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 Union Learning – Adding Value to the Union Card Union Learning: adding value to the union card Education, Learning and Skills Forum Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Manchester Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Lancashire Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Cumbria Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Chester Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Merseyside Launch Event  |
TUC Education European ReviewNumber Issue 42 May 2008 Welcome to the sixteenth issue of the new-look European Review which will be emailed four times a year as a supplement to those registered to receive TUC Education Update. A hard copy will also be posted to Union Education Officers, TUC course co-ordinators and tutors. Everyone with an interest in European affairs as they affect trade unionists can still access the magazine online at http://www.tueip.dircon.co.uk/ or at http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/education/index.cfm?mins=88
Bargaining round upROMANIAN UNIONS ARE GRASPING THE OPPORTUNITY that a tightening labour market gives them (see our last issue) to make progress on increasing wages. Railway workers, miners and civil servants are all in dispute with both employers and government as they are part of the public sector. Trade unions recently won a 29% increase in the minimum wage to €188 a month after claiming €206 but rail employees were angered when the government announced that they would set the transport sector rate at €134 rising to €145 in the summer. The latter rise was then withdrawn in 'public companies monitored for indebtedness' on the advice of the International Monetary Fund. A spontaneous 3-hour strike is likely to lead to a general one if no settlement is reached. Meanwhile civil servants demanding an increase of between 20% and 30% were offered 4.5% which resulted in token strikes and a date set for general sector-wide action. The third prong of the union trident is formed by the miners who registered a 25% pay claim in February. Once again the two sides are far apart as the government have offered 10%. With national trade union confederations backing their affiliates, there is a possibility of tension spilling over into other sectors leading to a general strike in an election year. IN HUNGARY, WHERE PRIVATISATION IS FURTHER ADVANCED, trade unions are facing up to the task of representing members in the companies that have recently been sold off. After an Austro-Hungarian consortium paid €400 million for the freight arm of the national railway MÁV, all MÁV Cargo workers received a 10% pay increase. Now the VDSZSZ union wants all employees in companies to which MÁV has outsourced work to get the same rise. They are also demanding that all railway workers get a privatisation bonus of about €1,000. Following the failure of negotiations and arbitration a nationwide strike was called. With a referendum due on privatisation of health care the outcome of the strike is seen as crucial to the wider political scene. 'HEAVEN OR HELL, TRADE UNION OR DEATH' was the apt slogan of the DISK federation in Turkey after two more shipyard workers died bringing the total to 36 with 18 fatal accidents in the last eight months. They called for a strike and protests at the Tuzla yards which do not recognise unions. After 75 protesters had been arrested as 'a threat to public order', the government stepped in to investigate with the aim of eliminating work-related deaths according to transport minister Binali Yõldõrõm. The European Metalworkers Federation is to raise the matter with the EU. Air France-KLM unions agree breakthrough 'blueprint for positive employment practices'THE PHRASE 'CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY' trips off the tongue in many company boardrooms these days and can mean anything from a vague aspiration to do right by the planet to serious negotiations with trade unions and others on topics such as child labour and anti-discrimination. However, a recent deal at the Air France-KLM airline appears to go further, including everyday matters such as training, pay and career paths. When the two companies merged recently the 'social charter' already existing at Air France had to be extended and the influential European Works Council (EWC) at the firm took the opportunity to revamp it. The new 'social charter and code of ethics' starts with the 'values and fundamental rights which underpin the identity of these two companies'. By fostering social, economic and cultural cohesion these values and rights will enable every employee to share in the benefits of growth. This means, in practice, a strong anti-discrimination policy in which 'no form of discrimination or harassment may be tolerated'. Annexed to the document is a 'corporate social responsibility statement' that also commits the company to: 'offering safe and motivating working conditions', maintaining employability by personal and skills development and to using social dialogue to keep workers and unions informed and consulted. On social rights the group undertakes to: oppose child labour, facilitate employment of the disabled, apply all labour legislation of the EU and Member States as a minimum, as well as collective agreements, and to respect the rights of trade unions. On training, wages and working time the charter says that pay must be at a level that complies with the standards of the host country while employees who 'contribute to the development and the success of their company' should be further rewarded; training should be regarded as 'an important, ongoing investment' and working time and conditions must be governed by national legislation and collective agreements. A very important aspect of the new charter is its application to subsidiaries and sub-contractors of the main company. A long list of these is attached to the document, the major ones being Transavia, CityJet and VLM as well as cargo, maintenance and catering operations. In total the group has about 103,000 employees based around the World. There are also detailed procedures for implementing the charter and for employees to appeal if they think it is not being properly applied in their work area. Finally the EWC will consider its effectiveness annually and draw up a new one six months before it expires (after five years).
