Portugal, Europe

The SINTAP trade union has reached an agreement with Águas de Portugal water company that applies to the union’s members and delivers a 3% increase, with a minimum of €53, an increase in the food allowance to €7.60, as well as establishing an entry salary in the company of €905. Workers with more than 10 years’ service get further improvements. Meanwhile, the STAL trade union has been active in the waste sector where it has been involved in protest and industrial action to secure better pay and conditions for workers in the FCC and Resinorte companies. At FCC the demand is for a 15% pay

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has highlighted that the combination of inflation and pay trends means that the living standards of European workers have still not recovered from the cost-of-living crisis. Data from the European Trade Union Institute’s Benchmarking Working Europe 2024 shows that pay, after inflation is taken into account, fell by 0.7% in 2023. Workers in Hungary (-3.8%), Czechia (-3.8%), and Italy (-2.6%) faced the biggest falls in purchasing power last year. Germany (-0.9%) and France (-0.6%) were also among the 10 member states where wages failed to catch up

New research from the European Trade Union Institute looks at the role that institutional and economic factors play in shaping wage floors and protecting workers at the low end of the wage distribution. Using data for the period 2007 to 2021, it shows that wage inequality has on average declined across the EU, primarily due to convergence between countries. In line with expectations, strong institutional support, such as statutory minimum wages with greater bite and a higher collective bargaining coverage rate, are associated with lower inequality and a better position for vulnerable workers

In its latest briefing on the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) finds that the legislation is already having an impact even before it is fully transposed in all member states. According to the ETUI, the Directive’s double decency threshold for adequate minimum wages of 60% of the gross median wage and 50% of the gross average wage has already influenced developments at national level. The briefing cites examples from Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Netherlands where the double threshold or at least one element of it is being taken

Labour movement lobbying helped secure a platform work directive that should provide new rights for millions of workers across Europe. The ETUC and EPSU welcomed the outcome of lengthy negotiations and in particular the inclusion of the presumption of employment in the legislation. This means that Instead of individuals going through lengthy court action to prove they are workers, it will be up to the platforms to prove they are not employees. The directive also recognises the role of trade unions in all aspects of the platform economy, including on issues such as algorithm management. Workers

The SINTAP trade union has negotiated a new collective agreement with Private Institutions of Social Solidarity (IPSS) which provide care services to children and the elderly among others. The agreement includes a pay increase which works out around 3.75% on average. There is also a service-related increase of €21.00, for every five years of service, up to a limit of six seniority periods. SINTAP sees this as a very positive outcome but is committed to continue to work to secure IPSS workers the same salary and career development conditions as those in public administration.

The SINTAP and STAL trade unions have called for a wide range of improvements to the pay and conditions of both public sector and voluntary firefighters. SINTAP members joined a lobby of the government on 1 February and set out their demands, including updating of various allowances covering risk, hardship and permanent availability; revision of the Staff Statute of Professional Firefighters of Local Administration; updating pay scales – (not done since 2002, with exception of the annual increases resulting from the State Budget); and revision of retirement age. Meanwhile, STAL has been making

The European Union’s industrial relations research body, Eurofound, has published a report analysing hundreds of collective agreements across 24 low-paying sectors to try to determine the role of collectively-bargained minimum wage rates in protecting the low paid. The 24 sectors include residential and non-residential social care. The analysis of all the sectors found that agreements in central and eastern European Member States refer relatively frequently and explicitly to statutory minimum wages as the minimum payable rates, rather than including higher collectively agreed rates. The report

The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) has published research covering all EU member states which warns of the impact of computerised systems on work. Potential negative effects include more unpredictable, hectic and intense work rhythms, the encroachment of paid work beyond its boundaries, longer working hours and a poorer work-life balance. The report also explores the differences in terms of job demands and resources between digitalised and non-digitalised work environments in similar jobs. The ETUI says that while the digital revolution tends to be associated with various positive

A policy brief published by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) looks at the role of collective bargaining in providing protection for the low-paid and the important role of government in setting a framework that protects and promotes collective bargaining. The authors found that over time, statutory minimum wages have become increasingly important, while state support for collective bargaining has declined. This is despite the fact that the report finds that state support for collective bargaining appears most successful in containing low-wage employment. The policy brief highlights

EPSU has commissioned the UK-based Labour Research Department to produce a series of articles analysing recent examples of working time reduction. The first article looks at Austria where public service unions in both private and public sectors have taken action to cut weekly working time, particularly in the large private sector agreement covering health and social care workers. The next article, to be published in February, will provide an update on the situation in Iceland and in March the focus will be on other Nordic countries. IndustriAll Europe has also produced a series of briefings

The ETUCLEX newsletter, produced by the ETUC’s legal team, provides a regular update on key legal developments across Europe and in the latest issue includes reports on the right to strike. In a long-running case involving the right to strike of civil servants in Germany, the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that disciplinary action taken against teachers who took industrial action in 2009 and 2010 did not involve a breach of their human right to freedom of association. The Court found that the particular circumstances of civil servants in Germany in relation to their pay and

An analysis of data working time from the Eurofound research agency by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows how collective bargaining can deliver a better work-life balance. Workers in countries with the highest levels of collective bargaining coverage enjoy up to a month more leisure time each year – without loss of pay – than those where coverage is lower. In countries where nine in 10 workers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the average working time is 1,674 hours a year (excluding overtime). In contrast, in countries where only one in 10 workers are covered

Members of the STAL local government union are mobilising for a busy end to the year with a series of actions to push for improved pay and conditions. In Coimbra there is a long-running strike related to special payments for workers in municipal swimming pools while transport workers are demanding decent facilities for drivers and are on strike on 14-15 December. Municipal workers in Almada will mobilise on 21 December over pay and the cost of living while waste workers take action on 22, 23 and 26 December in Oeiras against unilateral changes to shifts and working time. Finally, workers at