High turnout for private waste sector strike

The STAL trade union is pleased at the high turnout of workers for the strike action on 13 December in the AdP water company and the two-day action on 9-10 December in the Tratolixo company that provides services to the municipalities of Cascais, Mafra, Oeiras and Sintra. At AdP the union is calling for a €120-a-month increase for all workers and a minimum wage of €900 a month in the face of the employer’s offer of an increase of only 1.2%. At Tratolixo the main demand is for a €100-a-month increase. In both cases the union is pushing for proper negotiations and implementation of a collective

The FSC-CCOO and FSP-UGT trade union federations report a high level of support for the first day of the four-day stoppage in the Catalan ambulance service. More than nine out of 10 joined the strike taking account of the workers who remain on duty as part of the agreement to provide a minimum service. The strike is in protest against the employer's decision to cut pay by 9.2% for the nearly 5000 workers in the service. The strike went ahead after arbitration at the Catalan labour tribunal failed to produce an agreement. [Read more at > FSC-CCOO (ES)->http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/Inicio

The two main trade union confederations and several independent trade unions said that over half a million workers from the public and private sectors joined the one-hour strike called on 23 January. The strike was in protest at plans for wide-ranging changes to labour laws that would reduce employee protection and undermine collective bargaining. The unions said that further action would follow if the reforms weren't withdrawn. Following the strike the government has called early election and the minister for the economy, the main proponent of the reforms has resigned. [Read more at > B92