HUSKY Technologies: 155 jobs threatened! Unions demand a job protection plan! On March 29, the management of Husky Technologies informed the staff delegation as well as the OGBL and LCGB that 155 jobs will be lost in Dudelange due to the company’s decision to withdraw from the special molding system solutions business. After Dupont Teijin Films (DTF), this announcement is the second major cutback in Luxembourg’s industry within a few weeks. The staff delegation and the unions were informed barely an hour before the workforce. The timing and manner of the announcement are unacceptable. On the eve of Easter, employees and their families are uncertain about their future. The staff delegation, together with the unions, categorically refused to negotiate a possible social plan. The OGBL and the LCGB demand the immediate implementation of a job protection plan (plan de maintien dans l’emploi – PME) in order to avoid any redundancies. All means must be used to maintain jobs! A PME could make it possible to use all social support measures to avoid job losses through measures such as early retirement, manpower loans, but also professional reorientation through training. Given the seriousness of the situation, the OGBL and LCGB have asked the management to organize a joint meeting with representatives of the ministries concerned, which will take place on April 5, in order to obtain the necessary support and accompaniment in this matter. In light of the recent announcements in the industrial sector, the unions’ national demand for the creation of a reclassification cell (cellule de reclassement – CDR), as requested during the meetings with the ministers in connection with the DTF dossier, is confirmed. The trade unions, strongly supported by the staff delegation, will use all the means at their disposal to safeguard the existence of the employees and their jobs and to avoid redundancies! Press release March 29, 2023
The labor shortage in industry must not be used to undermine working conditions and pay While the reduction of working hours is now a necessity throughout the world, the employers’ representatives of Luxembourg industry (FEDIL) have just announced that they are demanding, among other things, precisely the opposite, namely an increase in working hours – a measure presented by FEDIL as the main solution to the problem of labor shortages in the sector. The OGBL industry syndicates would like to denounce this lame shortcut of blaming employees or even the government, while completely ignoring their own failings. Anyone who follows the international news discovers every day the results of another country that publishes the effects produced on its territory by a reduction in working time with salary maintenance. Everywhere, the results are the same: an improvement in employees’ personal balance and the maintenance or even an increase in the productivity of companies. The OGBL’s position is thus confirmed: satisfied employees who are able to better reconcile their private and professional lives are beneficial to companies, which thus become more productive and therefore more profitable! Employees in industry are not suffering, they are suffering badly! In Luxembourg, some FEDIL members do not want to question themselves and identify the real reasons for the difficulties that some companies have in recruiting or retaining employees? Whose fault is it? For FEDIL, it is the employees who do not work enough, the sick who pretend being sick, the laws and collective agreements that protect the employees and prevent employers from doing as they please. Living to work or working to live? To want to increase the “effective” working time is in itself an insult! For the OGBL, there is only one working time, that during which the employee is at the disposal of the employer without being able to freely do his or her personal business. To raise doubts on this notion, by inserting the term “effective”, has the sole aim of concealing an employer’s demand to increase working time beyond the legal provisions currently in force or, worse, to call into question existing reductions in working time, negotiated in the framework of collective agreements. This includes extra-legal leave, reduced working hours (yes, these already exist) or paid breaks. Some less well-intentioned people might even see this as a desire by FEDIL to put an end to pee- and coffee-breaks, dressing or shower. These demands seem all the more inappropriate as FEDIL seems to forget that workers in the industry work in continuous-fire and/or shift regimes with atypical working hours and often with flexibility in working time. The FEDIL, with unbounded greed, demands more flexibility, without control, forgetting to point out that thanks to collective agreements, many companies in the sector already have a flexibility that takes into account the rights of employees, since it has been negotiated collectively. This raises the question of whether the reality experienced by company managers is really the same as that of companies and employees on the ground? Or is it simply a new attempt to reclassify overtime and thus no longer have to respect the authorised limits and, above all, to avoid paying or compensating overtime at its fair value? Work makes you sick Sick hunting seems to be a favourite pastime for companies, given the repeated demands from the federations for more means of controlling certificates and reducing wages in the event of illness. The OGBL defends the provisions protecting sick employees and wonders rather about the causes of illnesses? Could it be that the illnesses are caused by the fact that many companies are understaffed