Threat to jobs interrupts pay negotiations

The proposed merger between GDF the publicly-owned gas company and the Suez private utility company has been attacked by unions. They are not only concerned about the threat to jobs but what the merger implies for the future of French and European energy policy and the future status of the electricity company EDF. The FNEM-FO federation called on its members to strike on 7 March and join the demonstrations on 7 March in protest at the new employment laws and make them also a protest against the Suez-GDF merger. [Read more at > CGT->http://www.fnme-cgt.fr/cnt/fjoint//31/414-fjoint.pdf] [And at

At the end of April the OSSOO state workers’ union issued a strike threat in order to put pressure on the government to negotiate on pay for workers in the Czech labour office. The union said that workers were facing heavily increased workloads as they were dealing with processing of refugees from Ukraine as well as compensation payments to cover for increased energy costs. Strike action was due to take place at the beginning of May but the government agreed to negotiations that are due to start on 25 May.

The threat of strike action by members of the SIPTU trade union employed in the non-profit social services sector has lead to an agreement on negotiations to ensure pay restoration. The union had been campaigning for some time to get the government to commit to funding so-called Section 39 organisations so that they could deliver pay restoration for the sector in line with what has already been agreed in the national public sector negotiations. The strike action planned for 14 February has been delayed by six weeks to allow time for the management of the relevant Section 39 organisations to