The European Commission has adopted the so-called Monti II regulation in response to the issues arising from the Viking and Laval European Court of Justice rulings. Trade unions had hoped that the regulation would provide a counterbalance towards social rights in the internal market in relation to the economic freedoms that took priority in the Viking and Laval cases. The regulation has been widely criticised by national confederations with LO Sweden arguing that it contravenes ILO conventions by allowing the European Court of Justice to decide whether industrial action is justified in a particular case.
Read more at > ETUC (EN)
And in French at > CES
And at > LO Sweden (EN)
ETUC rejects Commission proposal on right to strike
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ETUC open letter rejects wage cut proposal
The ETUC has written an open letter to Olli Rehn, Commission for Economic and Financial Affairs, criticising his support for the idea of an agreement between unions and employers in Spain to cut wages by 10% in order to reduce unemployment. The ETUC argues that wage cuts would deepen the recession and lead to pressure for wage cuts in other countries, creating a spiral of decline in pay. Read more at > ETUC And in French
Unions reject latest pension proposals
Unions in local government have rejected the government's latest proposals to change the pension scheme as worse than earlier proposals that led to massive support for strike action. In order to avoid the strike, the government withdrew plans to end the 85 rule which allows local government workers to retire on a full pension at 60 if they have 25 years' service. But now the government has come back with similar proposals and a plan to increase workers' pension contributions. Read more at > UNISON