• About EIRO
• Annual reports
• Comparative information
• EU level developments
• Representativeness studies
• Survey Reports
• Browse by:
  • Country
  • Date
  • Sector
  • Subject
• Industrial relations links

October 2009

• 26 Oct 2009
  Czech Republic: Threat of strike by public transport workers averted

  The Prague Public Transit Company Inc. has been in financial difficulty since early 2009. The company and trade unions blame Prague City Hall for this, as it provided the company with less funds for common operations than in 2008. In June 2009, the trade unions issued a joint statement threatening strike action if Prague City Hall did not address the company’s troubled financial situation. Although this ultimatum ended in August, the strike alert continues.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Latvia: Healthcare sector hit by recessionary cutbacks

  One of the sectors particularly affected by budgetary cutbacks arising from the economic recession is Latvia’s healthcare sector. As well as a reduction in funding, the sector is also undergoing significant reorganisation, with large-scale job losses, reduced services and the merging of institutions. While the government believes that its cuts are justified, experts have accused the state of incompetence and of adopting a linear spending cuts policy.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Sweden: Proposed law to protect personal privacy at work

  The Swedish government has made a new legislative proposal on the protection of personal privacy in working life, with the help of a special commission set up to evaluate the current legislation. The proposal sets out mainly five stricter regulations on surveillance or control measures used by employers. The trade unions have in general reacted positively to the proposal, but the employer organisations are very critical of the content of the proposal.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Latvia: Trade union protests against education cuts and reforms

  In Latvia, the process of reducing the state budget deficit in 2009 concerns the education sector as part of the public sector. Figures from the budget expenditure show that spending on education in 2009 has been cut by 25% compared with 2008. The decrease in spending necessitates essential structural reforms in the education sector, including the implementation of another financing model, a cut in teachers’ wages and the closing of schools.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Czech Republic: Debate over regulating flexible forms of employment

  According to the Czech news server iHNed, employers tend to abuse flexible forms of employment more frequently during times of economic recession. If an employee working on an employment contract is dismissed, the employer can rehire the worker on the basis of an agreement for performance of a work assignment. However, based on this agreement, neither the employer nor the employee is required to give back social and health insurance contributions.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Denmark: Increase in industrial holiday shutdowns due to recession

  The Danish-based multinational wind turbine blade manufacturer, Vestas, closed for three weeks during the summer of 2009. A survey by the Danish Federation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises shows that many of the federation’s member companies have closed for holidays in 2009. The industrial holiday was thought to be a relic from a distant past, but has been resurrected by companies as a means to deal with the current economic recession.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Italy: Unions and retailers sign pact in retail and services sectors

  In 2008, the national collective agreement concluded for the retail and services sectors led to a split among the main trade unions in the sector, so that a separate accord was signed. In July 2009, the three main sectoral trade unions reached agreement with the General Confederation of Trade, Tourism, Services and SMEs on a ‘Pact for work in the retail and services sectors’, which will become an integral part of the sectoral collective agreement currently in force.

• 26 Oct 2009
  Spain: Green light for new unemployment protection measure

  In September 2009, the Spanish parliament approved a new €420 monthly unemployment payment, to be granted to people whose unemployment benefit has ceased since 1 January 2009. The measure has secured the support of almost all political parties and the trade unions, although the Popular Party referred to it as a palliative measure that will not help to boost employment.

• 22 Oct 2009
  United Kingdom: Factory ‘sit-in’ over loss of green jobs comes to end

  On 7 August 2009, a factory sit-in at the wind turbine blade manufacturer Vestas on the Isle of Wight came to an end after 19 days. The sit-in was in protest at Vestas’ plans to close the site and other nearby operations with the loss of 625 jobs. The high-profile campaign was supported by trade unions and environmental groups who called on the government to intervene to save the factory.

• 14 Oct 2009
  Denmark: Strike action and work stoppages in 2008

  Conflicts in connection with collective bargaining for public sector employees in the Danish municipalities and regions resulted in some 1,837,600 lost working days in 2008. All other work stoppages resulted in about 31,400 lost working days. The pattern of the last decade – that mainly single strikes dominate the statistics – was thus confirmed. Figures on unofficial strikes alone showed a significant decline in tendency, largely due to the global economic crisis.

• 14 Oct 2009
  United Kingdom: Social partners seek action on youth unemployment

  In August 2009, the UK government published figures showing that the number of 18–24-year-olds in the UK not in education, employment or training rose steeply in the second quarter of 2009. Both the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry have called on the government to fund extra youth apprenticeships to help tackle the problem, while the employer body has developed a five-point plan to tackle youth unemployment.

• 14 Oct 2009
  Ireland: New figures confirm pay trends in private sector

  Latest figures on earnings and labour costs from the Central Statistics Office show that average earnings in the private sector are not falling as fast as some media reports have suggested. However, a major survey of wage settlements by the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation demonstrates that pay freezes predominate across economic sectors as competitiveness gradually improves.

