The public sector workers went on strike on 29 January with the demand that the new government cuts working hours to 35 per week. The previous centre-right government, ousted by the left in November, imposed the 40-hour week in the public sector in 2013 as part of its austerity drive under an international bailout which finished in 2014. The government has already approved the new working hours, which will be introduced in July, but the largest trade union confederation CGTP wants the change sooner. The CGTP said on its website that the National Federation of Public Sector Unions had called the strike meeting with government representatives, and will continue with actions unless their demand is met. Strikes and protests against steep tax hikes and deep wage cuts flared during the centre right's 2011-2015 terms.
English: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires …
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters …
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.