Ambulance workers in Catalonia went on a four-day strike against wage cuts of 9.2%. The wage cuts are a consequence of the budget cuts, but are considered by unions to be illegal because the public framework contracts under which the ambulance companies operate do not provide for wage reductions. Disagreement exists over the level of mobilisation in the strike; government spokespersons said that only 7.74% of the staff joined the strike, whereas trade unions stressed that 90% of the staff that was scheduled and not obliged to maintain essential services participated in the action.
Spanish: http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/09/06/catalunya/1378462210_028252.html
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.