Collective Bargaining

The Lithuanian Service Workers Trade Union has settled its second collective agreement with G4S. Their first agreement, signed in 2007, was the first collective agreement in the security sector in Eastern Europe. The Lithuanian Service Workers Trade Union fought for seven years to get its first collective agreement, during which time they organized another 800 security workers. The union attributes much of their initial organizing success with the support they received from the Lithuanian Commerce and Cooperative Trade Union and Dansk Funktionvorbund. Under the new agreement, union representatives discuss possible salary raises twice a year and they have access to a joint labor-management committee to challenge disciplinary penalties imposed on members.
English: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/.

On July 21, at the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policy, Italy's biggest telecommunications group, Telecom, signed an agreement with the sectoral trade unions, transforming collective redundancy for 470 workers into 1,054 solidarity contracts. This move follows the company's announcement of its Strategic Plan 2009-2011, providing for 4,000 redundancies. The job security agreements will be valid for two years, from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2011. In this period, the actors involved will meet every six months to verify the activities that the company has undertaken to re-launch services and the use of human resources. The three trade union confederations have welcomed the agreement and the company's effort to save jobs in difficult times.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2009/08/articles/it0908019i.htm

On 7 August a joint delegation of the STAL and STML trade unions presented demands for negotiation to the secretary of state for internal administration. The unions are concerned about government proposals to change the regulations covering the careers, working hours and other conditions employment of firefighters, and they demand the right to negotiate on this. They plan to resort to further action if they don't get a positive response from the government by 3 September.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/317#a5676;
Portuguese: http://www.stal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=429&Itemid=1

Both public service unions ABVAKABO FNV and CNV Publieke Zaak are disappointed that the employers have suspended negotiations over the new collective agreement covering ambulance workers. With a restructuring of the sector the employers and unions agreed to negotiate a single agreement for the sector to replace a number of different agreements. Unions thought that it would be possible to announce that a new agreement was ready on 1 September but now the employers have raised concerns over two issues, redundancy pay and second careers (the career that ambulance workers might switch to once they are too old for active duty). The unions say that the employers should have allowed for these two elements in their costs. There is also an issue about whether to be part of the ABP public sector pension fund.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/317#a5676;
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao/bericht/nieuwe_cao_ambulance_op_de_tocht/;
http://www.mijnvakbond.nl/Werkgevers_zetten_werkgarantie.

After a marathon five-day negotiating session, public services union ver.di secured new agreements on pay rates and health covering around 220,000 social workers and childcare staff. The agreement on health acknowledges the increased responsibility and workload of social workers and childcare workers, and introduces health committees, health working groups and risk assessments. The revised pay structure means that a newly recruited childcare worker will start on Euro 2,240 a month instead of Euro 2,130, which after four years will rise to Euro 2,400, up from Euro 2,240. In July, the deal has been approved by ver.di's collective bargaining committee and the strike committee. In August, the members confirmed with a 55% vote in favour. Ver.di has said that it will continue its campaigning to force politicians and employers to recognize that they should better acknowledge the importance of social occupations. In particular the union is looking to improve the quality of training available to workers in the sector (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 May and June).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/315#a5519; http://www.epsu.org/cob/317#a5676;
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews.

The FOA public services trade union is concerned that salaries in the municipal sector could be reduced as a result of the mechanism in the collective agreement that links public sector pay rises to those in the private sector. On current trends it is possible that pay could be cut by 1%. Dennis Kristensen, president of the FOA, suggested that there could be a compromise solution that allows the social partners to abide by the agreement but defer any potential cuts to see how salaries develop. He underlined the fact that a 1% pay cut would not help councils recruit and retain skilled and experienced staff.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/317;
Danish: http://www.foa.dk/sw501974.asp

The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) has written to the President, Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration in Croatia to protest at proposed changes to pay determination in local government. EPSU's letter condemns the government for failing to consult with unions over the proposed changes and for planning to implement a form of pay determination that undermines the unions' right to collective bargaining. The letter of the European union organisation was reported on the website of Vercernji, one of the main daily newspapers in Croatia.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/317#a5676;
Croatian: http://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/sindikalci-eu-mesica.

On 26 August, the Dublin Port Company, which administers the port on behalf of the state, refused to facilitate a meeting of SIPTU members with union officials to discuss the dispute at Marine Terminals. The eight week long strike at the south side of the docks was sparked by attempts by the UK multinational Peel Ports, that took over Marine Terminals in 2008, to introduce mass redundancies, drastically reduce pay and conditions for other workers, and introduce strike breakers. Two days earlier, SIPTU General Secretary Joe O'Flynn told a rally outside Marine Terminals that if a solution was not quickly found, the dispute would cause further damage to business in Dublin Port and the wider economy.
English: http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2009/Name,11026,en.html;
http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2009/Name,11013,en.html

The president of the FSP-UGT public services federation, Julio Lacuerda, has called for a "calm, measured and rigorous" analysis of the current economic situation as part of pay negotiations with the government. He rejected the idea of a pay freeze put forward by one minister and underlined the need for a fair outcome for the 2.5 million workers in the public sector. The federation also wants to see progress on a number of statutes covering public service workers that were agreed two years ago but not yet implemented. Earlier, the FSC-CCOO public services federation clarified its opposition to any proposal to freeze the pay of public sector workers. This federation also warned against job cuts at such a crucial time when it is vital that the public sector maintains its role in delivering services to those worst affected by the crisis.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/317; http://www.epsu.org/cob/316;
Spanish: http://www.fspugt.es/UGT_afirma_que.

Criticising the tax cuts of recent years, the VPOD/SSP public services union is calling for more jobs to be created in the public sector with shorter working hours and longer holidays for public service employees. The union argues that working hours in the public sector are longer than most other sectors while annual leave is shorter. It also maintains that increased workloads in the public sector justify an expansion in employment rather than any contraction forced by tax cuts. The VPOD/SSP is calling above all for an expansion in training for health workers in order to meet the increasing demands for health care in the future.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/317;
German: http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/steuergeschenke.;
French: http://www.ssp-vpod.ch/actualites/nouvelles/ansicht/article/salaires.