After the social partners did not reach agreement on this issue, in mid-October the Dutch government announced its plan to increase the state pension age from 65 to 67, in two steps. Those aged 55 or older before 1 January 2010 keep their current rights, but for those born 1955 or older from 2020 on the retirement age will be 66, to be lifted in 2025 to 67 for those born 1960 or later. Moreover, employers will have to take steps to ensure staff does not perform 'heavy' jobs for more than 30 years or pay them an extra pension for two years. FNV, the main union confederation, remains opposed to the plans and plans to mobilise its membership for demonstrations, whereas the smaller CNV and MHP confederations are willing to give in. FNV notably questions the practicality of the plans, and already broke off talks with the main employers' association on drawing up a definition of 'heavy jobs'.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/10/union_ .
Dutch: various newspaper messages; http://home.szw.nl/index.cfm?menu_item_id=16365 .
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Workers at the Lucy power station in the Bourgogne region began strike action on 21 October in protest at company plans for the closure of a part of the site and further restructuring. The coal-fired plant is owned by the SNET company which was recently taken over by German energy multinational EON. The FNME-CGT union argues that the company has failed to abide by agreements about maintaining the site, has plans for further jobs cuts after closing one part of the site in 2013, and has failed to negotiate a proper mobility agreement.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
French: http://www.cgtsnet.fr/news.html
The Fagforbundet municipal union is calling for public sector unions to co-ordinate their pay claims next year with special negotiations over how to deal with pay inequality. Average pay in the public sector, where 70% of workers are women, is lower than in the private sector where 70% of the workers are men. The specially convened pay commission argued that around 3 billion kronor (Euro 360 million) will be needed to close the gender pay gap. Fagforbundet wants to see the unions get together following the main public sector negotiations next spring to work out how to deal with the issue. The union refers to the successful co-ordination over pensions early this year that stopped government plans to reduce pension benefits.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Norwegian: http://www.fagforbundet.no/forsida/?article_id=44092
The state sector union Pardia interrupted its general assembly meeting on 21 October to protest outside parliament over planned government budget cuts, which the union believes may lead to temporary lay-offs and job losses. Pardia is concerned about the implications of the cuts for the development of the state sector and the quality of services. In a survey of members, the union found nearly one in three members perceives that their job is under threat.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327; http://www.pardia.fi/in_english/?x126=1133193
The energy section of the ver.di services union has begun consulting members over forthcoming pay negotiations over the public sector agreement covering municipal utility companies (TV-V). The union warns that bargaining is likely to be tough in the current economic climate with local authorities pleading austerity. However, the union believes that it is important to secure real increases in pay to help maintain consumer spending in response to the crisis and it lists recent bargaining results in the energy sector and wider economy to support its argument.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327; German: https://energie-bergbau-ver-und-entsorgung.verdi.de/tarifarbeit/oeffentlich .
Members of the IMPACT public services union have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in response to the government's latest proposals for cuts in public sector workers' pay. The union will call on other public sector unions to join a 24-hour stoppage on 24 November. Six unions have joined together in an alliance of public sector workers delivering frontline services. The general union SIPTU along with unions representing nurses, firefighters, police (Garda) officers and prison officers have set up the 24/7 Frontline Service Alliance and they will all be balloting their members on strike action.
English: http://www.impact.ie/iopen24/impact-propose-hour-public- .; http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2009/Name,11192,en.html
Workers in the waste collection service in the city of Leyden took strike action on 21 October in protest at municipal plans to privatise this service. The workers are hoping that privatisation will be postponed and that the union will be able to negotiate changes and improvements to the service. Further strikes may follow if the municipality goes ahead with privatisation.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao/bericht/vuilnismannen_in_leiden_staken/
The three main unions - affiliated to the CGIL, CISL and UIL confederations- have called for strike action in the waste sector on 20 November in response to government plans for the sector. These will lead to privatisation or some form of public private partnership with at least a 40% share going to the private sector. The implications are that there will be very few services that will continue to be run by in-house providers. Apart from the likely impact on pay and conditions, the unions are worried about the effect of the reforms on environmental policies and the quality of service.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Italian: http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/11897
A number of unions affiliated to the TCO white-collar confederation have joined in a campaign as to highlight the benefits to workers of collective agreements. The unions believe that, while many young people understand the need for strong trade unions, they are not fully aware of the role unions play in delivering collective agreements that provide decent pay and pensions as well as other benefits like good maternity leave. The unions are running information campaigns on their websites as well as in the press and on TV.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Swedish: https://www.sktf.se/Templates/Page____32864.aspx
The latest wage report from the LO confederation concludes that a co-ordination of policies by its affiliates has delivered higher pay increases for women workers and a closing of the gender pay gap. However, on average among blue-collar workers men still earn SEK 2,900 (Euro 285) per month more than women. The report also notes that the average pay of blue-collar workers has increased at a much lower rate than that of white-collar workers over the last 10 years, which means that the gap between the two has risen from 36% to 44%.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327; http://www.lo.se/home/lo/home.nsf/unidView/405482775AE41F4DC125764D0062FFD9