Collective Bargaining

Already at the start of their career, women experience a clear wage gap compared to men. Women with less than three years of experience earn on average 18.7% less than their male colleagues. As their careers develop, the gender pay gap increases. These are some outcomes of a recent research project, undertaken by the WSI institute in the Hans-B”ckler-Stiftung and based on data from the German WageIndicator, Lohnspiegel. Says dr. Reinhard Bispinck, project leader, "These results cannot fully be explained by different occupational levels or specific career choices, they merely point at continuous wage discrimination."
English: http://www.wageindicator.org/main/WageIndicatorgazette/ .
German: http://www.boeckler.de/547_97029.html

Public sector unions have called for a public sector-wide strike on 5 October in protest at the government's plans to impose a new pay structure. The government is responding to demands from the International Monetary Fund to reduce public spending and reform public sector pay as part of a loan package that was also negotiated with the European Union. The unions argue that groups of workers will be left worse off by the changes but that they will call off the strike if the government agrees to negotiate over reforms to the pay system. "This is an alarm bell for the government," said Aurel Cornea, leader of the education union.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/323; http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=20201491
Romanian: http://www.sedlex.ro/main/noutati.php?section=1&id=235

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is to stage a national day of demonstration in November in an effort to try to influence government's decisions on the forthcoming budget. ICTU president Jack O'Connor said this would involve marches in about six locations on the afternoon of Friday, 6 November. The Congress will reactivate its campaign for the implementation of a 10-point plan for dealing with the economic crisis in "a fairer way". A day earlier, the large SIPTU union lodged a claim for a 3.5% pay increase for about 34,000 staff in the health service, arguing that it represented the first phase of the rise due under the national pay deal negotiated last autumn. The Government subsequently froze these increases for staff in the public sector. Asked about this pay claim, O'Connor said that he would not stop members taking industrial action in pursuit of such claims.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0930/breaking11.htm; http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/siptu-warns. via
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Ireland

The STAL local government union says that around 60% of council workers joined the national strike on 16 September in defense of public sector workers' rights and against government proposals on worker mobility in the public sector, performance management and reorganisation of municipal services.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/323;
Portuguese: http://www.stal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=438&Itemid=1

Six unions and union confederations have again agreed to co-ordinate their campaigning and mobilise for 7 October to maintain their protests against government policy and in support of pay as well as proper collective bargaining in the public sector. The CGT, CFDT, CFE-CGC, FSU, UNSA and Solidaires are backing the action which will coincide with the World Day for Decent Work which is again being co-ordinated by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/323; French: http://www.spterritoriaux.cgt.fr/spip.php?article3401

Coca Cola HBC Ireland has rejected the Labour Court recommendation to resolve the six weeks' long strike at the firm, while the SIPTU union has accepted the proposals. The Court recommended that the company should offer a redundancy package in line with previous redundancy arrangements agreed with SIPTU. It also called on both parties to conduct a feasibility study in relation to the retention of jobs at the company's Ballycoolin plant in Dublin. The dispute began when 130 workers found their jobs unilaterally transferred to subcontractors on much poorer pay and conditions. SIPTU national industrial secretary, Gerry McCormack, said that the dispute would continue.
English: http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/Headline/Name,11101,en.html

The SINTAP and STE public sector unions were among those signing a new collective agreement covering workers in public administration. The agreement lays down rules regarding training, working time - including flexible working hours - and telework. SINTAP believes the agreement will be an important step towards ensuring equal treatment of workers across the public administration. The agreement has not been signed by all public sector trade unions.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/323;
Portuguese: http://www.sintap.pt/

The three main Spanish public service federations, CCOO, UGT and CSI-CSIF, have signed a new agreement with the government covering 2010-2012. On pay the agreement allows for a 0.3% increase in 2010, but a revision clause in the agreement allows for a higher increase to maintain purchasing power. The agreement includes a number of other measures covering modernisation of the public administration and implementation of elements of the basic law on public employment that was passed in 2007 but not fully put into effect.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/323;
Spanish: http://www.fspugt.es/La_FSPUGT_rubrica_el_Acuerdo.

Over 30,000 people manifested in the streets of Switzerland's capital, Bern, on 19 September, in what the national general workers' union, Unia, billed as a day in which workers declare, "We Will Not Pay for the Crisis." The manifestation, sponsored by all Swiss trade unions, was intended to serve notice to a parliament that it must adopt new policies to secure work, wages, and pensions in the face of the global economic crisis. The manifestation, in terms of sheer numbers, exceeded the expectations of the organisers. The VPOD/SSP public services federation stressed the need to maintain public services particularly at a time of recession and called for measures to improve public services such as an investment in improved childcare.
English: http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3401-30-000-Take-to-Streets.; http://www.epsu.org/cob/323;
French: http://www.icem.org/de/78-ICEM-InBrief/3401-?la=FR

Services union ver.di organised a series of strikes and demonstrations between 22 and 25 September as part of a campaign to secure decent pay for decent work in church organisations. The union says that there have been no pay increases in the sector for over four years and that the main employers' organisation, the VdDD, is pursuing a wage dumping policy to finance the expansion of its organisations. The union has also attacked church employers for arguing against their employees' right to take strike action.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/323;
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews?id.