Trade unions representing workers in the Turkish metal sector, Türk Metal, Birleşik Metal-İş and Özçelik-İş, have secured a two-year, sector-wide collective agreement with the employers’ organisation MESS.

The CFDT, CFE-CGC and UNSA trade unions in France have agreed a sustainable mobility package with Paris-based multinational insurance company Axa, that will reimburse employees for coming to work by more climate-friendly means of transport.

Dear readers, Against the backdrop of post-Covid shortages of both skilled and unskilled workers around Europe – from Croatia to Sweden - trade unions and employers in many countries are taking steps to equip workers for digital and environmentally sustainable workplaces. In this edition of National Updates we look at some of these initiatives, as well as steps to ease labour market access for older and younger workers.

The French social partners have concluded a cross-industry agreement to upgrade vocational training schemes to meet the challenges of today’s labour market. The National Interprofessional Framework Agreement (ANI) aims to reform the law of 5 September 2018 which established the freedom to choose one's professional future.

A new, German ‘Alliance of Opportunities’ involving Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union IG BCE and some 26 companies employing 1 million workers aims to reskill staff to meet the challenges of digitalisation, climate change and demographic developments.

A new digital training platform will help workers in Italy’s engineering and metals sector to secure the individual training they need, under provisions in the sector’s collective agreement. Three trade unions – Fiom-Cgil, Fim-Cisl and Uilm – together with the employer organisations Federmeccanica and Assistal, have joined forces to launch MetApprendo.  It provides tools to enable companies in the sector to measure training needs, develop customised plans and offer online training.

Talks between the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the government aimed at securing collective bargaining rights in Ireland are making progress, says the ICTU, following the setting up of a high-level group to consider the issue earlier this year. General Secretary Patricia King said unions welcomed EU plans to introduce a directive on collective bargaining rights. Such legislation would strengthen the campaign to amend Ireland’s constitution to guarantee trade unions’ right to engage in collective bargaining.

Trade unions in Spain, together with the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, have agreed to launch a permanent dialogue on issues relating to the agricultural sector and policies affecting workers. CCOO de Industria and UGT-FICA insist that agricultural employers must respect the minimum wage and have called on the Ministry to intervene to guarantee collective bargaining rights for all workers.

By a large majority, Swiss citizens have voted in favour of a trade union-backed initiative calling for better care provision and improved working conditions for health and social workers. In the referendum, which took place on 28 November, 61% of voters supported the ‘Care Initiative’ (Pflegeinitiative) demanding more government support for health services. At present in Switzerland there are 11,700 nursing vacancies, and a further 70,000 new nurses will be needed by 2029. In addition, 4 out of 10 nurses leave their job early.

The Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) and the Estonian Employers' Confederation have reached a deal on raising the country’s minimum monthly salary by €70 in 2022, to €654. The hourly wage will increase to €3.86. Minimum wages should also be decoupled from other benefits, such as child support payments.

Danish trade unions, local authorities and government have announced a new plan to ease the country’s current labour shortages by making it easier for older people to secure work.

A coalition of trade union, business and environmental leaders has called on the UK government urgently to implement the measures agreed at the United Nations COP26 climate summit in November. A letter to government leaders, signed by Trades Union Congress General Secretary Frances O’Grady together with the Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and green organisations, warns that existing climate policies are not sufficient to meet targets.

Trade unions in Lithuania have negotiated a good deal for workers in social and public services. The new collective agreement in social services brings a significant increase in minimum monthly pay, from €642 to €730, while working hours will be cut by one hour a week. Trade union members covered by the agreement will get an extra day’s leave after 10 years’ service.

Dear readers, The shock-waves from the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be felt by workers across Europe. In this autumn edition, our National Updates illustrate how workplace organisation is changing and adapting, and trade unions and their members are learning the lessons from the lockdown in order to improve health and safety and make conditions more work-life friendly through shorter or more flexible working time, teleworking and hybrid systems.

The HK Kommunal trade union in Denmark has welcomed pilot four-day-week arrangements for local government workers in the south-west of Copenhagen. They will have the choice of coming to the office, working from home or taking a day off, as long as they maintain a 37-hour working week. The scheme started on 1 September and lasts for the next two years. HK Kommunal approved greater flexibility for staff but emphasised that no scheme should be introduced as a cost-cutting measure.

Ireland’s Fórsa and SIPTU public service unions have supported the government’s ‘Blended Working Policy Statement,’ which provides for civil servants to move from remote working to longer-term hybrid arrangements between September 2021 and March 2022. Both unions want to see the scheme applied across the public sector. They underlined the need for fair access to teleworking, as well as essential safeguards on working time, the right to disconnect, health and safety, privacy and data protection.

Following the ground-breaking union recognition agreement signed in May, ride-hailing company Uber and the British GMB union have gone further: to unite in denouncing the “exploitation of more than 200,000 drivers” in the UK, urging other platform companies to respect their basic right to be represented by a trade union.

The well-known Spanish department store El Corte Inglés has reached an agreement with the CCOO and UGT trade unions which recognises the principle of due diligence in selecting the company’s product suppliers.

Independent trade unions are a vital ingredient of a healthy society and deserve recognition as such by state authorities. Poland’s OPZZ alliance has argued for some years in favour of an effective support instrument. Soon, trade union determination may pay off with the introduction of tax relief on union subscriptions. 

French energy unions and their allies are celebrating the government’s withdrawal of its plan to break up the majority state-owned energy company EDF and are calling for energy supply to be a public service. Trade unions opposed the government proposal to restructure and split up the national public company Électricité de France, imposing a neo-liberal model that would undermine public energy supply. They warned that workers and consumers would be the victims of price increases and job losses.

A collective agreement between the IG BCE union and employers in the fine ceramics industry in West Germany secures a 5% wage rise for the 17,000 workers in the sector. The 5.05% will be reached through several stages, with one-off payments and increases in Christmas bonuses and demographic funds. As of 1 January 2022, pay will rise by 2%, with a further increase of 1.3% in January 2023. A one-off payment of €250, €500 or €650, depending on company performance, is to be paid as a ‘corona bonus’, with apprentices receiving 50%.

A framework agreement on active ageing between the Maltese General Workers’ Union and the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry adopts an intergenerational approach to ensure a healthy, safe and productive working environment.

After a summer of devastating wildfires across Europe, trade unions in Bulgaria have paid tribute to the courage and dedication of firefighters and rescuers.

The social partners in Italy have concluded a draft national agreement covering 60,000 staff in private pharmacies, which have been part of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. The deal enhances professional recognition in the sector and offers a wage increase and improved paid leave. The trade unions Filcams Cgil, Fisascat Cisl and Uiltucs signed the deal with employers’ organisation Federfarma, eight years after the expiry of the previous agreement. Across Italy the sector covers some 18,000 private chemists in a network of 20,000 pharmacies.

An innovative new collective agreement between Italian trade unions representing garment workers and the Benetton clothing company could set a precedent for negotiations with other major ‘Made in Italy’ clothing brands.