Staff at Amcor Tobacco Packaging and Amcor Flexibles Reflex, in Łódź, Poland, have successfully organised new trade unions affiliated to KRZZP Związek Zawodowy Poligrafów (Polish Trade Union Federation for Graphical Workers) – and membership is growing steadily. The new organisations will soon start negotiating collectively for the very first time to obtain better conditions for members and to strengthen social dialogue – to the benefit of both workers and the company.

After 18 months of negotiations, Italian unions have reached a good pay and conditions settlement for staff of the Poste Italiane postal service – the country’s largest public enterprise. Nicola Di Ceglie, National Secretary of Slc Cgil, expressed "full satisfaction” with the outcome of the negotiations, adding: "At the end of a year and a half of bargaining, the collective agreement can finally be seen as well concluded from both the legal and economic point of view."

The Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia has published a ‘White Book’, spelling out ways to improve conditions for workers and pensioners and create a better society in Serbia.

SIPTU, Ireland’s largest trade union, has overwhelmingly supported a referendum on repeal of the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution which makes legal abortion impossible in Ireland. The vote is now expected to take place in mid-2018.

Trade unions in Denmark are in dialogue with employers and the government on ways to improve security and working conditions for workers in the ‘sharing economy’.

Measures to enable staff to combine work and family life more easily are at the core of a new collective agreement with the Coop retailer in Switzerland. The deal, which comes into force in January 2018, increases paid maternity leave to 16 weeks, and prolongs parental leave for fathers from one to three weeks. It also introduces additional child care provisions, with a Child Care programme to support single-parent families. Other improvements include better health protection also covering psychosocial risks, digital training, and easier access to trade union information.

Trade unions and employers in the electricity industry have signed a joint statement supporting a ‘just energy transition’, calling for reskilling, quality jobs, social partners and local communities to be involved in change, and EU financial assistance to underpin the move towards cleaner energy.

Bulgarian trade union confederation CITUB organised a Round Table debate in November on ‘The European Pillar of Social Rights – Challenges and Perspectives’, with representatives from the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, the Bulgarian Parliament, employers’ organisations and scientific bodies.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has welcomed the European Court of Justice ruling that Ryanair staff in Belgium can take complaints to national courts, rejecting the company’s claim that it is subject only to Irish law. “This is a significant step forward, that will play an important role in vindicating the rights of workers across the sector and beyond, into the future,” said an ICTU spokesman.

Trade union Unia has launched talks with pharmaceutical group Novartis in a bid to save hundreds of jobs in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis wants to cut or relocate 500 ‘traditional’ jobs in production, development and management, while at the same time recruiting some 350 high-skilled workers, mainly in bio-tech. The company plans to move some jobs to India.

The ÖGBL trade union in Luxembourg has taken a stand against increased prices for ‘real’ bank services, hitting elderly or disabled people who find it hard to adapt to online banking. “Older people who have difficulties using computers and the internet have to go in person to the bank and pay all these fees," protested ÖGBL executive member Carlos Pereira. "On top of that, there is no uniform system. Each bank asks for a different fee and nobody has a complete list of the fees being charged by the banks and the post office."

As workers across Europe face longer working lives, the toll on those in physically or emotionally tough and dangerous jobs gets worse. In Belgium, the retirement age is set to rise to 67 by 2030. The three Belgian trade union confederations ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGSLB have made a joint proposal to facilitate early retirement for workers in arduous jobs.

Migrant women who come to Europe to work as domestic labourers run a severe risk of exploitation, abuse or worse. Trade unions in France are reaching out to organise isolated and exploited workers and fight degrading treatment and domestic slavery through court action and collective bargaining.

Swedish white-collar union Vision has just negotiated 12 collective agreements with the KFS employers' organisation. KFS represents public or private-owned companies providing services for municipal or county councils, with a total workforce of some 32,000 workers in almost 580 enterprises, large and small. The enterprises work in areas ranging from healthcare and schools to museums and property management.

In August, British trade union UNISON won a landmark court case protecting workers’ access to justice and protection against ill-treatment in the workplace. Four years ago, the UK government introduced fees of up to €1,340 for anyone who wanted to pursue a complaint against an employer in an employment tribunal, thereby blocking poorer workers’ access to a fair hearing and imposing huge costs for trade unions. The move led to a 79% drop in tribunal cases.

Austrian trade union younion has successfully secured deals to safeguard public healthcare services in Vienna, as well as better pay for council staff. Plans to privatise the Wiener Krankenanstaltenverbund (KAV), one of the biggest hospital operators in Europe, have been abandoned. This means the pay and conditions of KAV’s 30,000 workers will be protected, and they will continue to have the status of municipal employees. “Many colleagues were insecure, but now they can finally breathe,” said younion president Christian Meidlinger.

A help desk has been set up in Sicily to stop the exploitation of agricultural labourers – many of them migrants – and give workers and employers information about their rights and obligations. Agreement on the centre in Castelvetrano, near Trapani, was signed by union officials from Fai-Cisl, Flai-Cgil and Uila-Uil, together with representatives of the local employment office and the municipality of Campobello di Mazara.

In Belgium, trade unions have secured a new collective agreement for some 100,000 workers in the retail sector, including a monthly pay rise of €25, from 1 July. The last salary increase was back in 2012. The increase applies pro rata to part-timers, based on the number of hours worked. In addition, workers will receive a one-off bonus of €70 in December 2017.

A commitment to no compulsory redundancies is one of the key elements of a draft deal between German union ver.di and the Uniper energy company, now being reviewed by union members. In preparation for the phasing out of coal-powered operations and inevitable restructuring, the union has also secured an early retirement scheme. "Against the backdrop of the persistently difficult political conditions for the future of coal distribution, this long-term security is very important for our members," said ver.di negotiator Immo Schlepper.

Logistics giant DHL has agreed to offer permanent contracts to 80% of its workforce in the Netherlands, following pressure from the Dutch FNV and CNV trade union federations. The move vindicates the trade unions’ claim that delivery companies do not need to resort to outsourcing and flexi-jobs. "DHL shows you can work without all those flexi-workers and subcontractors," said Reinier Stroo of FNV. "With the basic choice of permanent employees, we can speak of a breakthrough in the sector."

Digitalisation, robotisation and the gig economy are a rapidly evolving challenge for governments and businesses, as well as workers and trade unions. Society will have to adapt to this unstoppable trend, and unions are fighting to defend members’ rights and conditions. In Denmark, the government and social partners are cooperating in guiding these labour market trends through a newly established ‘Disruption Council’.

In response to a long-standing demand from trade unions, the Czech government has agreed to wage rises of up to 23% in the social service sector, from July 2017, with the highest increases going to the lowest paid.

Dear readers,

Social partners in the textile sector in Germany have agreed a new wage deal that will offer a 4.4% increase overall to 100,000 employees in the Länder of the former West Germany. The accord also raises holiday allowances and payments to workers who take early retirement to work part time. The agreement will apply until 31 January 2019. Negotiations for a collective agreement covering the 30,000 employees in the eastern Länder are now getting underway.