Collective Bargaining

The country is facing a wave of industrial action over the holidays with about 50 strike warnings being issued by workers, most of them civil workers, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. The strikes are organised in a bid to press the government into implementing further reforms and wage increases. According to the workers and their unions the current economic growth and the country having one of the lowest wages in Europe makes these demands legitimate. SEF immigration and border workers and two large private airport security groups threatening action this festive period but also operating room nurses have announced more strike actions.

Read on: in English …

Trade unions brought together over 4000 protestors outside the headquarter of Vienna health insurance to protest new social insurance legislation. The Private Employees' Union (GPA) fears worse benefits for patients and increased work pressure on its employees due to the reform. Furthermore they state that the new legislation creates a three-class social insurance system that only benefits privately insured people and private insurance companies. The unions came with a united message to the government: they are prepared to fight for their healthcare system. More than 60 % of Austrians are reported to be against the social security reforms.

Read on: in English …

The government has proposed to increase the overall minimum wage from 580 euro a month to 600 euro a month. The salary for civil servants is to be increased from 580 euro a month to 635 euro a month. Employers’ organisations accepted the proposed increases of the minimum wage while trade union remain critical and demand higher wage increases. When the current government came to power in 2015, the minimum wage was 505 euro a month. The minimum wage has steadily risen over the last years but with 580 euro a month still is the lowest in western Europe.

Read on: in English …

The government has approved the minimum hourly wage to rise from 2.97 euro to 3.21 euro per hour. Starting in the new year, the minimum monthly salary will increase from 500 to 540 euro. According to Estonian Tax and Customs Board (MTA) data, a total of 25,500 full-time employees earned the minimum wage of €500 per month, accounting for 5.3% of all paid employees. Another 15,700 people, or 3% of full-time employees, earned €501-539 per month. The new minimum wage was agreed upon in an extended collective agreement concluded between the Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) Estonian Employers' Confederation (ETTK) last summer.

Read on: in English …

Government has announced to increase the minimum wage by 22% in what is the largest annual wage increase in more than 40 years. With this increase millions of low-paid workers could see their wages rise from 736 euro to 900 euro a month. The 22% increase of the minimum wage was agreed jointly with anti-austerity party Podemos. With this move the government hopes to get enough support for the 2019 budget to be adopted in parliament. The country increases the minimum wage annually, last year with 4%. Podemos claims the 22% wage increase as a victory.

Read on: in English …

Government announced that workers will get an extra day's holiday in 2019. The current minimum number of holiday days in the country is 25. In addition, the annual Europe Day on 9 May will be added to the list of public holidays.

Read on: in English …

Trade unions are continuing their joint actions against the federal government's policy with a week of action on 14 December. Even though this government itself is under discussion unions go on with their protests against the pension, end-of-career and wage plans of the government and employers. The week of action ended with a national day of action on which some workers, amongst whom the TEC buses, trams and metros worker in Liège and Charleroi and port workers in Ghent, went on strike. Besides the transport sector strikes also took place in the food sector, and the metal and textile sector. The increase in the retirement age is very sensitive to people who perform physically demanding work and many workers are willing to engage in industrial action to prevent the proposed pension reforms.

Read on: in English … in Dutch …

Last year the country has seen one of the lowest wage growths of Europe. Where labour costs in the Eurozone increased by an average 2.5% in Belgium they only increased with 1.2%. According to figures from the advice and audit bureau Deleoitte workers on the lowest salaries have seen their net earnings rise the most since the tax reforms that was implemented 3 years ago. A study released by the Catholic University of Leuven on Friday showed that despite the rise in fuel prices and other expenses purchasing power in Belgium has increased over the past few years.

Read on: in English … Read on: in English …

After two 24-hour strikes at branches of Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) coffee company in Joure and Utrecht on November workers won a 5.8% wage increase and agreed upon a new collective agreement. The 5.8% wage increase will be spread out over the course of two years and two months. Besides the wage increases the workers and their unions succeeded putting a stop to plans of the company management to create a two-tier wage system that would pay new workers substantially less than people that are already employed by the company.

Read on: in English …

OECD published a new job strategy report, the first one in 12 years. According to the report that is called “Good Jobs for All in a Changing World of Work” collective bargaining is the best way to deliver better quality work. The OECD states that the digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming the labour market and says that unions and employers have an important role to play and can work together in educating and training workforce to fit the demands of the changing labour market. Furthermore the OECD report recognises the important role that collective bargaining plays in both boosting productivity as tackling inequality. Collective bargaining is also linked with higher employment and lower unemployment, young people, women and low-skilled workers are also doing better under coordinated bargaining than under fully decentralised systems.

Read on: in English … The report: in English …