Collective Bargaining

Services union ver.di has reacted angrily to attempts by economics minister Rainer Brderle of the FDP to block the introduction of a minimum wage to cover the 800,000 workers in the care sector ("Pflegemindestlohn"). Ver.di had already managed to get agreement from the employers for minimum rates of Euro 8.50 an hour in the West and Euro 7.50 an hour in the East. Before the intervention of Brderle, CDU labour minister Ursula von der Leyen had indicated that it would be possible to implement legislation soon so that the rates could be in force from 1 July (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 March 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/365;
German: https://gesundheit-soziales.verdi.de/branchenpolitik/pflegeeinrichtungen

As from 1 January 2010 employees in the waste sector including street cleaning workers have been covered by a legal sectoral minimum wage set at Euro 8.02 an hour until 31 October 2010. Services union ver.di has won agreement from the BDE private sector employers' and the VKA municipal employers' organisations to discuss how to maintain the minimum beyond 31 October 2010.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/365;
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews?id=adb0f0ac .

A survey by the Lower Austrian Chamber of Labour reveals the extent to which health workers' well-being is under threat from stress and long hours. The survey of around 33,000 employees found one in five were emotionally exhausted while 27% worked 12-14 hours a day. Some 40% of employees worked more than 40 hours a week even though only 1% had agreed to work such long hours. The Chamber of Labour and services union VIDA have called for action on health sector working conditions in order to help boost recruitment; currently there are around 6,000 vacancies nationwide (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 March 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/365;
German: http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03/Page/Index&n= .

In the fact of government failure to negotiate, six trade unions (affiliated to CGT, CFDT, FO, FA-FPT, UNSA and CFTC) representing municipal police have called for a day of strike action and demonstrations in key cities across France. Among the union demands are regradings for a number of occupations and a recognition of the hardship and risks faced by the police.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/365;

Public service federations FSC-CCOO and FSP-UGT have attacked the government for its sudden announcement of deep public spending cuts. The government wants to cut pay by 5% this year and have a pay freeze in 2011. Most pensions will be frozen and a range of other measures will add up to Euro 5 billion of cuts this year and Euro 10 billion in 2011. Unions are angry at the way the government has broken agreements with the unions and wants to force public sector workers to suffer cuts in pay and pensions because of the pressure of the international financial markets.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/365;
Spanish: http://www.fspugt.es/El_Gobierno_anuncia_recortes.htm

Around 100,000 white collar workers in local government, members of the SKTF union, are covered by a new two-year agreement that runs from 1 April 2010 to 30 April 2012. Pay can rise by 2% in 2010 and 1.5% in 2011 but there are no individual guarantees. Parental leave is increased from three to five months.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/365;
Swedish: https://www.sktf.se/Templates/Page____35921.aspx

New figures published in the Labour Research Department's Workplace Report, based on LRD's database of negotiated settlements, show that pay freezes in the private sector have begun on a clear downward trend, while pay medians (midpoints) are slowly rising. According to LRD, the median negotiated pay increase in the three months to April 2010 was 2%, with pay freezes forming only 17% of pay settlements. One quarter of private pay deals were being agreed at 3% or more. For the whole economy pay freezes made up 16% of settlements, the first time this proportion has dipped below 20% since August 2009. "While we may not have seen the back of pay freezes just yet, there is likely to be greater pressure on all employers to settle for a positive increase as pay medians begin to rise", said LRD's pay and conditions researcher Lewis Emery.
English: LRD Press Release; http://1.lrd.org.uk/ukassets/images/334/PayroundanalysisfromWorkplaceReport.pdf

On 29 April, the Association of the Swedish Engineering Industries terminated the Cooperation Agreement on Industrial Development and Wage Formation, reached between employer associations and unions in March 1997 and aiming at promoting industrial development, profitability and competitiveness. The termination was announced out of the blue at a press conference by the CEO of the Association of the Swedish Engineering Industries, Anders Narvinger, and his head of bargaining, Anders Weihe. The president of the IF Metall union, Stefan Lofven, commented: "We are surprised and consider this as strange behaviour. This is not what the Swedish industry is asking for right now. It creates uncertainty about wage formation in the industry playing a leading role in the national bargaining procedures". While terminating the agreement, the employers' association announced to remain open for discussions. According to Anders Weihe, "A more rational approach to wage formation is needed". What this rational approach includes is yet unclear, though from the side of IF Metall it is assumed that more decentralisation is central.
English: message of EUCOBAN network of EMF / EFFAT / ETUF-TCL / EMCEF

Negotiations for a new local government collective agreement remained in a deadlock, with the organisation of Dutch municipalities (VNG) sticking to their pay freeze position and the unions continuing to demand a 1.5% increase, in line with the social accord agreed in 2009 in the national, intersectoral negotiations. In three cities the unions are focusing on strikes of street cleaners. The Amsterdam and The Hague municipalities went to court in an effort to have such strikes banned, arguing that strikes would jeopardize public safety, but both lost their case. In these two cities street cleansing departments went on a warning strike on Queen's Day (30 April), a celebration that produces immense loads of garbage to be collected. In Amsterdam another strike is planned from 6 May on, while in the city of Utrecht municipal cleansing plans to strike between 1 and 5 May. This pressure seems to have enlarged the willingness on the side of VNG to resume talks (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 January, February and March 2010).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/364

Hundreds of women working as cleaners and care assistants, represented by the UNISON and GMB unions, have won an equal pay case against Birmingham City Council, the biggest municipality in the country. The Employment Tribunal agreed with the union's case that the women had been unfairly denied bonuses that were paid to gardeners, refuse collectors and gravediggers, who are overwhelmingly male workers, worth up to 160% of their basic pay. The Tribunal will now go on to assess the amount of compensation to be paid to the employees in each case. The likely bill will run into several million pounds.
English: http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=1848; http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/latest_news/gmb_wins_huge_equal_pay_case.aspx