The strength of EWCs in big European-based enterprises has led to an increasing number of charters being drawn up with trade union input but the AirFrance-KLM document goes further in regulating some of the normal functions of human resources departments. The monitoring and complaints procedure, again with EWC involvement, also mark out this particular agreement which has led International Transport Workers' Federation civil aviation section secretary Ingo Marowsky to laud it as providing 'other airlines around the world with a blueprint for positive employment practices'. THIS ITEM IS BASED ON INFORMATION FROM EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT REVIEW Unions get compensation deal as Nokia quits GermanyIN JANUARY THE MOBILE TELEPHONE MANUFACTURER NOKIA announced its intention to close its factory in Bochum, Germany. This move was totally unexpected by trade unions and government. It was all the more surprising as the company had a well-established European Works Council (EWC) which was only informed on the day of the announcement. After the initial anger at the loss of up to 4,000 jobs, expressed by both handset smashing and the threat of legal proceedings, interest centred on reclaiming subsidies of €60 million which the company had received from local authorities out of a total of €100 million including those from the German government and the EU. These monies legally guaranteed the jobs at Bochum until the end of last year, two weeks before the firm made its intentions clear.
Two approaches to adapting the Nokia slogan
The plant is to move to Romania where labour costs are a tenth of those in Germany, according to Nokia. They offered €70 million in compensation and as a fund to help the workers find new jobs but this was increased in negotiations with unions to €200 million. Gisela Achenbach, head of the employees' works council, said the workers had 'achieved our goal, which was to reach a satisfactory agreement for our members in line with the best German agreements'. However the question of subsidy repayment remains unsettled. The company claims that it fulfilled the terms of its deal with the region of North Rhine-Westphalia both in terms of investment and employment created but the local authority says that job totals were not high enough. This closure and the way it was handled underlines the shortcomings of the EWC directive (see our last issue) which the EU wants to revise and has led the International Metalworkers Federation to start negotiations on a worldwide framework agreement for Nokia to secure trade union rights such as information and consultation. Barroso signals new interest in social policy as elections approachAFTER A LONG PERIOD OF CRITICISM from European trade unionists at their lack of action on social legislation, the European Commission seems to have decided that the time is right to renew their interest. President Barroso announced a new 'social package' after a day of discussion with Commissioners. Health care, where the cross-border rights proposal will be re-activated, anti-discrimination, limited to disabled people (see article below), and education will all be the subject of new legislation. The long-awaited revision of the European Works Council directive is also expected now that the social partners have run out of time to come to an agreement between themselves. The package is due to be ready by early July and the Commission hopes to get it through the legislative process before campaigning starts for the European elections in June 2009. The reason for such urgency is thought to be Mr. Barroso's desire to stay on as President after the elections. Following several adverse judgments in the European Court of Justice (Laval/Vaxholm etc.) which socialist candidates are likely to make much of, there is a feeling that the Commission has steered too far to the right and a win for the left will make it unlikely that his contract will be renewed. The 'social package' is intended to redress the balance. Trade unions remain to be convinced, describing the social dimension of the EU as being 'becalmed' over the last ten years. At a recent summit of employers, unions and the Commission John Monks, ETUC General Secretary declared: 'In our view, social Europe is in retreat ... Support for the single market is dependent on support for Social Europe. That is the deal - and it is not working for us at the moment'. Chocolate workers seek Perm-anent wage riseFROM THE MIDDLE OF RUSSIA COMES NEWS OF an independent trade union's hard fight with a multi-national company. Switzerland-based Nestlé, own the Kitkat candy and confectionery plant in the Russian city of Perm, where the Nestlé Perm Workers Union have been trying to negotiate a wage rise in the face of rampant inflation. They were amazed to learn from local management that company policy was to exclude wage levels from negotiations. Following further union pressure, management imposed a 15% rise, less than the 16% official inflation rate. However at a well-attended protest meeting in March speakers declared 'We need a real wage increase now!' citing the common practice of Nestlé workers selling blood to supplement their income. Now the Agricultural Workers Union of Russia and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions plan to take the fight to Moscow with a demonstration outside Nestlé Russia headquarters.