• 14 Oct 2009
  Finland: Technology sector agreement first in new bargaining round

  The first new collective agreement in Finland’s latest bargaining round has been negotiated in the technology industry. The three-year agreement between the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries and the Metalworkers’ Union takes effect in October 2009, covering about 125,000 employees. The social partners have widely welcomed the agreement, which provides for a moderate pay increase, viewing it as a successful opening in a difficult bargaining round.

• 14 Oct 2009
  Czech Republic: Reduced working week may stem unemployment growth

  In an attempt to reduce unemployment, the Czech state is preparing an option for companies to introduce, under certain circumstances, a four-day working week. A working group, comprising representatives of the ministries of labour and finance, trade unions and employers, proposes that staff on compulsory leave should receive 60% of their salary from the employer and 20% from the state. This strategy would be cheaper than paying unemployment benefits.

• 07 Oct 2009
  Germany: New data on bargaining coverage and works councils in 2007

  In 2008, the Institute for Employment Research published new data on bargaining coverage and works councils based on a representative sample of German establishments. In 2007, 39% of establishments in western Germany and 24% in eastern Germany were covered by a collective agreement, revealing a decline in bargaining coverage in the west and a slight increase in the east. Overall, 10% of establishments had a works council, while 8% had other forms of employee representation.

• 05 Oct 2009
  EU Level: European framework agreement on professional development signed at Thales

  In June 2009, the Thales Group and European Metalworkers’ Federation signed an agreement seeking to improve the professional development of the group’s European employees. The European framework agreement is expected to strengthen the employability of employees within the Thales Group through the implementation of an annual anticipation process linked to future employment prospects. Employee representatives are expected to be closely involved in the anticipation process.

• 05 Oct 2009
  United Kingdom: Trade unions mobilise against pay and pension cuts

  In August 2009, a strike took place at aircraft refuelling company ASIG, and trade union members voted to support industrial action at the information technology company Fujitsu in response to its policies of pay freezes and pension cuts. Meanwhile, statistics revealed that the value of median pay settlements in the UK had dropped to just 1%. These developments pose questions about trade unions’ response to pay and pension cuts in the face of economic recession.

• 05 Oct 2009
  United Kingdom: 48-hour limit on junior doctors’ weekly working hours takes effect

  From August 2009, as a result of regulations reflecting the requirements of the EU Working Time Directive, trainee doctors are now covered by the statutory 48-hour limit on average weekly working hours. Some doctor organisations have expressed concern that the National Health Service is ill-prepared for the change. They argue that, without adequate preparation, reduced working hours could adversely affect training for junior doctors and patient care.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Lithuania: Membership of National tripartite council boosted

  The Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania, the main national-level social dialogue institution in the country, was established in 1995. By decision of the social partners, the number of its members has increased from 15 to 21 persons in 2009 by including new representatives of employer and employee organisations and of ministries. This expansion is expected to strengthen the council and add more competencies in making decisions on social and economic issues.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Hungary: Government amends labour legislation in bid to tackle economic crisis

  In an attempt to alleviate the effects of the economic crisis, the Hungarian government amended several laws in favour of employers as of 1 June 2009. The legal modifications affected the Labour Code with respect to several working time related issues, as well as the laws stipulating the rules of exclusion for law-breaking employers from state subsidies and public procurement. From the outset, the trade unions strongly opposed the draft versions of the legal amendments.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Romania: One-day strike in public sector over new pay bill

  After about six months of negotiations, on 15 September 2009, the Romanian government forwarded to the parliament the draft framework on public employees’ unitary pay law. The reforms triggered discontent among staff in education, health and public administration. A total of 11 trade union federation representatives in the public sector have set up an alliance and threatened a series of protests, culminating in a one-day general strike on 5 October 2009.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Belgium: Milk producers take strike action against low prices

  In recent months, Belgian milk producers have organised several strike initiatives in protest against the very low price of milk. Farmer federations are denouncing the EU deregulation policies, as well as the low prices imposed by retailers which have obliged producers to sell their products at a loss. An agreement reached by Flemish farmer representatives seeks to help producers in the short term; however, the agreement has been rejected by Walloon farmer organisations.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Sweden: Social partners debate wage bargaining model

  The pre-negotiations for the next bargaining round in 2010 have already begun between the social partners in the summer of 2009. However, the parties have not only discussed the prospects for wage increases in 2010, they have also debated whether there is a need for reforming the Swedish wage formation system. The Swedish Trade Union Confederation proposes looking at economic sectors other than manufacturing in terms of setting the trend for wage formation in the future.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Bulgaria: Impact of economic crisis on social partners and social dialogue

  Bulgaria’s industrial relations have been negatively affected by the economic crisis due to a number of problems regarding its economic structures. Among them are the large debts being faced by some companies, along with incomplete restructuring in certain sectors of activity, as well as the country’s significant dependency on external resources for economic growth. Up until now, governments have failed to involve the social partners effectively in developing anti-crisis measures.

• 05 Oct 2009
  Germany: High costs of short-time working for companies

  Estimates by the Institute for Employment Research show that the residual costs to be borne by companies adopting short-time working amount to 24%–35% of regular labour costs. These residual costs may increase if a collective agreement provides for a supplement to the allowance. The adoption of short-time working has so far had a favourable impact on the unemployment rate, but it may come to an end unless the volume of orders recovers in the coming months.