Mediation breaks down in civil service pensions dispute
Published: 27 July 1998
In July 1998, the mediator in Luxembourg' civil service pensions dispute acknowledged that it was impossible to reconcile the parties, and thus presented them with two proposals for their consideration.
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In July 1998, the mediator in Luxembourg' civil service pensions dispute acknowledged that it was impossible to reconcile the parties, and thus presented them with two proposals for their consideration.
The long-running dispute over the Government's proposal to reform the civil service pension scheme (LU9706111F) continues. Following the breakdown of talks in January 1998 (LU9802146N), the largest public sector union, the General Public Sector Confederation (Confédération Générale de la Fonction Publique, CGFP), triggered a dispute procedure which began with conciliation. A series of meetings were held between the the public sector negotaiting parties and a conciliator, culminating in the latter submitting a proposal to the former in May 1998. However, the proposal was rejected by the trade unions, triggering the next stage of the dispute procedure - mediation conducted by the President of the Council of State (Conseil d'Etat) (LU9806164F).
The mediator held frequent talks with representatives of the Government and the CGFP between 11 June and 1 July 1998. Following the final meeting, the mediator made a number of statements of principle, notably stating that demographic change was inevitably going to necessitate a limitation of the budgetary costs of civil service pensions.
Acknowledging that it was impossible to bring the parties together, the mediator developed two ideas for the parties' perusal:
that they should consider what the "civil service" means - it is a broadly defined concept in Luxembourg, and a reduction in its size would have a beneficial effect on the public purse; and
that they should consider the possibility of introducing a complementary pension for civil servants to compensate for future loss of earnings.
Following these statements, the minister responsible for the civil service announced that the Government considered the mediation procedure to be finished, while the CGFP asked the mediator for a further interview in the immediate future in order to deliver its views on the proposals.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), Mediation breaks down in civil service pensions dispute, article.
