The ADEDY civil service confederation said that support for the national public sector strike on 10 February was very high - overall at 75% with up to 90% backing in some areas. The unions were protesting at government plans to cut public sector pay as part of a strategy, supported by the European Commission, to deal with the governmental budget deficit. The plans include public sector pay freezes, the raising of the retirement age, slashing of bonuses on salaries and tax rises across the board.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/354ÿ;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/10/athens-greece-protest-strike
Greek: http://www.adedy.gr/adedy/site/home/ws/primary+menu/deltia/2010/february ...
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After a strike and tough negotiations, works council, IG Metall union and the management of Automotive Lighting Reutlingen (AL) came to an agreement concerning the relocation of production. Key points were: no redundancies till the end of 2015; continuation of one assembly line for reflectors in Reutlingen; setting up of a working group to develop a sustainable concept for the Reutlingen plant; the design of important future technologies in Reutlingen. The union regards the agreement as an example for similar situations of relocation (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 January 2010).
English: message of EUCOBAN network of EMF / EFFAT / ETUF-TCL / EMCEF
German: http://www.reutlingen.igm.de/news/meldung.html?id=36970
SIPTU, the largest affiliate of the ICTU confederation, has launched a campaign against what the union calls the government's plans to reduce the incomes of the lowest paid workers. SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Patricia King, launched a publication outlining how the government proposes to reduce the incomes of workers whose pay rates are set by Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) and Registered Employment Agreements (REAs) and also threatens to reduce the National Minimum Wage of Euro 8.65 an hour (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 January 2010).
English: http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2010/Name,11412,en.html
Around 45,000 local government employees joined a warning strike on 2 February in protest at cuts in public sector pay and jobs. The strike was organised by the National Federation of Unions in Administration, affiliate of the Sed Lex federation. Further action was planned from 12 February if the government failed to respond on calls for increases to low salaries and to revise the proposed job cuts.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/352; http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main .
The parties involved reached a basic agreement in the metalworking and electrical engineering industries, covering 180,000 workers and 1 February 2010 - 1 May 2011. The FNV Bondgenoten union negotiators have expressed their satisfaction with the results. By 1 July 2010, a pay increase of 0.5% is envisaged, as well as an increase of 1.15% by 1 January 2011. The Labour Market and Training Foundation launched in the 2007-2010 collective agreement will make an additional effort in maintaining employment and training, for which purpose around Euro 30 million will be deployed. Extra efforts have been agreed as to increase the inflow of young workers. Former arrangements for early retirement will be respected due to a temporarily extra employers' fee. The membership ballot closes on 12 March.
English: message of EUCOBAN network of EMF / EFFAT / ETUF-TCL / EMCEF
Dutch: http://www.fnvbondgenoten.nl/branches_bedrijven/branches/metaal/fnv_metaal .
After two rounds of negotiations, the GPA-djp and PRO-GEÿunions secured a 1.6% pay increase on the lowest pay rates for the 18,000 workers in the electricity industry. Increases on higher pay rates vary between 1.45% and 1.55%. The agreement runs from 1 February 2010 to 31 January 2011.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/352;
German: http://www.gpa-djp.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=GPA/Page/Index&n=GPA .
Workers in the non-profit sector that includes hospitals and social services took to the streets in Brussels in December and early February, in support of demands of the joint unions for the collective agreement covering 2010 and next years. The unions are concerned that government budgets for 2010 do not include any provisions for a revised agreement.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/352
Dutch: http://lbc-nvk.acv-online.be/Actualiteit/LBC_NVK_persberichten/2010 .
French: http://www.cgslb.be/secteurs/non-marchand/secteurs-region-wallonne ...
Services union ver.di reports increasing discontent among church employees over the failure of the Evangelical Church to negotiate collective agreements to cover its 150,000 workers who work mainly in health and social services. Recent years have seen no pay increases and employees argue that there is not a fair distribution of representation on the committee that deals with employment issues. Ver.di is calling for a collective agreement to cover the church employees that would help re-connect them to the pay and conditions that apply in the health and social services sector and wider public sector agreements.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/352;
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews?id=58fc014c-0c1b-11df ...
January has marked the start of the new collective bargaining round, with about 80% of all sectoral and other multi-company agreements, covering 3.3 million employees, subject to renewal. Sharply different views on the likely outcomes prevail. LO, the blue-collar union confederation, is calling for wage increases of SEK 620 (Euro 59.50) per month for full-time employees. In contrast, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is resisting any change in the centralised wage rates, with any improvements confined to company level. The employers' association also seeks greater flexibilisation, including a greater use of annualised hour arrangements.
English: http://www.expatica.com/nl/employment/employment_information/HR- ...
Automotive Lightning (AL) has announced the relocation of production from Reutlingen to Brotterrode (also in Germany) and Jihlava (Czech Republic), directly affecting 130 jobs. The IG Metall union, works council and employees have asked for a transfer and social collective agreement, including the creation of a transitional company (duration one year, for training and qualification and to facilitate finding new jobs), and compensation for the workers affected by redundancies. As negotiations remained without results, 95% of the workers involved voted to go on strike for such an agreement, starting 26 January. IG Metall has called for solidarity and for avoiding any strike-breaker works.
English: message of EUCOBAN network of EMF / EFFAT / ETUF-TCL / EMCEF
German: http://www.tagblatt.de/Home/nachrichten/reutlingen_artikel,-Automotive .