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Unions protest over pay, living standards and economic crisis
Public and private sector unions joined forces in regional protests on 17 December and in a national demonstration on 23 December focusing on the economic crisis and the need to protect the living standards of workers and pensioners. The FPSU confederation drew up a series of demands aimed at the government, parliament, local authorities, central bank and employers calling for an increased minimum wage, payment of wages in arrears and a withdrawal of planned increases to energy costs and other basic elements of the cost of living. EPSU and PSI both sent messages of support. [Read more at >
Confederations back national private sector agreement
Members of the three trade union confederations have voted by large majorities in favour of the national private sector agreement for 2009-2010. The agreement provides for the maintenance of the indexation of wages in line with price increases but on top of this workers will get up to €125 in 2009 and up to €250 in 2010. Employers will also cover more of employees’ travel-to-work costs, up from the current 60% to 75%. The agreement also includes extra help for the unemployed, a reduction in electricity bills and a government commitment to increase investment in the public services. [Read more
Unions united over key demands for day of action on 29 January
Eight of the main trade union federations - CFDT, CFTC, CFE-CGC, CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires, UNSA – have united in their call for a day of strikes and protests on 29 January across both private and public sectors. Their joint communiqué calls for action to maintain employment with increased investment targeted at infrastructure projects and the public services. They also want to see government and employers respond to demands to defend workers’ purchasing power and to tackle pay inequality. A key demand also focuses on maintaining collective rights and withdrawing measures that threaten to
Union campaigns over threat to temporary workers
The FP CGIL union federation is running a campaign in opposition to government plans to slash temporary employment in the public sector. The campaign will include a day of strike action on 13 February and the focus of the protests is the so-called Brunetta amendment that ostensibly sets out to reduce precarious employment in the public sector but whose immediate impact will be to make some 60,000 workers redundant from next July. Read more at > FP CGIL (IT)
Local government pay deal now in arbitration
Trade unions and employers in local government (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) have agreed to the three-person arbitration panel that will begin its hearings in February and rule on the pay dispute that has been rumbling on since last spring. The employers have offered a 2.45% increase plus an extra £100 (€111) for the lowest paid backdated to 1 April 2008. The trade union side has also agreed the three key elements of their pay demand for 2009-2010: a 12-month agreement that covers pay only and that provides an increase to match inflation with a higher increase for the lower paid. [Read
Unions step up minimum wage campaign
The ver.di service union and NGG food and catering union are raising the minimum wage issue in regional elections. In a campaign, vote for the minimum wage, the unions are highlighting the results of a recent opinion poll that found 81% of people in favour of a minimum wage as a response to growing child poverty. A recent government report found one in eight children in Germany at risk of poverty. The union’s campaign includes the use of container lorries with minimum wage information displays. The containers are deposited in city centres for people to visit and find out more about the issues
Commission review reveals latest labour market trends
The latest quarterly labour market report from the European Commission highlights he shift in trends across many EU member states. It finds that quarterly employment growth ground to a standstill in the third quarter of 2008, while the unemployment rate began to edge up again. The report says that underlying developments at EU level were generally lacklustre performances in the labour markets of most large Member States, apart from Poland. In the third quarter, employment remained unchanged in France and Italy, fell in the UK and contracted considerably in Spain, but continued to expand in
Civil service union plans meetings over pay agreement
At the end of 2008 the PCS civil service union secured a framework agreement with the government that allowed efficiency savings to be taken into account in pay negotiations across the civil service. However, the union is keenly aware that the agreement is only the beginning of the process and the challenge now is to monitor what takes place at local level to determine whether individual ministries, agencies and other employers shift their bargaining positions accordingly. [Read more at > PCS (EN)->http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news_centre/index.cfm/id/B51C3238-C9C0-4881
Union calls for representation in health reform talks
The GÖD public service trade union has said that hospital workers should not lose out as a result of health reforms and has criticised government plans for cuts in finance. The union’s president for health and social care, Johann Hable, has called for the union to be represented in discussions over health reforms in order to ensure that workers don’t end up paying the price for the changes. Read more at > GÖD (DE)
Pay deals in the energy sector
Services union has recently agreed to two new two-year agreements in the energy sector. At Vattenfall workers get a 4% increase on pay rates this year and 2.6% in 2010. There will also be a €1200 lump sum in 2010 with apprentices getting €200. The two-year deal at RWE also runs from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010 and also has a 4% pay increase this year with 2.2% next year There are lump sum payments in both years with €1200 this year (€600 for apprentices) and €800 next year (€400 for apprentices).
Conference debates impact of crisis on bargaining
The impact of the economic crisis on pay bargaining was one of the key debates at this year’s conference on collective bargaining and social dialogue in the public services. Participants also discussed how to tackle the gender pay gap with news of two important initiatives in Norway and Denmark. A number of workshops enabled delegates to exchange information on issues such as violence at work, transnational collective agreements, demographic change and migrant workers. Read more at > EPSU (EN)
European Parliament backs working time reforms
The European Parliament has voted with an overwhelming majority to keep the working time directive strong. There were huge majorities on the three key points: a fair period in which to calculate the average working week; counting on-call time in the workplace as working time; and a phasing out of the opt-out from the directive. The margin of victory exceeded even the most optimistic predictions of proponents of a strong directive Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Unions announce day of action for 29 January
The long-term campaign for a proper system of social dialogue in the public sector will continue to be one of the main collective bargaining issues in the new year as eight trade union federations will come together to support a day of action across the public and private sectors on 29 January. The unions have a range of demands including compensation for past losses in purchasing power, properly funded public services, an end to job cuts in the public sector and measures to tackle precarious employment conditions. Read more at > UGFF-CGT (FR)
Verdi begins mobilisation for regional government pay claim
Verdi’s collective bargaining committee for regional government has agreed to submit a claim for an 8% pay increase next year. The current regional government agreement had no pay increase in 2007 – just lump sum payments – and the increase for 2008 was 2.9%. Verdi wants an 8% rise and a minimum increase of €200. It argues that a gap has opened up between people doing similar jobs in local and regional government with regional government workers losing out. Read more at > ver.di (DE)