Eastern European unions take on Tesco and M & SUK SUPERMARKET CHAIN TESCO HAVE ESTABLISHED a large foothold in Eastern Europe in recent years but, while consumers may have been originally delighted with the range of products available, workers have not always been so happy. In Poland, where Tesco increased revenue by 17% to £1.35 billion in 2007, the first few months of 2008 saw the formation of union branches at several stores. Complaints about pay and conditions led to strikes at Tychy and recruitment at Lublin led by the 'August 80' union, and protests at Czestochowa organised by the Work Confederation. Iwona Mandat from Czestochowa said, 'We want to be proud to work for Tesco, like we were at the beginning. For that, we want to be treated with respect and we need a pay rise'. In March the company concluded an agreement with NSZZ Solidarnosc to raise wages by 30% nationally, 'because they represented 80% of the staff' according to a Tesco Polska spokesman 'However, we will still be liaising with the other unions' Meanwhile, a UK campaign on behalf of migrant workers in another British food retailer has gained support from trade unionists in both Poland and Romania. The Unite trade union, concerned about the two-tier workforce at Marks and Spencer meat suppliers where mainly migrant agency workers are employed on inferior terms and conditions to those of directly employed staff, enlisted support in countries from where migrant workers often come to Britain. In this way the union hopes to put pressure on M & S who urge consumers to 'Look behind the label' for proof of their high ethical and social standards. German pressure limits EU discrimination directivePROPOSALS BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION to extend anti-discrimination laws outside the workplace have disappointed unions and pressure groups. By 2002 the EU had passed legislation outlawing most forms of discrimination at work as well as racial discrimination in a range of circumstances outside. This left the obvious gap of measures to prevent discrimination on non-racial grounds beyond the workplace. An attempt to fill this with regards to gender in the form of a directive on 'Equal treatment in access to goods and services' was criticised for being limited to housing, banking and insurance and leaving out altogether fields such as education which are included in the legislation on race. Now another chance seems to have been missed. Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty allows the EU to outlaw all forms of discrimination but the proposal is to concentrate only on disability. A Commission spokesperson confirmed that they would have liked to have gone further but cited opposition from Member States in a field where unanimity in the Council of Ministers is required. Pressure groups believe that German business has lobbied for the directive to be narrowly drawn, on the grounds of cost. 'At the same time, we feel that social conservatives are hiding behind these arguments, as really, the directive would hardly cost anything', commented Juris Lavrikous of the International Lesbian and Gay Association - Europe. Trade unions too were disappointed; the ETUC having argued for a broad directive covering all the grounds mentioned in Article 13 of the Treaty as both 'better regulation' and 'a strong message to the Member States of the EU and their citizens that we cannot build a modern and cohesive society on discrimination'. Metalworkers fear job losses after Alcan takeoverEARLY THIS YEAR THE RIO TINTO GROUP, a multi-national mining and resources company, completed the takeover of rivals Alcan. Already unions, in the shape of the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF), have seen signs of a desire to split up the new company and sell off certain divisions to firms based outside Europe. Employees fear for the future of the 20,000 jobs in the group and even for the whole industry, based on past experience of such takeovers, involving 300,000 metalworkers. In response the EMF organised a lobby of the European Parliament and called on the European Commission to both meet with workers' representatives and to alert themselves to the possible consequences. These include the threat to the packaging and engineering sectors and the possibility that manufacture of technology-intensive aluminium products will disappear and Europe will become dependent on imports. According to the EMF, the way to avoid this is to maintain investment in research and development, to set up a 'European aluminium centre of excellence', to institute a European energy policy which secures a stable supply at reasonable prices and to protect the packaging industry from relocation. General Secretary Peter Scherrer demanded that 'Europe safeguards and develops its aluminium