Karnite, Raita
Threatened strike action at Latvian post averted
30 Septembris 2007
On 25 July 2007, newspapers in Latvia broke the news that postal workers are
preparing to take strike action in demand of a doubling of their salary
levels.
Low salaries lead to illegal payments in healthcare sector
16 Septembris 2007
At the end of May and beginning of June 2007, extensive public debate took
place regarding the issue of illegal payments in the healthcare sector. The
discussion was triggered by media reports that the new President of Latvia,
Valdis Zatlers, who previously worked as a director and doctor at a state
hospital, had received ‘thank-you payments’ from his patients.
Social partners agree on minimum wage increase
02 Septembris 2007
On 20 June 2007, at the meeting of the National Tripartite Cooperation
Council (Nacionālās trīspusējās sadarbības padome, NTSP [1]), the
social partners agreed on the regular increase of salary standards. The
social partners with equal representation at the NTSP included the
government, the Latvian Employers’ Confederation (Latvijas Darba Devēju
konfederācija, LDDK [2]), the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia
(Latvijas Brīvo Arodbiedrību savienība, LBAS [3]) and the Latvian
Association of Local and Regional Governments (Latvijas Pašvaldību
savienība, LPS [4]).
[1] http://www.mk.gov.lv/lv/mp/vaditas-padomes/ntsp/
[2] http://www.lddk.lv/index.php?lang=2
[3] http://www.lbas.lv
[4] http://www.lps.lv/jaunumi.php?lang=en
New strategy to improve health and safety at work
22 Jūlijs 2007
The State Labour Inspectorate (Valsts Darba Inspekcija, VDI [1]), which is
the state supervisory and control institution responsible for labour
protection in Latvia, reports that despite a developed legislative basis,
labour protection rules are at best formally implemented. With increasing
economic activity, the number of workers who have had accidents in the
workplace, and the number of deaths arising from workplace accidents, have
increased over the past few years. This worsening situation has forced the
government to seek improvements in the current occupational health and safety
strategy.
[1] http://www.vdi.lv/
Private security company workers demand wage increase
15 Jūlijs 2007
The security company Falck Apsargs is a subsidiary of the worldwide Group 4
Securicor (G4S [1]) and one of the leading companies in the Latvian security
industry. G4S was established on 20 July 2004, following the merger of Group
4 Falck and Securicor. Established in Denmark in 1906, Falck is the oldest
G4S company. In the Baltic states, G4S operates under the name Falck Baltics
and includes three companies: Falck Eesti [2] in Estonia, Falck Security [3]
in Lithuania and Falck Apsargs [4] in Latvia.
[1] http://www.g4s.com/
[2] http://www.falck.ee/
[3] http://www.falck.lt/index.php?language=en
[4] http://www.falck.lv/
Capacity building for social dialogue at sectoral and company level - Latvia
01 Jūlijs 2007
The project on Social Dialogue Capacity Building at sectoral and company levels is a follow-up of a similar project held at a national level in 2005. The methodology used included carrying out interviews with members of the nationally recognised representative organisations of employers and employees in the eligible countries – Latvia in this case - and collecting their views of the capacity of their members' organisations. The report reflect their views for the sectoral/branch- and enterprise-level developments.
Teachers threaten strike action over announced salary freeze
17 Jūnijs 2007
In 2005, the government and the Education and Science Workers’ Trade Union
(Latvijas Izglītības un zinātnes darbinieku arodbiedrība, LIZDA [1])
agreed on the scheme of salary increases for employees in the education
sector (LV0409102F [2], LV0512103F [3], LV0408103F [4], *LV0609019I* [5]).
The agreement aimed to ensure that teachers’ salaries are no lower than the
average salary of public sector employees with similar qualifications. Up to
now, the government has only just complied with the agreed salary increase
schedule. Despite the teachers’ protests and threats of industrial action,
the government has continued trying to postpone or reduce the regular salary
increase. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that, in 2006, the
government considerably increased the salaries of a number of public-sector
employees, including university lecturers and scientists. This increased the
differentials between salaries and increased the average public sector salary
by more than had been planned in the scheme approved by the government and
teachers. Furthermore, the agreement had not taken into account the high
prevailing rate of inflation in Latvia: it stood at stood at 6.2% in 2004,
6.7% in 2005, 6.5% in 2006 and 7.8% in February 2007.
[1] http://www.lizda.lv/
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-rules-introduced-on-teachers-pay-and-qualifications
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/unions-call-for-renewed-social-dialogue
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/education-workers-pay-remains-controversial
[5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/education-and-science-workers-granted-pay-increase
Widespread protest at government plan to reduce inflation
17 Jūnijs 2007
On 6 March 2007, the Latvian government adopted an action plan in an effort
to reduce the country’s rate of inflation. The inflation reduction plan
stipulates that salaries of public-sector employees are not to be further
increased, except for representatives of specific professions (for which
agreements have already been signed). Prior to these measures, the government
had, by way of exception, increased salaries for a number of public-sector
employee categories. Some of these pay rises, for instance in the field of
culture, were the result of pre-election promises made by the winners of the
parliamentary election in 2006. Other salary increases, such as those for
employees in the police and fire services, are the result of extended
industrial action (LV0610029I [1]), where the trade unions played a
significant role in securing the pay increase. As a result, salary increases
across the public sector differ substantially between professions. This
situation has caused protests from the employees concerned.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-agreement-provides-wage-increase-for-police-employees
Teachers’ union pushes for higher wages
27 Maijs 2007
On 19 December 2006, Latvia’s parliament passed the ‘Amendments to the
education law’ as an urgent policy measure. The amendments annul the
previously stipulated provision of the law that the minimum full-time wage
for teachers with the lowest professional qualification level may not amount
to less than two minimum monthly wages.
Rise in minimum wage and tax-free threshold
27 Maijs 2007
On 17 November 2006, the Cabinet of Ministers (Latvijas Republikas Ministru
kabinets [1]) adopted Regulation No. 858, providing for the largest increase
in the minimum wage since 1990 (*LV0607029I* [2]). A number of months later,
on 1 January 2007, the minimum wage was increased by 33% from €128 to
€170 a month.
[1] http://www.mk.gov.lv/en/?lang=1
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-to-increase-tax-free-allowance