Agreement over restructuring at E.ON in Germany
9 February 2012
Ver.di and the IGBCE trade union have negotiated an agreement with the E.ON energy company over restructuring in Germany. The agreement runs until 2016 and covers issues such as early retirement, severance payments and the setting up of a company to deal with employment and training. The aim of the agreement is to avoid compulsory redundancies. The E.ON 2.0 restructuring programme will involve around 6,000 job cuts in Germany out of a worldwide total of 11,000.
Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Study supports positive role of general applicability of collective agreements
9 February 2012
Researchers at the Hans Böckler Foundation have provided evidence to a parliamentary committee on employment and social affairs to show the importance of the general applicability of collective agreements to stabilising the coverage of collective bargaining. Currently around 60% of workers in Germany are covered by collective agreements, down from 75% at the end of the 1990s. In contrast, the coverage rate in other western European countries is higher where collective agreements are applied across the sector, even where employers are not direct signatories to the agreement.
Read more at > Hans Böckler Foundation (DE)
Doctors’ union negotiates pay increase for 2012
25 January 2012
The Marburger Bund doctors’ trade union has agreed a pay increase of 2.9% for doctors in municipal hospitals. The agreement runs from 1 January to 31 December 2012 and in addition there is a lump sum payment of €440 to cover the period from September to December 2011, effectively after the previous agreement expired until the new one comes into effect. There are also changes to the pay scale with additional steps in three of the pay bands.
Read more at > Marburger Bund (DE)
Social care workers go for all-out strike
6 January 2012
Members of the ver.di services union at the Pflegen und Wohnen social care company in Hamburg have voted 98% in favour of all-out strike action. Over 200 employees had already been involved in five warning strikes in an attempt to get the company to negotiate a new collective agreement covering all employees.. Those employed by the company before 30 June 2011 are still covered by an old collective agreement but there has been no pay increase since 2009. Workers taken on since 30 June 2011 are not covered by any collective agreement.
Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Federal and local negotiations to begin on 1st March
6 January 2012
Public services union ver.di is preparing for negotiations over one of the main public sector agreements that will begin on 1st March. These will cover Federal and Local Government; regional government workers are covered by a separate agreement. The collective bargaining committee for Federal and Local Government will meet on 9 February to decide on the main elements of this year’s pay claim. The agreement includes publicly-owned utilities and one of the aims of the negotiations will be to prevent a gap opening up between the public and private sector where pay increases recently have been in the order of 3% or more.
Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Regional government agrees to minimum wage in contracts
6 January 2012
The regional government of North-Rhine Westfalia has implemented new procurement regulations that include a requirement on contractors to comply with a minimum wage of €8.62 an hour. The rules also require compliance with collective agreements in the transport sector along with ILO conventions and measures relating to women workers and the environment.
Read more at > WSI/Böckler (DE)
Health unions negotiate with church hospital
6 January 2012
Ver.di and the Marburger Bund doctors’ union acknowledge the initial progress that has been made in negotiations with the Oldenburg hospital run by the Protestant Church. The unions are aiming for a general pay increase from 1 January 2012 along with some changes to the framework collective agreement in line with developments in the public sector. This contrasts with industrial relations with other church-owned institutions where employers are refusing to negotiate with the trade unions.
Read more at > ver.di’s special website (DE)
Industrial action secures first step towards agreement at CFM services company
21 December 2011
Ver.di reports that campaigning and industrial action at the CFM facilities management company have produced some initial improvements for workers and the promise of further negotiations in the new year. The union began negotiating with CFM in May 2011 but have been in dispute with the company since September (see epsucob@NEWS 16 and 17). The company provides cleaning, catering and other services to the Charité hospitals in Berlin. In January 2012 all low-paid employees will get a minimum wage from the company of €8.50 an hour and employees will also receive a €300 lump sum.
Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Protests and industrial action help win agreement at care home company
21 December 2011
Ver.di has negotiated a new agreement at the Alpenland care home company in Berlin which will mean minimum increases of 2.5% from 1 January and lump sum payments of €235. Care assistants and nurses will get higher increases of 5.9% and 8.3%. The negotiations over a new agreement have been going on for over two years and lead to a long dispute this year involving protest and strike action (see epsucob@NEWS 15).
Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Union responds to energy restructuring
21 December 2011
The ver.di services union is facing major challenges in the energy sector as companies plan significant restructuring and job cuts. At E.ON around 11000 jobs are on the line and one element of the ver.di response is to work with the Hans Böckler research organisation and draw up alternative plans that focus on making better use of and improving the skills of the workforce particularly in business areas such as renewables in which the company could increase its investment. Meanwhile at Vattenfall, the union organized a demonstration on 5 December in protest at the company’s plans to merge and relocate customer service operations in Berlin and Hamburg.
Read more about the E.ON initiative at > ver.di (DE)
And on restructuring at Vattenfall at > ver.di (DE)
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