2010 July epsucob@NEWS 13
Day of action on 8 July
Unions in the CGTP confederation are backing a day of action on 8 July as part of the continuing campaign against government austerity measures. The STAL union argues that after the support shown by 300,000 workers on 29 May, it was important to maintain the pressure on the government and its proposals to freeze salaries and attack services and other conditions of employment. Read more at > STAL (PT)
Seven union organizations co-ordinate action over pensions
Unions plan to continue their protests and resistance against government plans to raise the pension age. The CGT, CFDT, FO, CFCT, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA argue that the proposals fail to take account of workers, particularly women, with irregular contribution records and those employed in difficult and dangerous occupations. Following the day of action on 29 June, the unions are committed to maintain their opposition throughout the legislative process and will organize the next day of action on 7 September the opening of the debate in parliament. [Read more at > CGT (FR)->http://www.cgt.fr
Over a million workers demonstrate over government austerity measures
The CGIL confederation organized a national strike on 25 June with its members in the private sector called out for a four-hour stoppage while the FP-CGIL public sector federation organized a 24-hour strike in the public sector. The confederation estimates that over a million people joined demonstrations around the country in protest against the government’s planned spending cuts that include a three-year pay freeze for public sector workers and cuts in productivity payments. Read more at > CGIL (EN)
Confederations unite in fifth general strike against austerity measures
The ADEDY public sector and GSEE private sector union confederation organized their fifth general strike on 29 June in protest against government cuts to the social security system and changes to employment legislation. Read more at > ADEDY (EL) And at > Bloomberg news website (EN)
Federations pose legal challenge to government pay cuts
The three public service federations in the CCOO confederation – Citizens Services, Education and Health – have come together to challenge the legality of the government imposed pay cuts. They argue, for example, that the government cannot rely on the need to take emergency measures as the crisis had been known about for some time and so could not be claimed to an “extraordinary and urgent necessity”. The federations also argue that the government has undermined fundamental rights and in particular the right to collective bargaining. The FSP-UGT federation is also looking at legal challenges
Pay trends analysed across in Europe and in civil service
The latest annual pay survey from the EIRO industrial relations observatory shows a drop in average negotiated pay increases in 2009. The overall average fell from 5.1% in 2008 to 4.2% in 2009 while in the Eurozone the increases were lower, down from 3.9% in 2008 to 3.2% in 2009. The civil service increase in 2009 was lower again at 2.9%, down from 4.2% in 2008, with seven countries already registering a pay freeze in 2009. Read more at > EIRO (EN)
Regional collective bargaining conference – 14-15 September – Bratislava
The third and final of this year’s regional collective bargaining conferences will take place in Bratislava. As with the previous meetings in Copenhagen and Madrid the agenda will cover the crisis, outsourcing, precarious employment and the gender pay gap. Documents for the meeting are being translated into Romania, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Turkish and Czech and interpretation in these languages will also be provided at the meeting. The meeting is mainly aimed at EPSU affiliates from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Turkey, UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. [Read
Union calls for minimum wage in waste sector to be extended
Services union ver.di has welcomed the implementation of an €8.02 an hour minimum wage in the waste sector. However, the union believes that it is urgent to extend the coverage to deal with wage competition in the sector. Negotiations between the union, the VKA local government employers and BDE private sector employers’ organization will resume at the beginning of August. The regulations implementing the minimum rate came into force on 1 January 2010 but are only valid until 31 October 2010 and so ver.di is concerned to get agreement from the employers for its future application and increase
Local government employers refuse pay rise for lowest paid
The Coalition government recently announced a two-year pay freeze for public sector workers on an annual salary of £21,000 (€25,300) or more. However, unions have criticized the local government employers for refusing to pay even a £250 increase to those below that threshold. Read more at > UNISON (EN)
Employers want pay freeze in care sector
Unions are calling on employers in the care sector to respond to their demands and deliver a pay increase in the current negotiations. The FNV Abvakabo services union is warning of industrial action while the CNV Publieke Zaak union is co-ordinating an email campaign among its members to put pressure on the employers. Abvakabo is also concerned about the employers trying to undermine some existing conditions of employment in relation to working time for older workers and allowances for unsocial hours. [Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)->http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/nieuws/nieuws/ultimatum
Extension of collective agreement for emergency services