industry and by this provides sustainable and quality employment. The packaging industry too can and does already generate thousands of jobs which are indispensable for our local food production and for maintaining a high standard of hygiene and public health'. LIDL accused of 'Stasi' tactics in Germany and Czech Rep.THE LIDL CHAIN OF SUPERMARKETS is well known to shoppers and employees in the UK. The activities of the former East German secret police have also been detailed in several books and films such as 'Stasiland' and the Oscar-winning 'The Lives of Others'. However there was no reason to link the two organisations until a recent article published in the German magazine Stern. Drawing on hundreds of pages of transcripts from private detectives, the article contained observations such as 'The relationship between Ms L and Mr H should be investigated since they seem to have become close. When Mr H counted up Ms L's takings he drew a little heart on the receipt'. The reports routinely commented on employees' private lives, financial affairs and even frequency of trips to the lavatory. As well as from detectives, information was gathered by matchbox-size hidden cameras.
LIDL has 2,700 stores in Germany The regional government in Baden-Württemberg, where the company is based, has launched an investigation into possible breaches of privacy laws while the Ver.di trade union offered support to any worker who prosecuted LIDL. 'These are measures I ... have only ever seen in totalitarian states' said spokesperson Achim Neumann. Ver.di have already compiled a 'black book' on the firm's abuse of workers' rights. LIDL have now agreed to make a 'thank-you payment' of €300 to each spied-on employee. 'The Black Book on Lidl in Europe' is available from: http://lidl.verdi.de/material/data/Order_Black_Book_Lidl_en Unions to map out new strategy after long look at ECJ judgmentsAfter the general unfavourable judgments in Laval/Vaxholm and Viking (see our last issue) the ETUC has analysed their likely effects. They have also come up with various suggestions to repair the damage and for positive action to create a more favourable climate in the future. In its resolution the European Trade Union Confederation points to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention, the European Social Charter and the new Charter of Fundamental Rights as guaranteeing the right to collective action. However, it says, the court has placed the freedom to provide services above this so creating a 'hierarchy of norms'. It also considers the judgment anti-democratic because it goes against decisions made by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in agreeing both the Posted Workers Directive and the new Lisbon treaty. The paper goes on to suggest both short-term and long-term actions which trade unions should consider in response. Among the short-term ones are making national systems Vaxholm/Viking-proof, including laws on public procurement (see 'Rüffert' case), using union legal experts to provide 'early warning' of controversial cases and to intervene as an 'interested party' in national and European court proceedings, and making sure that Member States have fully used the provisions of the Posted Workers Directive which can protect migrant employees. More long-term are proposals to introduce a social progress clause into the EU treaty, to bring in a time limit after which a foreign worker is no longer considered 'posted', to limit the free movement of services provisions in the EU treaty in favour of free movement of workers and to establish a 'social chamber' at the ECJ to hear social policy cases. On inter-union co-operation the ETUC wants deals with employers to extend beyond national boundaries without preventing host- country unions signing up migrants (dual membership) and recommends more cross-border contacts and deals. The resolution concludes with a call to EU authorities to reassure unions that their fundamental rights are not diminished by freedom to provide services, so that they can prevent unfair competition between host-country and migrant workers. Resolution available at: http://www.etuc.org/a/4704 Recent rulings from the European Court of JusticeECJ gives support to UK mother of disabled son An opinion of the Advocate General of the ECJ has held that some UK anti-discrimination laws are drawn too tightly to implement EU directives properly. A Ms. Sharon Coleman contended that after giving birth to a son with breathing problems her employer, Attridge Law, refused to allow her to return to her old job and offered her less flexibility than other parents; there were also derogatory remarks. In 2005 she claimed disability discrimination. However UK law only refers to discrimination against a 'disabled person' rather than 'on grounds