Collective Bargaining

ICEM (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions) General Secretary Manfred Warda, in a letter to Prime Minister Irsen K‡k, expressed anger at the police violence in Northern Cyprus on Monday, 2 August, when a peaceful protest was attacked by police in riot gear. 24 trade unionists were briefly arrested. Warda stated in his letter, "The ICEM shares the belief of our affiliate EL-SEN that trade unions must be included in the social dialogue process and in all considerations over new legislation that will directly affect workers' fundamental rights." The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) and the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) also called on the authorities to end the policy of anti-union harassment and to return to negotiations and social dialogue.
English: http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3946-ICEM-Urges-Northern-Cyprus ...
http://www.ituc-csi.org/repression-of-trade-unions-in.html?lang=en

In early August, the management of Skoda Auto and the company union affiliated with the Czech Metalworkers' Federation KOVO (OS KOVO) reached agreement on the wage component of the collective contract expiring 31 March, 2011 and covering 29,000 workers. Wages will be increased by 2.7% backdated 1 April, 2010. Also, employees will be rewarded with a lump-sum payment of CZK 10,000 (Euro 400), "as recognition of their performance and flexibility in the difficult and turbulent year 2009." Moreover, the company contribution to the additional pension insurance is increased by CZK 50 (Euro 2). Already in April 2010, the other issues in the collective agreement had been agreed, but wage negotiations dragged on. Initially, the employer had offered a wage increase of maximum 2% and a lump-sum payment of CZK 1,000, and extended validity of the contract until 30 June 2011. In subsequent rounds of talks, the company increased its offer to a 2.5% wage hike and a CZK 8,000 lump-sum payment, but this proposal was rejected again by the union side.
English: http://new.skoda-auto.com/COM/about/info/news/News/Pages/2010_17 ...
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2010/04/articles/cz1004019i.htm

In the face of widespread attacks on public sector pensions, unions are putting together their evidence for the government-appointed Hutton committee that has been charged with reviewing the system. The PCS civil service union has submitted a detailed report setting out how recent changes to the civil service pension scheme have been acknowledged by the National Audit Office as putting it on a sustainable footing. The Unite union argues that the government has already pre-judged the review by changing the way that public sector pensions are protected against inflation.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/374;
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news_centre/recent-news.cfm ...;
http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/unite_fears .

Local government union members in Scotland have voted by a massive majority to reject a three-year agreement that would have provided increases of 1% this year, followed by a pay freeze and then 0.5% in 2012. The local government unions, UNISON, GMB and Unite, will meet to discuss their pay campaign. Meanwhile, the same unions have registered a dispute with local government employers in the other main agreement that covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Unions are angry that employers are maintaining the pay freeze, refusing to pay low paid workers the UKP 250 (Euro 302) approved by the coalition government, and also recommending local deals to undermine the national agreement.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/374;
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=6281;
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=6273

The STAL local government union is continuing its campaign of protest against government policy and in defence of employee rights in the public sector. After a series of rallies in August, the union will organise a one-day strike on 20 September and on 29 September it will join the CGTP-IN national demonstration in support of the ETUC's European day of action.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/374;
Portuguese: http://www.stal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=524&Itemid=1

Services union ver.di has criticised the BDE private waste sector employers for playing for time in the current negotiations. The union's main demands are a 3% pay increase plus the abolition of the two lowest pay grades. Ver.di is particularly concerned that employers are talking about new employees starting on 80% of the normal rate and argues that the risk would be that these lower rates would be made permanent, so creating a two-tier pay system.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/374;
German: https://ver-und-entsorgung.verdi.de/abfallwirtschaft/tarifarbeit_tarifpolitik/private .

The G™D public services union has rejected recommendations from a report by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) that there should be a pay freeze in the public sector or that increases should be below inflation or postponed. The union argues that this would affect purchasing power. It also argues to be in favour of a reform of the public sector salary system with higher rates for new starters. G™D also points out that the education and age profile of the public sector are different from the private sector and account for higher salaries.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/374
German: http://www.goed.at/16301.html

In what could revolutionise the country's labour relations, auto manufacturer Fiat has announced plans to create a new global megagroup with U.S. automaker Chrysler, adding that it will no longer be part of Confindustria, the employers' association. The announcement came after Fiat's CEO Sergio Marchionne disclosed his plans to leave Confindustria, just days after the firm promised to keep its plans on hold for two months. Marchionne also suggested the scrapping of the national steelworkers' collective agreement. "Fiat should not stop being a member of Confindustria and it should not seek roads outside (standard) labour relations," Labour Minister Maurizio Sacconi reacted. FIOM, the metal federation affiliated with CGIL, described the Fiat plan as the most serious attack on workers' rights in the past six decades. Other unions reacted in more moderate terms but condemned Fiat's plans as well.
English: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles ...
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Italy

On 1 June 2010, after 18 months of hard bargaining, the unions representing 16,000 hotel workers, the Federation of Hotel Industry Employees (?UXEB) and the Union of Hotel and Recreational Establishment Employees (SYXKA), agreed to accept a proposal by government mediators to renew their collective agreement. The Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance believed that the proposal, effective retrospectively from January 2009 to December 2011, balanced the various demands and needs of both sides of industry. The unions said they made only moderate pay demands because of the effects of the global financial crisis. No pay rises were envisaged for the first year apart from a Euro 150 lump sum on 31 December 2010. For the next two years, marginal increases in wages will be granted, with both sides' contributions to the health fund not exceeding 1.5% or the rate of average productivity over the past three years. However, the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (STEK) rejected the mediation proposal without even examining it, whereas the larger PASYXE hotel employers' association voiced concerns about the content of the agreement. In this situation, the unions made it clear they could not rule out the possibility of industrial action. Finally, by the end of July PASYXE said to accept the mediation proposal despite the difficult situation it was facing due to ailing tourism, and industrial peace seems to have returned in the hotel sector.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2010/06/articles/cy1006019i.htm
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/peace-returns-hotel-sector/20100730

After two weeks, the government has ended a strike by members of the YS Confederation of Vocational Unions in the hospitals by imposing compulsory arbitration. YS president Tore Eugen Kvalheim said to be disappointed with the government's action having taken measures to ensure patient safety during the strike, and argued that it had been up to the employer's organisation, Spekter, to call for arbitration and not the government. The union congratulated its members on their willingness to take strike action in support of equal pay for work of equal value.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/373;
Norwegian: http://www.ys.no/kunder/ys/cms.nsf .