Collective Bargaining

A demonstration in Bratislava on 12 October was the third major protest organised by trade unions against the government's austerity measures. The government is planning cuts of €986 million in 2011, €154 million of which is due to come from public sector pay cuts. Unions are calling for measures to boost employment and protect social security and are still hoping for negotiations with the government but are also considering continuing their protests. One day before the Bratislava rally, Prime Minister Iveta Radicov  met the union leaders and said they are entitled to express their stance through protests. However, she rejected the claim that her government is not interested in improving people's living standards.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384; http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/40471/3/unions_rally_against_austerity_package.html

Trade unions, angered by the Constitutional Court's decision, which had labeled the referendum on labour laws as unnecessary, are considering a general strike, protests across the country and a petition calling for early elections. The unions will vote on which one of the three actions to undertake in response to the Court's decision that they call "political" and "preventing democracy." They emphasise, however, that their main motive behind country-wide action would be the overall poor economic situation. The Court decided that the reasons for holding the referendum were no longer relevant after the government had withdrawn the proposed amendments to the labour laws (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 June and July-August 2010).
English: http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/General_News/2010-10-22/14604/Unions_threaten_with_general_strike_

The FNV Abvakabo and CNV Publieke Zaak unions have agreed a new deal with the MOgroep employers' organisation in youth care. The agreement covers more than 30,000 employees and includes a wage increase of 1.25% with a one-off payment of €180. The agreement runs until 1 May 2011 and also includes provisions on training, mobility, social innovation and managing the workload. Employers and unions hope that the measures will lead to improved employability and retention of youth care workers in the industry.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/nieuws/nieuws/onderhandelingsakkoord-cao-jeugdzorg
http://www.mijnvakbond.nl/Onderhandelingsakkoord-CAO-Jeugdzorg?referrer=266
Employers threaten to impose pay deal
October 22, 2010
The four unions negotiating the agreement for nursing homes and home care (Abvakabo FNV, CNV Publieke Zaak, NU'91 and FBZ) have been stunned by the proposal of the employers to implement a pay increase rather than agree a deal with the unions. The unions point out that employers are demanding increased flexibility from employees who are facing rising workloads. The employers claim that they have agreed to most of the union demands apart from the percentage pay increase. Unions challenge this, saying that there are still unresolved issues around working time and training.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/nieuws/nieuws/oproep-eenzijdige-loonsverhoging-actiz-btn

The Fagforbundet and Delta unions are involved in negotiations in the private nursery sector. There is currently a process of mediation going on, but if this fails the unions will organise strike action across the country. They want to make sure that the pay increase in the private nursery sector is line with that already agreed in the municipal sector and so far the employers have not made an adequate offer.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384
Norwegian: http://www.fagforbundet.no/forsida/tariff/?article_id=56618;
http://www.fagforbundet.no/forsida/tariff/?article_id=56618

A dispute by aircraft maintenance technicians has been settled after an agreement. On 7 October these workers, represented by the Svenska Transportarbetaref”rbundet (ST) union, began a two-day strike and an indefinite overtime ban over the terms of their collective agreement. The overtime ban ended on 15 October after an agreement was reached with the Swedish federation of enterprises; as a result, a strike planned for 16 October was called off. The main sticking point was which technicians were covered by the collective agreement and the need to protect local agreements, which had been reached outside the auspices of the collective agreement. Jonny Fransson of ST commented: "We were worried that the employers could give notice to terminate the local agreements, leaving members with lower wages and poorer conditions. We have prevented this from happening with this new agreement", adding: "We also got the Swedish aircraft engineers' union involved in the agreement as a third party. This means that all the workers are now covered by the collective agreement."
English: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/5279?frmSessionLanguage=ENG

The three local government unions - UNISON, GMB and Unite, representing more than 1.6 million workers - have submitted a claim for a UKP 250 (? 282) wage increase for next year (covering April 2011-March 2012). The unions argue that their members cannot put up with another year of pay freeze. This year local government pay was frozen even though the government said that workers on less than UKP 21,000 (? 23,700) could get UKP 250. Two thirds of local government workers earn below the UKP 21,000 threshold.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384; http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2010

In response to the opening up of the Austrian labour market to workers from Eastern Europe by 1 May 2011, the ™GB trade union confederation has secured an agreement with the employers to monitor pay rates and ensure that employers are paying at least the minimum rates set in sectoral agreements, thus avoiding wage dumping. The country has no legal minimum wage but very high levels of collective bargaining coverage. Unions and employers have called on the authorities to take on more employees to ensure that pay can be effectively monitored.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384
German: http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03/Page/Index&n=S03_0.a&cid=1286887282851

Over 400 firefighters joined a demonstration in Lisbon on 20 October to protest against government proposals for the fire service. The STAL and STML unions argue that the plans are about getting a fire service on the cheap; they fail to provide for a professional service with proper pay and career structure and taking full account of appropriate health and safety standards and working time.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384;
Portuguese: http://www.stal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=556&Itemid=1

Striking workers are maintaining their protests against the ISS cleaning multinational that terminated the collective agreement covering employees at Geneva Airport. Earlier this month the strikers, supported by local trade unionists, protested outside the ISS offices in Zrich. Their union, VP™D/SSP, criticised ISS for spending money on a legal action against a local Genevan community and trade union group that had called on international organisations based in the city, such as the International Labour Organisation, to terminate their contracts with the company (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 July-August and September 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384;
French: http://www.ssp-vpod.ch/actualites/nouvelles/ansicht/article/iss-les-grevistes-et-leurs-soutiens-manifestent-a-zurich.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=34&cHash=baa51f1dea

Public service unions in the Frente Comum have called a national demonstration of public administration workers on 6 November in protest at the government's decision to freeze public sector pay, increase the VAT, freeze promotion and a range of other measures aimed at cutting costs. Unions will also be building for the general strike on 24 November called by both the CGTP and UGT trade union confederations in protest at the government's austerity policies.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/384;
Portuguese: http://www.stal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=557&Itemid=1; http://www.sintap.pt/