of disability' as specified by the EU directive. The employer therefore said that discrimination against Ms. Coleman herself was not covered. If the final judgment of the ECJ follows this opinion, there will be wide implications for millions of carers who have to give up work. Victory for Irish union on fixed-term workers In 1999 an EU directive implemented an agreement between trade unions and employers which aimed to protect workers on fixed-term contracts. Public authorities in Ireland had employed a group of workers on long chains of fixed-term contracts, extending them for up to eight years just before the directive was put into Irish law. This meant they had worse pay and conditions than permanent civil servants. However the ECJ agreed with the union Impact that the fact that the Irish government was late in doing this did not affect the date that the directive should apply. Public procurement cannot equalise wages Various public authorities have tried to make sure that when they contract out work, only companies which abide by certain labour standards are eligible. Now an ECJ judgment (Rüffert case) has threatened this practice, at least as far as wages are concerned. The government of Lower Saxony in Germany employed a private firm to build a prison but withdrew the contract when they found that some Polish workers were paid less than half the minimum wage. The court ruled that the authorities had infringed the Posted Workers directive guaranteeing 'the freedom to provide services'. EP wants new carcinogen law, ignores nanosTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HAS CALLED FOR NEW laws on substances used at work that cause cancer but could not muster a majority to include crystalline silicates or products made by nanotechnology. In a debate on the future health and safety strategy of the EU MEPs praised the adoption of a target to reduce workplace accidents by 25% by 2012 but also wanted to tackle the far bigger problem of occupational disease. 'The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work estimates that every year over 140,000 people in the EU die from occupational diseases and nearly 9,000 die from work related accidents' said Glenis Willmott a British Labour MEP. Targets were needed for both, thought MEPs, as well as a directive on musculoskeletal disorders. 'Lower back disorders affect between 60 and 90 per cent of people at some point in their lives' argued Ms Willmott. The Parliament also recommended an amendment to the directive on biological agents at work to include blood-borne diseases to especially protect health workers who are routinely exposed to more than twenty life-threatening viruses. However a vote calling on the European Commission to revise the carcinogen laws was weakened by an alliance of the Conservative and Liberal groups which exempted crystalline silica and nano-technology from the revision. Three million workers are regularly exposed to the former while Green groups recently found 104 food products on sale that included material which had been changed at the nano-level (the size of atoms and molecules). Said Ms. Willmott: 'This is a missed opportunity. Everyone has the right to working conditions that respect his or her health and safety. It is a basic right that was included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights signed by this assembly just a month ago'. The Parliament also agreed that the new strategy should pay particular attention to certain groups such as the disabled and migrant, young and older workers. Temporary agency workers who record especially high rates of accidents also received special attention. GMB gives EU insight into UK van crime76% OF ATTACKS AGAINST STAFF involved in transporting cash and valuables occur in the UK. That was the disturbing statistic presented to an EU conference in Brussels by the British trade union GMB. In a joint presentation with employers' group the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) National Secretary Gary Smith explained initiatives such as the GMB Charter for Security Workers, the compensation fund started at the G4S company and the involvement of the Home Office and the police in reducing by 28% the number of violent attacks against security workers. 'There is a long way to go and ... the current level of attacks in the UK is unacceptable and out of kilter with the rest of the EU. GMB has members whose lives have been destroyed by their experiences of violent crime while doing their security jobs' he added. In asking the EU commission for help, GMB and the BSIA praised the passing of last year's Framework Agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work by the social partners but called for specific measures to address third party violence which it did not explicitly cover.
