015 epsucob@NEWS August 2008

The annual review of pay developments by the EIRO industrial relations observatory found national average nominal pay increases ranging from 1.7% in France to 32.3% in Latvia in 2007. Taking account of inflation, real increases ranged from -3.5% in Slovenia to 18.3% in Latvia with inflation outstripping pay in 12 countries in 2007. The EIRO report also looks at pay increases in the civil service and indicates that the average nominal increase across the EU 27 of 6.2% in 2007 is higher than the 4.1% average recorded in 2006. The highest nominal increases for civil servants in 2007 were 42.2% in

Over 100,000 local government workers in Scotland will be joined by 5,000 Scottish civil servants in a one-day strike over pay. The disputes are separate with UNISON, Unite and the GMB voting for action in local government on 20 August while members of the PCS civil service voted separately for industrial action in a dispute over pay. This will be the second day of strike action by Scottish civil servants who have also imposed an overtime ban since 31 July. [Read more at > PCS (EN)->http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news_centre/index.cfm/id/074AAB73-5FF5-47E8-873E24270CA3A252] [And at >

Collective bargaining in the private waste sector was due to begin on 21 August. The agreement covers 60,000 workers and ver.di is concerned that the employers want to reduce pay rates. Although the employers have not yet made public their initial negotiating position, the union believes that their main concern will be competition with firms that are not covered by the industry agreement. According to ver.di the BDE employers' organisation wants to get more employers signed up to the industry agreement and it thinks that the best way to do this is to reduce pay rates. This will mean pressure

The CNV Publieke Zaak trade union has expressed concern over the increase in self-employment in the care sector. It is worried not just about the fact that this undermines collective agreements in the sector but that is raises questions about the quality of care being delivered as well. The union says that some workers might be attracted by the idea of working for themselves but should remember that this means making their own pension arrangements and covering their own sickness benefits. CNV wants to meet with health ministry officials to discuss the trend, noting that the matter has already

Unions have attacked a recent ruling by the constitutional court that says that employees of sub-contractors should not be counted in the election of workplace representatives. Trade unions argue that it is vital that all employees in a workplace, including those working on outsourced contracts should be able to elect workplace representatives in order to deal with the working conditions faced by all employees at the same workplace. The unions emphasise that outsourced workers need this kind of protection in particular because they are often in a more precarious employment situation than

On Wednesday, August 6, the Trade Union of Gas Facilities Workers of Ukraine organized a demonstration to demand a review of the tariffs for gas transportation and delivery. More than 3,000 trade union members - employees of gas distribution companies picketed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Ivan Yarovy, chairman of the trade union, said that higher tariffs would enable gas distribution companies to increase the wages of all their employees. Besides, regional gas distribution companies' low tariffs for transportation of natural gas were the main reason for the increase in the number of