The latest wage report from the LO confederation concludes that a co-ordination of policies by its affiliates has delivered higher pay increases for women workers and a closing of the gender pay gap. However, on average among blue-collar workers men still earn SEK 2,900 (Euro 285) per month more than women. The report also notes that the average pay of blue-collar workers has increased at a much lower rate than that of white-collar workers over the last 10 years, which means that the gap between the two has risen from 36% to 44%.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327; http://www.lo.se/home/lo/home.nsf/unidView/405482775AE41F4DC125764D0062FFD9
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A number of unions affiliated to the TCO white-collar confederation have joined in a campaign as to highlight the benefits to workers of collective agreements. The unions believe that, while many young people understand the need for strong trade unions, they are not fully aware of the role unions play in delivering collective agreements that provide decent pay and pensions as well as other benefits like good maternity leave. The unions are running information campaigns on their websites as well as in the press and on TV.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Swedish: https://www.sktf.se/Templates/Page____32864.aspx
Workers at the Lucy power station in the Bourgogne region began strike action on 21 October in protest at company plans for the closure of a part of the site and further restructuring. The coal-fired plant is owned by the SNET company which was recently taken over by German energy multinational EON. The FNME-CGT union argues that the company has failed to abide by agreements about maintaining the site, has plans for further jobs cuts after closing one part of the site in 2013, and has failed to negotiate a proper mobility agreement.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
French: http://www.cgtsnet.fr/news.html
The three main unions in the National Grid energy company - Unite, UNISON and GMB - have conceded that the planned closure of the company's Newcastle site will go ahead in 2010 with many of the jobs being moved to India. The unions ran a joint campaign focusing on the massive profits being made by the company but they are now shifting their focus to negotiating the best severance packages for their members (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 July-August 2009).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327; http://www.gmb.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=99169
Over 2,000 unionists from all over the country, mostly from the Solidarity union, and workers from the H. Cegielski plant in Poznan demonstrated in defense of the workplace and to demand higher severance pay for sacked workers. Cegielski, a manufacturer of heavy metal products, went into trouble not least due to the demise of the shipyard industry in Poland. Solidarity and OPPZ, the largest unions involved, agreed in September to group dismissals of 497 workers, and are actually demonstrating for better severance packages as well as in defense of the remaining jobs at the factory.
English: http://pracownik.net.pl/demonstration_in_defense_of_cegielski_workers
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Poland
The waste contractor HCS has sacked 50 refuse collectors after losing a number of its municipal contracts in the Copenhagen area. The workers had been on strike for three weeks over their working conditions. Despite being sacked they have been continuing their action against the company, picketing the HCS waste disposal units in Glostrup and on the island of Amager. Union activist Ronni Larsen was arrested on one of the latest demonstrations. The refuse collectors had discovered that they were working under much worse conditions than employees working on other contracts in the area. The Health and Safety Executive and the 3F trade union had taken hundreds of cases against the company.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Danish: http://forsiden.3f.dk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027 .
The Fagforbundet municipal union is calling for public sector unions to co-ordinate their pay claims next year with special negotiations over how to deal with pay inequality. Average pay in the public sector, where 70% of workers are women, is lower than in the private sector where 70% of the workers are men. The specially convened pay commission argued that around 3 billion kronor (Euro 360 million) will be needed to close the gender pay gap. Fagforbundet wants to see the unions get together following the main public sector negotiations next spring to work out how to deal with the issue. The union refers to the successful co-ordination over pensions early this year that stopped government plans to reduce pension benefits.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Norwegian: http://www.fagforbundet.no/forsida/?article_id=44092
The state sector union Pardia interrupted its general assembly meeting on 21 October to protest outside parliament over planned government budget cuts, which the union believes may lead to temporary lay-offs and job losses. Pardia is concerned about the implications of the cuts for the development of the state sector and the quality of services. In a survey of members, the union found nearly one in three members perceives that their job is under threat.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327; http://www.pardia.fi/in_english/?x126=1133193
The three main unions - affiliated to the CGIL, CISL and UIL confederations- have called for strike action in the waste sector on 20 November in response to government plans for the sector. These will lead to privatisation or some form of public private partnership with at least a 40% share going to the private sector. The implications are that there will be very few services that will continue to be run by in-house providers. Apart from the likely impact on pay and conditions, the unions are worried about the effect of the reforms on environmental policies and the quality of service.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Italian: http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/11897
Workers in the waste collection service in the city of Leyden took strike action on 21 October in protest at municipal plans to privatise this service. The workers are hoping that privatisation will be postponed and that the union will be able to negotiate changes and improvements to the service. Further strikes may follow if the municipality goes ahead with privatisation.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/327;
Dutch: http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/cao/bericht/vuilnismannen_in_leiden_staken/