A G4S security van; a new compensation fund is due to start at the company
French suicide spate prompts stress probeAFTER SEVERAL REPORTED WORK-RELATED suicides in firms such as Renault, Peugeot-Citroen and EDF, the French government and some employers have begun to seriously investigate stress at work. A report by the Minister of Labour on 'definition, measurement and follow-up of psychosocial risks at work' criticised the separation of individuals' health, regarded as a medical matter, and health and safety at the workplace, seen as 'social conditions'. In combining these two the authors advocate, among other measures, a survey of suicides at work and a public information campaign on stress. Existing surveys on labour turnover and short-term sickness and reports from works doctors and labour inspectors should be collated. The report also called on trade unions and employers to implement the EU social partners' agreement on stress from 2004 but this would seem to present difficulties in at least one firm. Management at PSA Peugeot-Citroen have conducted their own study into stress. The findings show that the most stressed categories of workers are women and manual workers. 28% and 23% respectively are hyperstressed i.e. pressured beyond their ability to cope. However French union confederation CGT emphasised that neither reps nor the occupational health service were consulted and the company's response has already been limited by the need to maintain competitiveness, according to the director of Human Resources. May Day launch for cyberspace 'Union Island'WE HAVE REPORTED IN PAST ISSUES about political and trade union presence in the online world of 'Second Life'. As well as embassies, election hustings and even the EU Commission the Internet environment has played host to a cyber-picket. Now unions have a permanent virtual home on the site. 'Union Island' chose 1st May to launch itself with a day of training, networking and celebration. 150 avatars (as the Second Life inhabitants are known) turned up at various sessions including a discussion on the situation in Zimbabwe, a surgery on building union web sites and one on the history of May Day. Attendees came from around the real World including Mongolia, India, Russia and South Africa as well as Western Europe and the USA. The virtual bar was also popular. After this sound start the organisers hope to run many more events in future.
May Day morning on 'Union Island' EU Doctors get the e-Health habitANOTHER SECTOR OF THE EU ECONOMY has come under the Commission's ICT* microscope. A survey into electronic services in healthcare has found that European doctors (General Practitioners) are increasingly using computers in general and the Internet in particular. 87% now have a computer with 70% on the Internet. The most common applications are the storage of patient records and emailing of data such as lab. reports. But the report highlights areas where the use of Information and Communication Technology could be expanded e.g. telemonitoring, electronic prescriptions and cross-border services. Telemonitoring, whereby doctors can manage a chronic illness remotely, is only used in Sweden and the Netherlands while exchanging patent data between countries has only been done by 1% of the EU's GPs. As so often with such reports the wide variation in conditions among Member States comes out in the findings. For instance, e-Prescribing is only used by 6% of doctors on average but is much more common in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands; figures of over 70% being recorded in all three countries. In Denmark 91% of doctors have fast, broadband Internet connections yet Romania, at the bottom of the league, is way down on 5%. GPs who responded to the survey agreed that ICT improves the quality of the service that they provide but cited lack of training and technical support as barriers to its wider adoption. EU wants code of practice to help women in ICTLAST YEAR THE EU COMMISSION highlighted the poor record of the Information and Communication Technology industry in employing women. It initiated a 'shadowing' project in which girls with an interest in technology followed female employees of twenty leading ICT companies. Now, after reviewing this exercise at a conference entitled, 'Move out of the shadow! Seize the opportunITy', Information Society and Media Commissioner Reding is to agree a 'European Code of Best Practices for Women in ICT' with the industry. The sector, which contributes 4% of EU jobs and 25% of economic growth, is estimated to need another 300,000 recruits. 'It is unacceptable that Europe lacks qualified ICT staff ... we need to overcome common stereotypes which describe ICT careers as boring and too technical for women and instead encourage women to succeed' she said. Reports, surveys and web sites mentioned Second Life : Union Island Benchmarking ICT use among General Practitioners in Europe http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/benchmarking/index_en.htm IT Girls - great careers for great women http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/itgirls/index_en.htm i2010 mid-term report http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/mid_term_review_2008/index_en.htm Progress Report on the Single European Electronic Communications Market 2007 http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3963 Stats and factsEU broadband leaders leap past US but laggards, rural areas further behind A new survey from the European ommission has found that the spread of broadband computer connections in leading Member States has outstripped countries such as the USA and Australia. However, the worst-performing countries have fallen back while, even in the leaders, rural areas are far less likely to be covered. Greece is bottom of the heap with only 20% access, 10% in the islands and countryside; although Germany can boast a coverage rate of 94%, this falls to 58% in rural areas. The Commission is proud that its liberalisation policies have led to 19 million new broadband lines being installed in 2007 but unions point to the growth of private providers, with the forced opening of national networks, engendering 'cherry-picking' in big cities, where there are too many operators, together with neglect of sparsely populated regions. This has led to worse working conditions as the established companies compete on price and redundancies when new operators collapse. Overall 250 million EU citizens regularly use the internet with 80% of these having access to broadband; although 40% of the population never use the net, in Romania the figure is 69% compared with only 13% in top dog Denmark. In terms of broadband penetration (no. of lines divided by the population) Bulgaria sits at the bottom of the league on 7.6% while Denmark is again leading followed by the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK. The Commission proposes to further liberalise the sector by, for instance, separating the companies building the network from those supplying the broadband service. This is opposed by both the large companies and UNI Telecom, the worldwide union confederation.
