A new three-year agreement for workers in Sweden’s welfare sector includes higher pay increases for skilled nurses. Concluded in April by the municipal workers' union, Kommunal, the deal is not only a success for the union's equal pay strategy but also brings real pay increases for all. In 2016 the basic pay increase will be SEK 520 (€56) while nurses will get SEK 1020 (€110).

Low-paid workers upgraded to the mandatory minimum wage in the UK enjoyed a significant boost to their mental health – comparable to the effect of antidepressants. In a study published in the journal Health Economics, workers reported fewer symptoms of depression for at least 22 months after a pay award. The researchers concluded that wage rises for low-paid workers reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, not surprisingly because they are under less financial stress.

In a change of policy, the Dutch PostNL delivery company has agreed to offer permanent contracts to all new staff in the parcel delivery service.   In the past, the company relied on a network of freelance workers who did not qualify for social security benefits such as pensions, sick leave or paid holidays. Dutch union FNV condemned this as a form of bogus self-employment designed to circumvent labour obligations. PostNL has now agreed to give staff the choice of a permanent contract.

The Mandate Trade Union, representing workers in the Irish retail sector, has just released the results of a survey which proves that joining a trade union really does pay dividends. It finds that unionised shop workers earn 30% more than those in the non-union sector. They take home an average of €13.03 per hour, whereas non-unionised workers get just €10.04.

More than 2 million public sector workers are due to get a pay rise of 4.75% over two years, thanks to a collective agreement between Ver.di and federal and local governments.

Volkswagen’s Czech operation, Skoda Auto, has reached a collective agreement with the OS Kovo trade union covering working conditions and pay rises for the next two years. It includes a wage increase of 3.5% from April 2016, with a further 3% to follow in January 2017. According to union president Jaroslav Povšík, additional bonuses will add up to a 11.2% pay rise under the deal. Read more … English

The three Italian trade union federations, CGIL, CISL and UIL, have signed an agreement with the employers’ association Confindustria, aimed at combating harassment and violence at work. The two sides will cooperate in creating workplaces that respect the dignity of all, and will publicise the accord. It will be down to social partners at a more local level to decide how to support the victims of violence or harassment.  

Trade unionists in Bulgaria are preparing to negotiate the country’s first collective agreement for civil servants. The move follows a joint complaint to the Council of Europe, where Bulgarian unions CITUB and Podkrepa, together with the ETUC, successfully demonstrated that the government was not respecting civil servants’ fundamental bargaining rights.

A successful challenge by the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) in the Polish constitutional court means that self-employed workers can now join trade unions.  OPZZ argued that the existing labour regulations were in breach of workers’ basic rights to representation in the workplace. The tribunal judged that stopping self-employed workers from joining or forming trade unions was contrary to the Polish constitution. 

Three European sectoral trade unions: industriAll Europe, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) have signed an important new agreement with the power and energy group ENGIE, to help workers adapt to the energy transition.

Water is a human right, and trade unions were actively involved in building support for the first ever European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). More than 1.8 million Europeans signed up to the demand for European legislation to guarantee access to affordable water supplies. Two years later, on World Water Day 2016, the trade union-backed Right2Water campaign renewed its call for legislation at EU level to guarantee universal access to clean water and good sanitation.

A thunderclap action on social media calling for an end to racism at work, organised by the Belgian CSC trade union, reached 105,678 supporters in March.

Trade unions in Denmark are taking action to help refugees into the workforce. Together with employers and government, they have approved a 21-point plan to boost the integration of new arrivals. The aim is to get 50% of refugees into work.

A new collective agreement covering workers in the building trade in Croatia is seen as a blueprint for other sectors of industry. The deal, negotiated by the Croatian Construction Industry Trade Union (SGH), should help combat the exploitation of cheap labour and undeclared work in the building sector, which has been in recession since 2009.

The Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Chamber of Labour (AK) have together produced the first Austrian Apprenticeship Monitor: a national survey enabling young apprentices to assess their experiences at the end of their vocational training.

Thousands of people – men, women and children – are still risking their lives to get to Europe to escape war, persecution and misery in neighbouring countries. Many of them set their sights on Germany. To help them integrate into their host community, a broad coalition of German civil society actors, including trade unions and employers, religious, cultural and charity organisations, has launched the Alliance of Tolerance, Solidarity, Democracy and Constitutional State – Against Prejudice, Hatred and Violence.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has been building support among political parties for its Charter for Fair Conditions at Work. The Congress Charter sets out five key principles to help make decent work a reality: a living wage, fair hours of work, the right to trade union representation, the right to respect in the workplace, and fair public procurement. In its statement, ‘Collective Bargaining is a Human Right’, the ICTU asserts that “collective bargaining and fair conditions of employment are synonymous”.

Italian federation CGIL has launched a Charter of Universal Labour Rights. The aim is to get the Charter adopted in law, to guarantee dignity to all workers. The document, a set of rules defending both employed and self-employed, men and women, is now the focus of consultations in workplaces. Since January, a bus has been touring throughout Italy – from Trentino in the north to Sicily in the south – to inform workers, citizens, students and pensioners about the Charter.

After year-long negotiations, European social partners reached an agreement on information and consultation rights for civil servants and central government employees across Europe. “This is a landmark agreement for central government employees, and a great boost to the social dialogue,” said European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) General Secretary Jan Willem Goudriaan. “Mr Juncker now needs to turn his words into concrete action by introducing an EU Directive.”