13 epsucob@NEWS 3 July 2006
Strike in energy sector
Our Norwegian affiliate, EL&IT, has sent us this report. Strike action began on 21 June after negotiations over a new pay agreement for the period 2006-2008 failed. Our main demands to the employers were: · Influence in local bargaining; · Regulations to prevent social dumping; and · Regulations when workers are travelling in their work (standards of sleeping, restrooms and so on.) The major problem that led to the strike has been that the employer denies us influence in local bargaining. The companies demand absolute control over which of our members shall be given a raise. We cannot accept
€150 per month demand in municipal hospitals
The public services union ver.di is calling for a monthly payment of €150 for all employees in municipal hospitals. The union argues that higher public transport and fuel costs have combined with a change to federal taxation on travel costs to make it more expensive for people to get to work and the monthly lump sum will compensate for this. Ver.di is also calling on the municipal hospitals to abide by the public sector collective agreement. It claims that hospitals are undermining the agreement in a number of ways, for example by not paying part timers and trainees shift pay, by not paying
Special report exposes waste sector employers
A special report on the waste sector reveals the pressure workers are under as employers try to cut wages and conditions. In Berlin the Alba Group is threatening job cuts if workers don't agree to a pay cut which would see drivers' hourly pay fall from €11.50 to €9.00. Meanwhile the Remondis company no longer applies the collective agreement which means a cut in hourly pay from €11.50 to €8.50, a longer working week of 42.5 hours (up from 40) and five days less annual leave. Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Unions co-ordinate pay campaign
Unions in Switzerland came together on 27 June in a joint press conference to outline their pay campaigns for the year as they build up to the national pay demonstration on 23 September. The VPOD/SSP public service union said that public service pay increases had fallen behind those in the private service sector for the last 12 years. For the public services and energy sector the union was calling for compensation for rising prices, a real pay increase of 3%, closing the gender pay gap, no increase in the gap between the high and low paid, no job cuts and not to rely just on pension scheme
Strike action in health sector and traffic authority
The strike by health technicians on 27 June was a great success according to the unions with 85% of workers supporting the action. The workers were protesting at the failure of the ministries of health and education to agree to their demands on a right to university-level training and recognition of their qualifications in line with similar workers in the rest of the European Union. Meanwhile workers at the national traffic authority have planned to strike on every Wednesday and Thursday in July to get the authority to fill job vacancies and increase staffing. The action also follows a long
Two-year agreement signed in hospital sector
Employers and unions have signed a new two-year agreement covering hospital workers. It runs from 1 January 2006 to 1 February 2008. This year's pay increase will be 1.75%, backdated to April, and the increase next year will be 0.5% from 1 June 2006. Read more at > ABVAKABO (NE)
Union criticises councils' use of temporary and agency staff
The GMB general union has attacked local authorities for spending over £1.1 billion a year employing temporary and/or agency staff. The union argues that this marks a failure by management to ensure adequate levels of staff are available to provide a proper public service. The union has worked with local authorities, like Newham and Barking and Dagenham in East London, to reduce the use of temporary and agency staff. Read more at > GMB (EN)
Public administration national strike on 6 July
Public administration national strike on 6 July The FNFSP public service federation is backing a national strike in public administration on 6 July. Unions in the sector have been maintaining a long running campaign against government plans to reorganise the sector and the unions are calling for the defence of public services as well as protection for workers' pay and conditions and jobs in the face of a threat to increase in precarious employment in public administration. [Read more at > FNFSP (PT)->http://www.fnsfp.pt/?pageact=art&id=656&idCanal=0] The EIRO industrial relations observatory
Unions attack inadequate rise in minimum wage
Unions have criticised the 3.05% increase in the minimum wage - the SMIC - as being too low. The increase takes the hourly SMIC to €8.27 and the monthly figure to €1,254.28 for a 35-hour week. The SMIC increases each year in line with inflation and an index of workers' pay. This year the minimum increase required by law was 2.85% but the government added a discretionary 0.3%. [Read more at > CGT (FR)->http://www.cgt.fr/internet/html/lire/?id_doc=4248] [Read more at > FO (FR)->http://www.force-ouvriere.fr/index.asp?lk=e&id=449&theme_choisi=Org.%20-%20Conventions%20collec.] [Read more at > CFDT-
Call for European minimum wage
Former European Commission President Jacques Delors has called for a renewal of European social dialogue including negotiations over concrete demands such as a European minimum wage and strengthening of European works councils. Delors argues that the minimum wage should be set in line with each country's level of development. Delors is co-chair of a Party of European Socialists' (PES) initiative on a “New Social Europe”; a report on this will be presented to the PES congress in December. [Read more at > the Euractiv news service (EN)->http://www.euractiv.com/en/socialeurope/delors-sees-need-eu