The collective agreement covering the Red Cross has been extended to cover all emergency service and ambulance workers. The decision has been welcomed by the GPA-DJP and VIDA trade unions that have been campaigning for over two years against wage dumping the sector. The next target for the unions is to negotiate a single pay structure for whole of the country as the Red Cross agreement currently has different pay levels for different regions. Read more at > VIDA (DE)
Unions defend collective agreement at Vehicle Inspectorate
The Pardia public services union reports that strike action by unions at the Vehicle Inspectorate has prevent the employer from imposing a new collective agreement on workers. The aim of the employer had been to unilaterally imposed the Finnish Central Organisation for Motor Trades agreement which would have meant a deterioration of employment conditions for Vehicle Inspectorate workers. The industrial action has meant the unions have been able to maintain the company-specific collective agreement. Read more at > Pardia (EN)
Unions achieve petition target
The union movement has been successful in reaching the required target of signatures to demand a referendum on changes to the Labour Code proposed by the government. The government had initially aimed to implement the changes without going through a proper process of negotiation and this would have lead to an undermining of collective agreements. The unions are now in a position where they can try to get the government around the negotiating table or insist on their right to proceed with the referendum. [Read more at > SETimes news website (EN)->http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en
Federation looks to lower level bargaining on pay
The FPS-CISL public services federation has attacked the government’s plans for a three-year pay freeze for public sector workers. However, the union also believes that lower level bargaining offers an opportunity to negotiate productivity improvements and pay increases for workers. It wants the government to reiterate its support for decentralized bargaining, to confirm that funds for local bargaining will be maintained and that there will be union involvement in negotiating restructuring at local level. [Read more at > FPS-CISL (IT)->http://www.fps.cisl.it/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads
Review reveals initial impact of crisis on industrial relations
The EIRO industrial relations observatory has published its annual review of industrial relations covering 2009. The report covers political developments, new of key collective bargaining trends at national cross-sectoral and sectoral level as well as focusing on specific issues such as working time (increase of short-time working), work-life balance, changes in employment legislation and the impact of the crisis. The study also includes analysis of developments at EU level and updates on the organization of trade unions and employers across Europe. [Read more at > EIRO (EN)->http://www
Union agrees two-year deals with KFS employer association
The Kommunal municipal union has signed 10 two-year agreements with the KFS employers’ organization. KFS brings together 600 companies with around 35,000 employees providing a range of municipal services – consulting, museums, health and education, for example. Around 80% of the KFS member companies are owned by local authorities while the rest are partially or wholly privately owned. Kommunal believes the agreements are in line with the overall settlement in the municipal sector. They provide for percentage increases of 1.1%-1.5% in 2010 rising to 2.2% to 2.6% in 2011. Some agreements express
Union to consult with branches over further action
The CPSU civil service has suspended in industrial action while it consults with branches during July, with the possibility of balloting over action again in September. A majority within the union voted to reject the “Croke Park” agreement – the national agreement that has since been supported by the public service committee in the ICTU confederation. The CPSU executive committee had recommended rejection on the basis that the deal didn’t do enough to protect low paid workers. Read more at > CPSU (EN)
Unions walk out of government talks on pay
The eight union organizations in the public sector (CGT, CFDT, FO, CFTC, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires and CGC) twice walked out of meeting with the government at the end of June. On 25 June they ended the meeting when the government failed to make any response to their demands that action was needed to address the 9% loss of purchasing power since 2000. On 30 June they walked out demanding that the government open proper negotiations after being told that the 2010 pay increase would be 0.5% as set unilaterally by the government in 2008, followed by a pay freeze for 2011-2013. [Read more at > CGT
Trade union members back pension age agreement
A ballot of members of the FNV trade union confederation produced a large majority in favour of an agreement in principle with AOW employers’ organization over changes to pension ages. The agreement is against the background of government plans to increase retirement ages. The deal with the AOW allows for an increase in pension age from 65 to 66 2020 but there is flexibility to allow people to retire earlier on a lower pension. Read more at > FNV (NL)
Ministers claim there is no equal pay problem
The FOA public services union has criticized the labour and equality ministers for claiming that equal pay legislation does not need to be changed as men and women doing the same job and with the same training get the same pay. FOA points out that this narrow view of equal pay was left behind in the 1980s and the government-appointed wages commission that reported earlier this year has confirmed that on average men are paid 18% more than women. The union believes legislation needs to be revised as it is not clear enough on the question of equal value. [Read more at > FOA (DK)->http://www.foa