metropolitan Kipriyan reacted, arguing "The canons forbid it."
English: http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2010-12-14&article=34959 via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Bulgaria

After a dispute for over a week, grounding many flights, negotiations between Finnair management and the Finnish Cabin Crew Union (SLSY) resulted in an agreement based on a new wage deal proposal made by the state mediator Esa Lonka. Details were not yet revealed. At times, negotiations were turbulent. Sources close to the talks say Finnair threatened employees with redundancies and a breakup of the company, which was confirmed by Thelma kers, president of SLSY. In her view, the threat of redundancies appeared real and did have an effect on the final outcome (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 November 2010).
English: http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/12/finnair_quotthreatenedquot_cabin_crew ...;
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE6B901F20101210

The Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), IG Metall, the European Works Council (EWC) of Pfleiderer AG, and the management of this German wood-based materials producer have concluded an International Framework Agreement (IFA). In the agreement, signed in Frankfurt on 30 November, the company undertakes to comply with minimum standards for the working conditions of all the workers in its domestic and especially foreign entities. Wolfgang Rhode, an executive member of IG Metall's board, sees the agreement as a way to agree minimum social standards and labour rights within internationally operating companies, in the absence of enforceable government regulations. The Pfleiderer Group employs about 5,600 employees worldwide at 22 locations in Germany, the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden and Poland.
English: http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3193&Language=EN
German: http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3188&Language=DE

Over 3,000 people turned out for a protest against the government's methods and actions organised by three union confederations, in Budapest outside the Academy of Sciences on Saturday 4 December. The demonstration was organised by a committee made up of the National Confederation of Hungarian Trade Unions (MSzOSz), the Autonomous Trade Union Confederation (ASsZs) and the Forum for the Co-operation of Trade Unions (SZEF). Leaders of these confederations said that a parliamentary majority has approved and is preparing to approve legislation that conflicts with the constitutional rule of law as well as basic EU rights. The union leaders and some MPs spoke in favour of legal security in the public sector, a predictable and fair pension and tax regime and for wages that can help make people earn a living (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 November 2010).
English: http://hatc.hu/editor_article.php?aid=3076 via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Hungary

The Latvian government has confirmed that the national minimum wage will be increased from the current LVL 180 (before tax) per month by 11.1% to LVL 200 (? 286). Press messages state that the increase will come into force "from next year", leaving unclear if this effectively means from 1 January 2011 on. The last uprating of the country's minimum wage took place as of 1 January 2009.
English: http://www.reitingi.lv/en/news/latvia/2645.html