as a result of yet another reorganisation or restructuring? Or is it due to the increasing intensity of work and the demand of companies to do more with less? The FEDIL forgets that work also makes you sick, both physically and mentally, especially when you have to deal with toxic management and work schedules that are not respected. Labor shortage goes hand in hand with lack of attractiveness Many companies believe that the labor shortage is due to the fact that people “don’t want to work anymore”. However, one only has to look at the unemployment figures in Luxembourg and beyond our borders to dispute this assertion. Nor is it the government that will allow industry to stand out from other sectors in the country through one measure or another. Companies in the industry need to take responsibility and ask themselves the right questions: why are they having trouble recruiting and retaining employees? Are these industry professions still attractive? For the OGBL, the answers and solutions are relatively simple: better working conditions, better pay and real career prospects. And this is only possible through collective bargaining. Companies will never do it voluntarily. The European institutions have confirmed this view by asking the Member States – and Luxembourg is also targeted here – to extend the coverage of collective agreements. Across the Atlantic, the Biden administration is making the maintenance and creation of well-paid union jobs a key element of its recovery plan for the USA. The OGBL is convinced that it is not by dismantling the Labor Code and collective agreements that industry will become more attractive and attract “talent”. On the contrary! Press release by the OGBL Industry Syndicates, 17 March 2023
A new tripartite agreement that strengthens purchasing power and guarantees the index In March 2022, the OGBL refused to sign a tripartite agreement that manipulated the index by introducing a delay of at least 12 months between two index brackets and that did nothing to combat the explosion in prices. After months of lobbying, the OGBL was finally able to secure a new tripartite agreement for September 2022, restoring the normal operation of the index and introducing anti-inflationary measures, particularly for energy prices. The new tripartite agreement, reached at the end of the day on March 3 and signed on March 7, 2023, consolidates the September agreement and even strengthens it on several points. Index and energy price caps The agreement guarantees the normal operation of the index until the end of 2024. There will be no manipulation and no new tranche deferrals. Given the employers’ persistent attacks on the index in the run-up to the tripartite meeting, this is another success for the OGBL’s consistent action in defense of the index. Compensation to employers for the possible indexation tranche announced for the fourth quarter of 2023 – provided for in the September agreement – will be provided through the Employers’ Mutual Fund and will end in January 2024. In this way, it has been possible to avoid the logic of a permanent state subsidy of wage increases. It should be noted that employees and pensioners will receive the full amount of this tranche when it becomes due. Measures to cap energy prices (electricity, gas, fuel oil, pellets, etc.) will be extended until December 31, 2024. This is an important measure to avoid another inflationary shock in 2024. This measure provides security for consumers, who will be spared any major increases in their energy bills. A first step towards greater tax justice At the insistence of the syndicates, the issue of adjusting the tax scale was included on the tripartite agenda at the last minute, despite the opposition of the employers. What’s more, the tripartite negotiations resulted in a first adjustment of the scale, which will take place in two stages: In 2023, taxpayers will receive a tax credit equal to the impact of two index brackets on their personal taxation. This credit will be applied as soon as the tripartite law is adopted, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2023. As of January 1, 2024, the tax scale will be increased by 6.37%, equivalent to 2.5 index brackets. This is an important first step to put an end to the phenomenon of cold progression. However, the OGBL maintains its demand for an adjustment that takes into account all the increases applied since 2017, as well as the reintroduction of a mechanism for the automatic adjustment of the tax scale to inflation. These elements must be the subject of a comprehensive tax reform, the main objective of which must be greater tax justice. Housing and climate measures In addition to the two main points concerning the index and the tax scale, the Tripartite also adopted a series of more specific measures, in particular to provide additional support in the context of the housing crisis and the ecological transition. To name but a few: the “bëllegen Akt” tax credit for notarized deeds for home purchases was increased from €20,000 to €30,000 against the backdrop of sharply rising interest rates, the ceiling for mortgage interest deductions has been raised by 50%. tax exemption for individuals on energy generated by photovoltaic panels will be increased compensation for the CO2 tax will be extended in the form of a new, permanent climate tax credit. the government will continue to cover the additional cost of energy to limit price increases in nursing homes. an equivalent tax credit of 84 euros will be paid to REVIS and income for the severely disabled (revenu pour personnes gravement handicapées – RPGH) recipients until December 31, 2024. For the OGBL, the new tripartite agreement strengthens the purchasing power of households without adversely affecting employees and pensioners. Attacks on the index have once again been postponed. The OGBL can therefore support the new tripartite agreement, which would certainly not have been possible without its constant commitment to the purchasing power of the people, the defense of the index and the adjustment of the tax scale to inflation. Published by the OGBL on March 7, 2023
