Collective Bargaining

The fourth round of negotiations in regional government produced a two-year agreement with a pay increase of Euro 40 plus 3% in 2009 and a further 1.2% in 2010. With the Euro 40 increase worth around 1.6%, this produces a 5.8% increase over the two years from 1 March 2009. A lump sum of Euro 40 is also being paid to the 700,000 workers in regional government to cover the two-month period between the previous agreement and the new agreement. The ver.di services union has surveyed its membership to get their response to the deal. Overall just under 69% of those voting supported the agreement but this figure rose to 80% in the East.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/302;
German: http://presse.verdi.de/aktuelle-themen/tarifrunde_2009_laender; http://presse.verdi.de/pressemitteilungen/showNews?id=2893abca-0fe3-11de-6723-0019b9e321e1

No progress has been made after the third round of bargaining at the Thga energy company where the employer is insisting on a two-hour increase of the working week. The ver.di services union wants a 5.6% pay increase just to pay for the increase in working time and has rejected the employer's offer of 1.2% plus a Euro 500 lump sum. Meanwhile at AVEU, ver.di and the employers have agreed to set up a working group to try to make progress on this year's negotiations. The union has rejected proposals for an increase in working time and has said that any employer plans for "modernization" must not be at the expense of workers. Better news comes from the MVV company, where ver.di has secured a 4.1% pay increase backdated to 1 January 2009.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/302;
German: http://energie-bergbau.ver-und-entsorgung.verdi.de/energie/tarifarbeit

The FSP-UGT public service federation has called for a new agreement in the general public administration that would require action to uncover the main reasons for continuing inequality between men and women. The union says it wants to work with the equality units that should have been set up in each Ministry according to recent legislation, although so far only two are up and running. The federation argues that if it is possible to identify the main factors that contribute to inequality, it will be possible to draw up a plan of action to deal with them.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/302;
Spanish: http://www.fspugt.es/index.php/mod.noticias/mem.detalle/idnoticia.8246/cat.1029

The ICTU union confederation has postponed a planned day of action on 30 March in order to take part in talks with government and employers about how to deal with the country's economic and financial crisis. National negotiations broke down earlier this year, following which the government went ahead with legislation to implement a "pensions levy". This is effectively a pay cut for all public servants and represents a reduction of 7.5% from the public sector pay bill. The ICTU has drawn up a 10-point action plan as the basis of negotiations on a strategy in response to the crisis and it has made clear that talks with the government must involve a re-negotiation of the "pensions levy". In a letter to ICTU general secretary David Begg, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen wrote: "I see considerable merit in many aspects of the 10-point plan" (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 February 2009).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/302;
http://www.impact.ie/iopen24/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=211

On January 16, 250 cleaners held a protest action at Schiphol, the international airport of Amsterdam. Jointly with their union, FNV Bondgenoten, they were demanding to be treated with respect by their employers and by the airport operator. In particular, they were asking for a travel allowance to enable them to get to work, as well as clean and comfortable amenities in the workplace. The demonstrators marched over the airport, with drums, megaphones and placards, ensuring that their demands were seen and heard by the airport management, passengers, shoppers and other passers-by. Yet, FNV Bondgenoten says to be disappointed by the employers' reaction and to prepare for further industrial action.
English: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/iportal.nsf/pages/sec_20081016_gbg7En
Dutch: http://www.fnvbondgenoten.nl/branches_bedrijven/branches/dienstverlening/schoonmaak/1272681/

As of 1 April, all companies troubled by the current crisis can apply for part-time unemployment benefits for (parts of) their staff, provided that workers' representatives -mostly the Works Council- give their approval and a training plan has been drawn up. The new scheme replaces the special short-time support arrangement, which from 30 November 2008 to 20 March has been used by 770 companies. The condition in this arrangement that companies should show a 30% decline in turnover within two months, has been removed, and it is expected that a larger number of companies will qualify for the new scheme. Companies can apply for part-time unemployment benefits for maximum 15 months: initially for three months, with possibilities for prolongation for twice six months. Jointly with some smaller labour market measures, the government budget foreseen for the new scheme is Euro 375 million (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 1 No. 10 and Year 2 January and February).
Dutch: De Volkskrant, March 25 and 26, 2009; information Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment

Public servants union ABVAKABO FNV has said that a government plan that public sector workers' pay should be frozen is unacceptable. The union points out that a statement from the joint union and employer Labour Foundation proposes negotiating agreements on pay, employment and training. Notably with a view to bargaining the new one-year collective agreement for general hospitals and mental health care, ABVAKABO FNV, now joined by health care union NU '91, emphasized to refuse a wage freeze and to stick to a 3% wage demand for this sector. ABVAKABO FNV president, Edith Snoey, said: "The idea that there is no room for wage increase cannot be explained to our constituency, struggling with labour shortages and high work pressure". Both unions are also opposed to lifting the pension age from 65 to 67 as far as it concerns the mentally and physically demanding occupations in health care.
Dutch: http://www.volkskrant.nl/economie/article1170949.ece/Bonden_lonen_in_de_zorg_niet_bevriezen;
http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao/bericht/abvakabo_fnv_wil_gelijke_loonontwikkeling_in_publieke_en_marktsector/

Instead of cancelling collective contracts, the government has decided to bring a law that reduces the basic salaries for 180,000 public servants by 6%, and in that way also avoid entering a conflict with the unions as these are supposed to have no legal reason for a strike. The public services unions will most probably answer this decision with a lawsuit. They claim that the government can only reduce the basic salary by cancelling the collective contracts. "We will certainly win the lawsuits", says the president of the Independent Union of Science and High Education, Vilim Ribic. The unions of employees in healthcare, education, welfare and culture had already announced not to accept reduced salaries.
English: http://www.javno.com/en-croatia/croatian-unions-announce-lawsuits_245940
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Croatia

According to the tripartite agreement signed in 2006, the statutory minimum wage should increase at an annual rate of about 5.3% during the period 2007-2011. The agreement allowed for a substantial increase of 5.6% in 2009 as to reach Euro 450 a month. In October 2008 the Prime Minister, Jos‚ S¢crates, confirmed that the government was going to respect this intention. Though the employer organizations were strongly opposing this plan, the union confederations were equally strongly in favour. The Prime Minister argued that "the situation of economic crisis is a stimulus for the accomplishment of the agreement", and finally the government laid down the 5.6% increase as of 1 January 2009. According to official sources, the statutory minimum wage currently applies to 4.5% of the labour force.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2008/11/articles/pt0811039i.htm

An increasing number of workers at large Finnish companies get severance packages when being laid off, according to the MOT TV programme. Terminating staff in Finland has been relatively inexpensive and easy in comparison to practices in other western European states, and companies are not legally required to offer special severance pay. Yet, recently large companies such as Alma Media, Elisa, Nokia, Kemira, Metso, Perlos, TeliaSonera, UPM and YLE have offered severance pay for dismissed employees. On the other hand, Cargotec, Finnair and Mets„-Botnia do not have special severance pay policies in place.
English: http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/03/severance_deals_gaining_ground_in_finland_633503.html
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Finland