After some difficult bargaining the negotiations covering workers in municipal and regional government have ended and union members now have the chance to vote on the deals. Similar to the state sector agreement agreed one month earlier, there will be no pay increase in 2011 (this relates to links with private sector pay developments) but the pay rise in 2012 will be 2.65%. One disappointment for the unions was not getting any job security provisions at a time when hospitals are cutting jobs. However, there are some pay equity elements in the municipal deal along with increases targeted at the lower paid and funds for skills development. Yet, the FOA union has put progress in equal pay into perspective by concluding that progress could take over 500 years if future agreements follow the one just negotiated. The union argues that parliament needs to contribute to the process and pass legislation and agree funding that would ensure equal pay for work of equal value across the public sector (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 February 2011).
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/409; http://www.epsu.org/cob/411
Danish: http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid={74 ...
http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid={11B539A6-E622-4701-AB83-BC3A10C9E5DE} }
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.