160 jobs threatened! – Unions demand a job protection plan! Today, the management of Dupont Teijin Films (DTF) announced to the staff delegation and the OGBL and LCGB syndicates that 160 jobs will be cut following the decision to stop production on lines 2 and 4 due to lack of profitability. The OGBL and LCGB are outraged by this announcement and demand that a job protection plan (plan de maintien dans l’emploi – PME) be implemented as a matter of urgency to avoid any redundancies! All means must be used to preserve jobs. In this context, the OGBL and LCGB seriously question the origin of the sale of this plant, which belonged to Dupont de Nemours and has been in the hands of Celanese since October 2021! Barely six months after the takeover, a massive reduction of jobs has been announced! Under these conditions, Dupont de Nemours must also assume its share of social responsibility for the threat now hanging over 160 jobs, while the Dupont group continues to invest. That is why the syndicates are urgently calling on the management to start negotiations with the Dupont de Nemours management on a PME. This PME would make it possible to take advantage of all social support measures to avoid job losses, such as early retirement, loan of workers, but also professional reorientation through training. Given the seriousness of the situation, the OGBL and the LCGB have requested an urgent meeting with the Minister of Labor in order to obtain the necessary support and guidance in this matter. A first meeting with the management will be held on March 9, 2023 to present and analyze the economic situation of the DTF. The syndicates, with the strong support of the workers’ delegation, will use all the means at their disposal to defend the existence of the workers and their jobs! Press release March 6, 2023
Failure of the negotiations at Cargolux: Referral to the National Conciliation Office The OGBL and the LCGB have submitted a complaint to the National Conciliation Office following the lack of willingness of Cargolux management to enter into real and serious negotiations in the context of the renewal of the collective agreement. Despite excellent results, with a record net profit of US$ 768.7 million in 2020, US$ 1.3 billion in 2021 and a new record year expected in 2022, the management categorically refuses any wage increase as well as any sustainable improvement in working conditions. During the last three years, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff has made great efforts that have enabled Cargolux to meet the various challenges and to achieve record profits for three consecutive years. A recognition of these efforts for all employees is therefore more than justified within the collective agreement. In addition to an attractive remuneration model that reflects the cost of living in Luxembourg and honors the experience and commitment of the staff, the collective agreement should also include measures to improve the work-life balance, as well as greater stability in the work plans of all employees. In addition, long-term career perspectives with adequate job security must be guaranteed for all employees. This implies that the investments already made and those to be made in the future, such as the conversion of part of the Cargolux fleet to Boeing 777-8Fs, must be made at the Luxembourg site within the framework of the existing collective agreement. The investments must not be used to relocate jobs abroad, nor to employ staff outside the Cargolux collective agreement, nor to circumvent the collective agreement. The contracting unions demand that the management assumes its responsibility for the company and for Luxembourg as a economic location and negotiates a future-oriented collective agreement for all employees. Press release on February 22, 2023
OGBL, LCGB and CGFP request an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister The three nationally representative trade union organizations have just requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister on the subject of adjusting the personal income tax scale to inflation. During the last meetings of the Tripartite Coordination Committee, such an adjustment was one of the main demands of the three organizations to which the Government has not yet responded. However, in the context of still high inflation, this adjustment has become essential in the eyes of the trade unions in order to maintain the purchasing power of employees and pensioners. Without adjusting the scale, this purchasing power is only compensated at the gross level, while it continues to decrease at the net level. Indeed, for an average salary, an index tranche of 2.5% gross represents only a net increase of 1.75%. It is high time that this creeping and hidden tax increase comes to an end. For this reason, OGBL, LCGB and CGFP have requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister before the next meeting of the Tripartite Coordination Committee to discuss the concrete modalities of such an adjustment. For the three trade union organizations, this subject must imperatively be part of the upcoming tripartite discussions. Press release by OGBL, LCGB and CGFP 20.02.2023