Runaway boom in Eastern Europe leads to price rises 'Victims of their own success' seems to be the appropriate cliché for the newish members of the EU in Eastern Europe. After leading the growth table for the past few years the economies in countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania seem to be rapidly overheating, causing inflation problems for their citizens. In 2006 Latvia's GDP grew by 11.9% and Estonia's by 11.4%, the fastest in the Community, but similar figures soon followed for price increases. Not only does this lead to hardship as 'Latvian bread is more expensive than German bread', in the words of one shopper, but it makes it less likely that these countries will qualify for the Euro which might reduce their problems.
Slovenia hosts as 35,000 Euro-unionists march for better paySLOVENIA BECAME THE FIRST OF THE 'NEW' EU Member States to hold the EU Presidency at the beginning of the year. As usual all meetings of the Council of Ministers not scheduled for Brussels or Luxembourg are hosted by the Presidency so when the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) decided to pep up its campaign for better pay with a demonstration, Slovenia was the obvious venue. Timed to coincide with the meeting of EU economics ministers, the march brought together fifty trade union organisations from twenty countries. The ETUC campaign stems from resolutions passed at its congress in Seville, Spain, last year. The plan was to go on to the offensive for more pay in general and for equality of treatment for women and men, migrant and temporary workers. The ETUC believes that the excessive wage moderation of the last few years has not only damaged the purchasing power of workers but has led to stagnating economies and weakened job creation. It also wants to do something about limiting the salaries of top managers, some of who now earn 300 times the wages of workers in the same company.
The head of the demonstration sets off in Ljubljana After a meeting with the Slovenian Prime Minister in the morning, the leaders of the ETUC delegation set off at 2 p.m. from central Ljubljana, the capital. There followed a varied and colourful procession of demonstrators from many countries including Italy, Germany, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Hungary and France as well as a strong contingent from the host federation, ZSSS of Slovenia. To the sound of chanting, sirens and whistles the 35,000 marchers covered the mile to Congress Square in about an hour and a half. The rest of the day took the form of speeches from the leaders of confederations to their attending demonstrators interspersed with DJs providing new versions of European labour movement classics such as 'Bandiera Rossa'. First up was ETUC General Secretary John Monks who took as his theme 'casino capitalism' and the fears of economic recession which its excesses had brought about. It was time that the wealthy, comfortable sections of society shared the sacrifice and restraint that had, up until now, fallen on 'the public sector worker, on women, on the precariously employed [and], on the low paid'. To the Council of Finance Ministers and governments and employers in general he summed up the demonstrators' demands as 'get your own house in order, get financial markets in order we say .... we want our rightful share of a nation's prosperity we say .... no more income inequality but more pay justice'. Speakers following included Reiner Hoffmann and Maria Helena Andre from the ETUC as well as trade union leaders from Slovenia, Germany, Poland, Italy and France among others.
John Monks addresses the marchers in Congress Square Diary: conferences and coursesPhysical and Mental Demands and Work Ability in Seafaring 10-13 June LGBT Conference 3 July Training trade union officers for European project management 9-12 July ETUI-REHS Education, Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5, box 7, B1210 Brussels, BELGIUM Hazards 2008 18-20 July
Newsletter (6,100 words) issued 28 May 2008  TUC Education in the Midland region ONLINE PENSIONS COURSES FOR UNION REPS Pension Champions online course |
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