Collective Bargaining

Saturday 13 June was the fifth of this year's series of national mobilisations over pay, public services and the crisis in France. The eight main national trade union confederations (CGT, CFDT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, FSU, UNSA et Solidaires) and their affiliated unions have tried to maintain the level of support, but are aware they need to take stock of their campaign. Unions estimate on 13 June some 150,000 people took part in 159 actions around the country and one opinion poll indicated that nearly three in four of the population backed the demonstrations. However, unions are discussing on how to maintain the pressure on the government in the lead up to their planned meeting with President Sarkozy in early July (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 March, April and May 2009).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
French: http://www.force-ouvriere.fr/page_principal/semaine/ .;
http://www.spterritoriaux.cgt.fr/spip.php?article3235

Just three weeks ahead of the parliamentary elections of 5 July, the CITUB trade union confederation organised a national demonstration in Sofia on 16 June in protest at the government's failure to protect the poor, low-paid and unemployed in the current crisis. Workers from across the public and private sectors joined the demonstration. CITUB and its affiliates have criticised government plans to freeze public sector pay instead of implementing an agreed 10% pay increase, a step that will affect about 400,000 public servants. CITUB also emphasized the need to increase investments as well as to guarantee pension, health and educational systems. Vice-president of CITUB, Plamen Dimitrov, finally asked government to increase the minimum monthly wage to 340 leva per month (Euro 174) in July and then again to 400 leva in October 2009. The current minimum wage is 220 leva.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/06/19/737789_ups-and-downs;
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLG80487220090616

Under the motto "We Are One", using the public relations slogan of the EON energy company, services union ver.di on 18 June launched an EON Action Day, including a demonstration outside the EON headquarters in Dsseldorf. The protest is over the company's "savings" programme that unions fear could lead to the loss of 6,000 jobs across Europe with outsourcing affecting a further 4,000 employees who are likely to find themselves covered by poorer collective agreements or by no collective agreement at all. Unions are particularly critical of the company because it recently announced substantial profits and a 10% increase in its dividend payments. Union representatives from EON companies in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Romania joined the protest in Dsseldorf. Sven Bergelin, ver.di and President of the EPSU energy group said: "There should be no redundancies. EON is to have a positive relation with the trade unions and respect collective agreements European-wide".
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312; http://www.epsu.org/a/5313;
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/show ...

The FOA public service union is threatening the Silkeborg local authority with legal action unless it ensures that it will pay local allowances to its employees. The FOA co-ordinated strike action among educational workers and teaching assistants last spring, secured a slightly higher increase than in the municipal agreement. However, the union says that Silkeborg appears to be trying to cut local allowances while implementing the national agreement. This could cost the workers affected as much as DKK 1,400 (Euro 188) a month.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
Danish: http://www.foa.dk/sw497631.asp

Services union ver.di general secretary, Frank Bsirske, has called on local authority employers to take positive steps to end the current dispute in the social work and childcare sectors. The union wants to negotiate a new collective agreement that addresses the threat to the health and wellbeing of workers as a result of increased workloads and responsibilities. Over 30,000 workers joined the national demonstration in Cologne on 15 June while thousands of others continued their strike action across the county. Bsirske said that strike action would be intensified and that as a result there would be more consultation of parents in the planning industrial action. He also welcomed the support of a number of leading national politicians who had called for an urgent re-evaluation of the occupational status of workers in the sector (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 May).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312
German: http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/show .

Members of the GMB general union employed by the National Grid transmission company in the North East of England have supported strike action against offshoring in a consultative ballot. The union is angry that the company is looking to close a site and offshore 181 jobs to India despite making massive profits. Gary Smith, GMB National Secretary speaking at the GMB Congress at Blackpool said, "This proposed site closure is nothing but an act of irresponsible corporate greed. "
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
http://www.gmb.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=98700

On 16 June, the Estonian Confederation of Trade Unions (ECUTU) organised a string of protests against the government's plans to weaken employee protection through changes in the Labour Contract Act. Union demands also included improvements to redundancy compensations and unemployment benefits. Besides in public transport, strikes were held in power and metallurgy plants. Harri Taliga, the president of ECUTU, saidÿ: "Our objective is not to cause damage to employers, but since the government is leaning towards employers in terms of enforcing the new contract act, we have no choice"ÿ(See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 May 2009).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=14898;
http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/baltic_news/?doc=3352

The ABVAKABO public services union reports that after a poor start some progress has been made in negotiations covering provincial government. The employers have responded positively on four issues: extra jobs targeted at the unemployed; the introduction of training budgets for individual workers; changes to the pay structure that will particularly benefit employees who are on the top of their scale; and new arrangements for carers so that they can temporarily change their working hours. The union warns, however, that some hard bargaining remains over pay and employment security (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 May).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao/bericht/goede_onderhandelingen_cao_provincies/

Public service union FSC-CCOO has reacted angrily to a council of ministers decision to freeze recruitment across the general state administration as part of the government's austerity package. The union argues that a freeze will undermine public services as many departments already have many unfilled vacancies while it further undermines the conditions of workers who are struggling to maintain services despite inadequate employment levels. FSC-CCOO is also concerned about the way the decision was announced and says that it undermines the right to collective bargaining over this kind of issues.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
Spanish: http://www.fsap.ccoo.es/webfsap/menu.do?Inicio:60344

The PPC national power company has decided to create 2,300 new jobs in addition to the 2,300 jobs that it has already advertised. The company's initiative comes in the face of determined demands from the GENOP energy union to take on an additional 7,000 workers. The union has been arguing that a shortage of trained workers and an increasing reliance on contractors have undermined health and safety in the company - four workers have been killed since the beginning of the year.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustry ...
Greek: http://www.genop.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=595&Itemid=1