Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

SK 2011:
cuts/freeze
planned
SI
2009: wage
moderation
agreement
wage growth for
2009 reduced
from 9.9% to
7.1%
The 2012 Public
finance balance
act decreased
wages in the
public sector by
8% on average.
uniformisation
of the pay
scale
2010-2011:
partial
measures for
curbing
employment in
the public
sector
2012: Public
finance
balance Act:
no new
recruitment in
the public
sector foreseen
10/2010: private and public
sector demonstration
11-12/2011: doctors'
successful mass resignation
campaign for higher wages
and reversal of hospital
corporatisation
10/2010: public sector strike
04/2012: general strike of
teachers and police
demonstration, but major
trade unions promised not to
call a referendum on
austerity measures (in
Slovenia referendums are
easy to call, this is also an
often used weapon of unions
against the government). In
May 2012, after a month of
negotiations, an agreement
on austerity measures in the
public sector was signed by
government, employers and
trade unions.
After 2010, political action and strikes further intensified in healthcare, education and other
subsectors of public service. In Poland, the fire fighters’ trade union voiced dissatisfaction
with working time regulation concerning fire fighters. In Hungary, public sector trade unions
protested against pension cuts for armed forces, police officers and fire fighters. In Slovakia,
trade unions in the education sector went on strike before the government agreed to negotiated
wage increases for teachers. In late 2011, the trade union representing medical doctors in
Slovakia threatened a walkout of doctors in order to obtain wage increases and stop the
process of transforming state-run hospitals into public corporations. Facing the threat of
enormous shortages of hospital doctors, the government agreed to substantial wage increases.
Following this action, the Chamber of nurses and midwives also submitted a petition for wage
increases, which was successful. Czech trade unions in public healthcare engaged in similar
action in 2010 and 2011 to obtain wage increases and secure funding for public hospitals. 28
In Romania, public discontent with austerity measures produced a large union-led protest in
2010 against cuts in pensions and salaries. Earlier in 2010, the Romanian national trade union
confederations set up a national crisis committee to harmonise the trade unions’ response to
the government’s anti-crisis measures, especially those included in the agreement with the
IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank. 29 After the unions accused the
government of ignoring social dialogue, more than 60,000 union members and supporters
protested against the proposed wage and welfare cuts. The five largest trade union
28 Source: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/12/articles/cz1112029i.htm
29 Source: EIRO at http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2010/05/articles/RO1005019I.htm
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