Israel, Hungary

EPSU and the ETUC have written to prime minister Viktor Orbán to protest about draft legislation that undermines the right of public sector trade unions to collect union membership dues by check-off. The draft law is about reducing the administrative burdens of the state but will clearly pose major problems for trade unions and increase their own administration as they take on the task to collect fees. The public sector confederation SZEF along with the four other national confederations are supported by the ETUC and EPSU in calling for the proposals to be withdrawn and for negotiations to

A general strike organised by the Histradut confederation was a key part of the national mobilisation against the government coalition’s plans to weaken the role of the Supreme Court. As a result the government, which includes parties of the far right, said the proposals that would prevent the Court from ruling on legislation and allow the government to appoint judges, would be put on hold.

After seven years with no update to the main public sector framework agreement the Histradut trade union organisation reports that negotiations have delivered a salary increase of 11% over the next four years up to April 2027 along with a lump sum of NIS 6,000 (€1575) designed to help cope with the cost of living. Workers will get a two-hour cut in working week from 42 to 41 hours in June 2023 and from 41 to 40 hours in January 2025. There will also be special salary adjustments for a range of occupations, particularly in health and social care. Meanwhile, the union has negotiated an agreement

The UCAPSE trade union has made a significant breakthrough by negotiating the first collective agreement covering 500 employees at Nefromor a subsidiary of the Fresenius Medical Care multinational. UCAPSE managed to organise workers in 2018 and has since been involved in long and complex negotiations to achieve a collective agreement which now covers pay, minimum wages, working time, education funds, pensions and shift allowances. There are backdated pay increases of 3.25% for 2021 and 3% for 2022. The hourly rate for the lowest paid will rise to around €8.40 (legal minimum wage is €7.73). The

The Davar news website reports that last month the Regional Labour Court ordered Tel Aviv University to pay 150,000 shekels (€42,500) to the research laboratory workers’ union in compensation for obstructing its efforts to unionize. The Court said the university tried to fire the chair of the union and dock the salary of another union member. It ordered the university to rescind the dismissal of the union chair, Dr Moti Ronen, and bring him back to work under the same contractual agreements that preceded his dismissal. The university is also required to pay back in full the salary it docked

The Hungarian government has issued two decrees removing the right to strike from air traffic control staff. An appeal court judgement of 20 July clearly confirmed the union’s legal right to strike. However, six days later the two decrees were published which not only dismiss the decision of the Hungarian Appeal Court but also violate Article 28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) has condemned the Hungarian government and strongly maintains that collective representation and collective bargaining are basic labour rights

The five national trade union confederations sent a solidarity message to the MESZK chamber of healthcare professionals in support of its protest march in Budapest on 31 July. The demonstrators called for pay increases for nurses in line with those already awarded to doctors and argued this was crucial to help stem the migration of nurses to western Europe. Earlier this year the five confederations also came together to file a complaint with the International Labour Organisation over the government’s imposition of new legislation which removes the rights to negotiate and take strike action