A new collective agreement reached at the end of May will cover thousands of municipal workers in Finland, including teachers, nurses and other healthcare workers, many of whom have been on the front line fighting the coronavirus epidemic.

Dear readers, Welcome to our Spring 2020 edition of Workers’ Voice National Updates, with the usual potpourri of European trade union activities. This quarter, we showcase how unions are representing an ever-wider range of workers, such as temporary agency workers, young people and apprentices, fashion assistants, journalists…. And trade unions are also teaming up with civil society, community and religious groups to combat hate speech, support fair migration and seek the “common good”.

The proportion of temporary agency workers has been increasing in the EU, although these contracts tend to mean less security, fewer benefits and lower job satisfaction. But in Germany, trade unions negotiate collectively on behalf of some 98% of agency workers. Eight DGB member unions have reached a collective agreement for around 750,000 temporary agency workers, in force from January 2020.

British trade union Bectu, which organises in the media and creative industries, is investigating the working conditions of fashion assistants. The union wants to uncover the scale of abuse among junior staff, as portrayed in the film ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.

The Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) has teamed up with the Association of Journalists (AJM), the Council of Media Ethics, NGO Onlimit Media and news portal Vidi Vaka to sign the European

Apprentices in the Swiss insulation industry will, for the first time, be sure of earning a guaranteed minimum wage as of January 2020. A collective bargaining agreement (Gesamtarbeitsvertrag – GAV) between the industry association ISOLSUISSE and the trade union Unia not only benefits learners but also increases wages and expenses for around 2,000 insulation plumbers. Apprentices starting out in the business will receive a minimum wage of 1,000 francs (€932,40) per month, increasing in the second and third years of apprenticeship.

Trade union collective bargaining is helping young workers in Belgium and elsewhere to obtain better pay and working conditions. In 2016 the Belgian government introduced unfair, sub-minimum wage levels for young workers, supposedly to create 1,000 new jobs in the wake of the economic crisis. But while the jobs never materialised, this austerity measure had a disastrous impact on the working and living conditions of some 45,000 young people, who suffered cuts in social protection and a drop in wages of up to 18%.

Spanish trade unionists joined civil society organisations in a march through the city of Ceuta in February, calling for justice and fair treatment for refugees and migrants. Several hundred people took part in the seventh March for Dignity, including CC.OO Confederal Secretary of Employment and Professional Qualifications, Lola Santillana. With the slogan ‘In front of your walls, we build bridges’, they demanded respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international humanitarian law, and compliance with the Spanish immigration framework.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions united with community and religious groups and civil society organisations in calling on all candidates in the February 2020 general election to conduct a respectful and truthful campaign.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Solidarność movement, trade union leaders met Pope Francis in the Vatican in Rome. The ETUC-affiliated union, launched by Lech Walesa and others in 1980 at the former Lenin Shipyards in Gdańsk, became the first independent labour union in a Soviet country. The Pontiff recalled that throughout the 1980s it not only achieved political and social change in Poland but also inspired others outside the country’s borders.

The Cyprus Union of Bank Employees – the country’s main union representing banking staff –  has concluded a collective agreement with the two largest banks: Bank of Cyprus and Astrobank. The deal means an across-the-board pay rise for all staff of €115 per month. Cost of living allowances will increase from 2021 onwards. But employers’ contributions to the union’s provident fund will be cut by 1%.

Job security is the priority for the IG Metall union, representing German metalworkers, in the current collective bargaining round. In 2019, Germany’s metal and electrical industry – employing some 4 million workers – experienced the biggest drop in production since the economic crisis, putting thousands of jobs at risk. So instead of targeting higher wages,  the metalworkers’ union is focusing on employment protection, seeking a “future package” including shorter working hours instead of layoffs, and further training.

Some 200,000 employees in hospitals in the Netherlands will benefit from a new collective agreement between unions and employers. Workers covered by the accord will get a total pay increase of 8% over 27 months. The deal also extends recovery time after on-call duty from six to eight hours, in a move to improve work-life balance. Staff will get their full salary while on sick leave, up from 90%, and the agreement awarded all hospital workers a one-off gross payment of €1,200 in January.

Three Turkish trade unions, together representing some 130,000 metalworkers, have secured  two-year collective agreement offering members a substantial wage increase.

Public service unions in Croatia have reached an agreement with the government on higher pay, plus a supplement for workers in the education sector. "After a longer period of negotiations we have decided to sign the annex to the Basic Collective Agreement and we must express our satisfaction,” said Anica Prašnjak, president of the nurses' union. “The negotiations were not simple, they were demanding, however we did find a compromise solution. We have accepted it so that our people, after a certain number of years, can enjoy higher basic pay in 2020."

Dear readers,

Employers and workers in Austria have reached a ground-breaking collective agreement for ‘Fahrradboten’ (bicycle couriers) and food suppliers. According to the trade union vida and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce, they will receive a basic monthly salary of €1,506 for a maximum 40-hour week from 1 January 2020, plus the customary 13th and 14th months. Riders will be compensated for the use of private bicycles and mobile phones. This is thought to be the first collective agreement for bicycle couriers and food suppliers worldwide. 

The Croatian government has backed down on amendments to its pension system, reinstating a retirement age of 65, after sustained pressure from trade unions. The changes would have raised the retirement age to 67 for both men and women from 2033, instead of 2038 as previously planned, and cut back payments for workers retiring early.

The three Italian trade union federations CGIL-CISL-UIL have signed an agreement to oppose harassment in the workplace with the management of Siam, a company providing water services in the city of Siracusa in Sicily. It is the first such agreement in the region and the local industrial sector. It is particularly important for women since workplace harassment is more likely to affect female workers.

In October, the German Trade Union Confederation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund – DGB) celebrated its 70th anniversary, together with employers’ organisations and political leaders. In her speech, Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised the importance of trade unions and of widespread collective bargaining for social cohesion in Germany. Participants praised the DGB for its important role in representing workers' interest in the German social market economy.

Even in this day and age, many transport workers do not have the opportunity to take a toilet break when they need to. Either they lack the necessary sanitary facilities, or they simply do not have time. In Belgium, this is the sad reality, particularly for large numbers of bus drivers, says the FGTB union.

SAK, Finland’s largest labour confederation, is to work with innovation foundation Nesta to roll out a training programme called FutureFit, to empower workers with new skills to help them to adapt to changes in workplaces.

The Estonian Trade Union Confederation and the national Employers' Confederation have reached an agreement to increase the minimum wage to €584 a month, and €3.48 an hour, starting from 1 January 2020. Negotiations were launched in June 2019. The national minimum wage is legally enforced by the Estonian government following agreement between the social partners. This means no employer may pay a lower rate for a full-time job. By 2021 the national minimum wage is set to rise to 40% of the national average wage.

The Spanish branch of Telefonica has concluded a deal with the country’s trade unions UGT and CCOO including a paid voluntary retirement scheme for employees.

Unions in the Norwegian health sector, including Fagforbundet, YS and unions represented by LO Stat, are celebrating a historic victory following a positive ruling by the National Wages Board. It means that pensions will now be based on all earnings, ensuring that part-time workers will be entitled to a pension for the first time. The Board also confirmed a pay rise meaning that all workers will benefit from an increase already agreed for nursing staff. It was the government that took the issue to the National Wages Board in the summer.