The collective bargaining in the tourism sector has led to a collective agreement with important improvements for the low-paid workers in the sector. It is estimated that around 50% of all workers in the sector (total workforce 220,000 workers) will profit from the increase of the minimum wage to 1500 euro. Moreover, also the apprentices’ fees will improve by 2.9%. The pay deal will come into effect on 1 May 2018.
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[close]Gothenburg’s City Council voted in 2015 to run an 18-month experiment at its Svartedalen elderly care home. The staff would shift from a standard eight-hour working day to just six hours a day with no pay cut. Amidst growing media attention, the question was whether it was possible to cut down on the amount of work hours and yet stay productive. The pilot did manage to stay within budget. However, the biggest achievement of the pilot goes beyond its positive, practical impact. The ensuing public debate about the validity of the standard workday seems to be the true success. The final findings will be published in August, but the results yield the potential for a radical shift in the way the work organisation is conceived.
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[close]The federal civil servants have organised a strike that affected federal public services, social security and scientific bodies, prisons and detention centres. The trade unions called for the strike because they are unhappy with the reforms being introduced by the minister for the civil service. The government plans to reduce the size of the workforce with jobs for life. Instead, the government wants to introduce temporary staff and to reduce the facilities of the workers on a direct labour contract.
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[close]A dispute on job security and pay improvements has led to a strike at Lidl supermarkets. Trade unions representing workers of the German supermarket chain said that the aim of striking workers is to increase job security while also calling for a wage hike. Unions also claim that many permanent workers currently only work half shifts, earning half a salary in the process. Lidl has responded to the claims, saying they paid out five million euros to workers in benefits in 2017.
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[close]More than 100 Lidl shops are on strike since 27 April 2018. In the process of ongoing negotiations over understaffing and work pressure, the unions were offered an upward-revised proposal but ‘on a take it or leave it’ basis. The proposal was four times lower than their demands. Two of the three involved unions considered to accept the offer while affiliates of trade union confederation ABVV/FBTB rejected it. The strike was later on expanded to all distribution centres across the country.
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[close]A trade union report on wage bargaining in 2017 reveals that computer specialists receive about five and a half times the average salary for hotel and restaurant workers. The report was made by trade union CITUB. The average salary in 2017 increased by about 12% or 115 leva and reached 1060 leva (542 euro). The union stated that the low salary of the employed in the tourism sector meant, against the backdrop of the sector’s growth in 2017, either a payment under the table or an improper allocation of the financial resources. According to CITUB, this summer there will be no serious increase in the number of employees in tourism. According to Eurostat figures, the hourly labour costs in 2017 were with 4.9 euro an hour the lowest in the EU. With 12% the country had the second-highest increase among non-euro zone countries.
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[close]Trade union FIOM, FIM and UILM have occupied the Termini Imerese town hall. The occupation is part of a protest against the failure of the Blutec company to meet union demands. The unions refer to guarantees of the national government related to an agreement between the national agency to attract investment Invitalia and Blutec. It was agreed that public funding would be used to get the former FIAT plant back to production.
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[close]Trade unions at the country’s state-owned airline LOT announced that workers are planning to go on an indefinite strike from 1 May. The action could lead to delays at Warsaw Chopin airport. The strike decision came after more than three years of negotiations with the airline over pay. LOT management states that the strike, if it goes ahead, would be illegal as it is not supported by all six labour unions that have negotiated with LOT. The Warsaw regional court issued a provisional ‘ban on strike action pending a final ruling’.
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[close]Workers at the F-35 assembly line at Cameri Air Baese have cancelled a planned strike to protest the widespread use of employment agency contractors at the site and the lack of job security. The unions said 600 staff are working on agency contracts, while only 270 are employed directly by the defence firm Leonardo, which runs the site. The planned strike was cancelled following guarantees that more of the workers will be given staff contracts.
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[close]Railway workers went on strike in reaction to plans to reform the rail system and cut rail workers special employment rights. One of the fears expressed by the unions is that the rail system will be privatised (see our January and March newsletter). Railway staff have walked out two days out of five since the start of the strikes in the beginning of April. The government has claimed to push through the reform plans ‘to the very end’. A poll suggests that the majority of public back plans to reform debt-ridden state rail operator and public support for the strike seems to be relatively modest.
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