Following its earlier victory over the government, the PCS civil service union has won a second High Court ruling over the redundancy compensation scheme. After the first ruling the government was supposed to agree changes to the scheme with the union. However, the two sides did not agree and in this second ruling the court has decided that most of the government-imposed changes (apart from those dealing with age discrimination) to the scheme are null and void. The new coalition government will now have to negotiate with the union if it wants to make any changes to the scheme. PCS deputy general secretary Hugh Lanning said: "We are delighted with the ruling, that proves our members were right to oppose the cuts that the previous government tried to force through" (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 December 2009; Year 3 February, April and May 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369;
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news_centre/index.cfm/id/7518B8FC ...
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Unions and employers in the waste and environment sector have agreed basically on a 12-month deal that provides a 1.1% pay increase, implying that purchasing power has been protected. The agreement also includes an amount equal to 0.4% of the paybill that will fund initiatives related to recruitment and promotion.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/nieuws/nieuws/koopkrachtbehoud-voor-mede .
Unions putting forward claims to state sector employers think that there is a big gap to close in the forthcoming negotiations. The OFR negotiating cartel wants to see pay increase in line with the private sector as well as action on work-life balance. The SEKO services union is concerned about employment security particularly for women and young workers. It also wants a general wage increase of 2.6% but says that there is nothing on offer from the employers.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369
Swedish: http://www.st.org/aktuellt/avtal-2010/avtalsrorelsen-inom-arbetsgivarverket ...;
http://www.seko.se/Aktuellt/Nyheter/2010/Juni/SEKO-har-vaxlat-avtalsyrkanden-med ...
Following the public sector strike on 8 June, the main union confederations have called for a general strike on 29 September in protest at the government plans for public spending cuts and labour law reforms. This is the date of the ETUC's European-wide mobilisation with its key demands of "No cuts, more growth." The Spanish unions have other action planned in the meantime with mobilisations in the regions on 30 June and then in Madrid on 9 September.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369
Spanishÿ: http://www.fspugt.es/UGT_y_CCOO_convocan_huelga_general.htm
The SSP-VPOD public services union backed the national demonstration on 14 June over childcare provision and proposals to increase the retirement age for women. The union has criticized the federal government for plans to cut back a scheme that has actually increased childcare places in recent years, although there is still a major shortage across the country. Once again, the union pointed at the backward position of Switzerland concerning child care (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 April 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369
French: http://www.ssp-vpod.ch/actualites/nouvelles/ansicht/article/14-juin-2010 ...
German: http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/-869e5f4949 ...
Four days of trade union demonstrations around the country lead up to the delivery of a protest letter to the prime minister on 17 June by public sector trade unions in the FESAP federation. The unions have attacked the government's plans to freeze public sector pay and its other proposals for public spending. The unions are particularly angry about the failure of the government to maintain any process of social dialogue.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369
Portuguese: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Portugal
On Sunday June 27, Unite, the union involved in the industrial dispute at British Airways (BA), that a new offer from BA could lead to the postponement of the new industrial action ballot which was set to begin on Tuesday, June 29th. Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said: "As a consequence of the company's last and final offer the union and its representatives will have no choice but to delay our vote in order to allow our members to consult on the offer." However, Unite has warned that it is not in a position to recommend the BA proposal to members because it does not fully reinstate staff travel arrangements that gave rise to earlier strike action (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 May 2010).
English: http://www.unitetheunion.com/news__events/latest_news/new_offer_from .
An agreement has been reached in the municipal sector after two weeks of strike action of 45,000 workers, the most significant industrial action in the country for over 30 years. Overall the increase is around 3.5% and includes amounts for local agreements as well as provisions for tackling the gender pay gap - a key element of the unions' demands. The basic general increase is 2.1% or 7,100 NOK.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369;
http://norwaypost.com/news/nationwide-strike-ended.html
Norwegian: http://www.fagforbundet.no/forsida/tariff/
On 16 June, the committee covering 19 public services unions in the ICTU confederation has voted to accept the so-called Croke Park deal by a margin of almost two-thirds. The agreement commits the government not to cut public service pay again, and to begin the process of reversing recent pay cuts as savings flow from the substantial reforms set out in the deal. It also contains a government commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies, plus important safeguards on pensions and outsourcing. Public service pay has been cut by an average of 14% over the last 16 months through the so-called `pension levy' and reductions in pay scales introduced in the last budget. On 25 June, however, the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) reaffirmed its opposition to the Croke Park deal, and said it will not be bound by the decision of the ICTU committee. The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), which also rejected the deal, will review its campaign against the deal at an executive meeting in early July. Both teaching unions are set to wait until August before deciding on industrial action - over and above the work-to-rule directives already in place. Primary teachers, members of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), have lifted their work-to-rule directives after INTO membership voted to back the Croke Park deal (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 April and May 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369;
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/strike-threat-lifted-after-croke-park ...;
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0625/1224273270178.html
The ver.di services union organised several demonstrations around the country on 9 June in its continuing campaign to secure better pay and conditions for employees of church-run health and social services. The church organisations have challenged the right to strike in the sector and have refused to negotiate proper collective agreements (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 February and April 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/369
German: https://gesundheit-soziales.verdi.de/kirchen_diakonie_caritas/diakonie .