Collective Bargaining

This paper looks at the pension reforms implemented by Sweden in the 1990s and their implications for pension adequacy.

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Trade unions Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Sla Cisal and Ugl Trasporti organised a strike on 4 and 5 August 2019. Toll collectors, technical and administrative workers join in strikes that are meant to put pressure on the employer side in the negotiations about the renewal of the collective agreement. The government issued a travel warning for Saturday 3 August, asking the public to avoid travelling at peak periods as traffic will be slow and more dangerous with large numbers of vehicles on the road. Three weeks later, on 25 and 26 August, the workers walked off again for a 4-hour strike.

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About 30.5% of Bulgarians cannot afford a one-week holiday, according to European Union statistics agency Eurostat, citing figures for 2018. Eurostat said, however, that the figure had dropped by 35.8 percentage points since 2013 – the largest such decrease in the EU.

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For many people in the European Union (EU), summer means holidays and travel. However, it is estimated that 28.3% of the EU population aged 16 or over could not afford a one-week annual holiday away from home in 2018, according to an estimate of Eurostat. In 2013 the corresponding proportion was 39.5%. Among the 28 EU Member States, the countries with the highest proportions of individuals in this situation were Romania (58.9%), Croatia (51.3%, provisional data), Greece (51%) and Cyprus (51.0%, provisional data). In contrast, the EU Member States with the lowest percentage of people unable to afford a one week annual holiday in 2018 were Luxembourg (10.9%, 2017 data) and Sweden (9.7%).

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The expected resolution to the dispute in the construction industry, deadlocked negotiations on the renewal of collective agreements in the hotel industry and work stoppages by contract workers in the public sector are the main topics of interest in this note. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Cyprus in the second quarter of 2019.

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An audit entitled ‘Does Social Support Ensure the Minimum Consumption Needs of People Living in Poverty and Promote Labour Market Integration’, carried out by the National Audit Office, the Supreme Audit Institution, documents that income inequality and poverty remain among the highest in the EU. In 2018, 22.9 % of the population lived below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, and 11.1 % below the extreme poverty threshold. The OECD and the European Commission note that the adequacy of social benefits in Lithuania remains relatively low, the living standards of the poorest households have improved only moderately and the impact on reducing income inequality is lower than in the EU.

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A four-day strike called for July 31, August 14, August 30 and September 1, led to according to the minimum services established by the Public Works Ministry. The strike was announced just over two weeks after the CCOO union called a rail strike on July 15, leading to the cancellation of 320 train services. Unions are demanding an increase in the worker replacement rate to curb the outsourcing of services, as well as greater internal promotion and better working conditions.

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Workers in the southeast earn little more than half of the national average, according to a major economic survey, which lays the blame on the lack of high-quality jobs in the regions. The South East Economic Monitor written by Waterford Institute of Technology academics has found that when returns for taxes on work are calculated, including PAYE, universal social charge and self-employed taxes, the figure is 52% of the national average. Moreover, the most recent data (Q4 2018) show that the southeast has the highest proportion of workers earning the National Minimum Wage or less (12.9% versus 7.6% country-wide).

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For the first time the 1,400 Burger King employees are covered by a collective agreement. The agreement provides guaranteed working hours, bonus payment for evening and weekend hours, duty planning rules, paid holidays, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave, the right to have weekends off and protection for trade union rights.

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Educational workers union demands government funding for research

August 18, 2019

The Federation of the Estonian Universities, Institutions of Science, Research and Development (UNIVERSITAS), among other academic trade unions, has been at the forefront of protests directed against the negligence of the government towards the academic and scientific sectors.

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The number of 50–74-year-old employed increased

14 August 2019

The number of 50–74-year-old employed persons (232,500) has continued to increase, by 9,600 compared to last year. In the second quarter of 2019, the employment rate of the 50–74-year-old population was 59.2% and the unemployment rate 4.7%. The number of unemployed persons in this age category decreased by 2,100 compared to the same quarter of 2018. 127,700 of the employed were women and 104,800 men. Compared to the previous year, the number of employed women has increased by 3,400 and employed men by 6,200.

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A group of YouTubers called the YouTubers Union teamed up with Germany’s powerful IG Metall trade union to fight back Youtube’s recent policies. YouTube has made life hard for smaller content creators, at the same time favouring the big, corporate channels such as the ones owned by large media companies and celebrities. Thousands of YouTubers saw their videos demonetized and penalized by YouTube’s algorithms, in some cases removed. They are the same people who, with their creativity, helped YouTube to be what it is today. In a proposal the YouTubers request clear rules, a human to speak to, neutral referees and participation. In case of no reply from YouTube’s headquarters in Hamburg the union will go to court.

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