Philip Morris’ strategy to increase activities leading to more smokeless tobacco products will probably materialize in cutting 350 jobs in Neuchâtel and Lausanne. This prospect was published by a regional office of the Unia trade union after reading an internal email of Philip Morris. The job cuts will mainly affect the research and development unit.
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[close]The Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development published a report about economic trends in Slovenia including wages. According to this analysis, wage growth is higher in 2019 due to wage rises in the government sector. In the first ten months, year on year wage growth was 4,3% compared to 3,4% in the same period of the last year.
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[close]Call center workers in Portugal have intensified their strike, demanding an increase in wages and better working conditions. A strike notice was issued by the National Union of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Workers (SINTTAV), which is affiliated to the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Cgtp-in), for a business call center sector strike. The workers also demanded their total integration into the companies to which they provide services – including MEO, Vodafone, EDP, etc.
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[close]Analysis shows that the nominal wage is 10 times higher than 30 years ago under communism. Not only wages but also most prices rose significantly since 1989. The improvement in the standard of living can be measured by comparing the money spent on Christmas shopping. In 1989 this was four times an average wage, in 2019 only slightly over half the average wage. However, many people also become indebted around Christmas which poses a real problem across society.
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[close]Social partners have welcomed the renewal of collective agreements between two of Cyprus largest banks and staff unions. Working relations in the banking sector may be in for a bumpy ride as Hellenic Bank appears adamant on changing the way their employers are awarded for their achievements. Deals between bank employees’ main union ETYK with Bank of Cyprus and Astrobank have been perceived as positive following recent strikes at Hellenic Bank over the renewal of collective agreements.
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[close]In the third quarter of 2019, total hourly labour costs paid by employers in Bulgaria increased by 10% compared with the third quarter of 2018, according to early estimates published by the National Statistical Institute. A breakdown by economic activity shows that the highest rise in total hourly labour costs in the third quarter of 2019 compared with the third quarter of 2018 was recorded in the real estate sector (15%) and education (12.8%). In industry, total hourly labour costs grew by 8.3%, in services by 10.5%, and in construction by 10.1%.
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[close]Unions and management at Virgin Media Ireland have agreed to appoint an independent mediator in an attempt to resolve a dispute arising out of recent redundancies. Unite and Siptu have called off industrial action that was to go ahead in January over disagreements about the terms of a redundancy deal and union recognition.
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[close]The socialist trade union FGTB/ABVV has issued a call to take part in a nationwide demonstration on 28 January, 2020. The union fears that the social security budget will see a shortfall of €6.4 billion by 2024. The result will probably be a cut in pensions, health care and social benefits. Hence the necessity to protest and call for a policy change, the union declared. FGBT/ABVV also presented a ten-point plan to strengthen the social security safety net. The ten points will be the core of the announced demonstration
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[close]PAME Trade Union Front held militant demonstrations in Athens and many big cities of Greece against the Parliament vote of “the new ‘anti-workers’ state budget for 2020”. In the demonstrations the need to prepare for a new general strike and to strengthen solidarity with refugees and migrants was also stressed.
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[close]Despite rising employment in many western economies, poverty is not declining. A key finding of the 2019 report Social Justice in the EU and OECD, recently published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, is that being in work is no longer a guarantee of comfortable living standards. Social safety nets, eroded by the crisis, have not kept pace with changing employment structures.
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