Renewal of the collective agreement for Luxtram employees On October 3, 2023, OGBL and FNCTTFEL-Landesverband signed with Luxtram management the renewal of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for Luxtram employees. The new CBA enters into force retroactively as of January 1, 2023 for a period of three years, i.e. until December 31, 2025. Among other things, the new CBA honors the commitment made in the first CBA signed with Luxtram management to improve opportunities for advancement in all wage groups. Automatic salary progression has been introduced and the end-of-year bonus has been decoupled from the appraisal system and converted into a fixed bonus. The appraisal system has also been improved to allow for advanced salary progression. Bonuses for night and weekend work were also improved. The new agreement also introduces provisions for teleworking, medical check-ups and blood donations during working hours. The new agreement covers 170 employees and the staff delegation is made up of 6 OGBL/Landesverband delegates. The main improvements included in the new agreement are as follows automatic payment of a 4% year-end bonus automatic promotion after 7 years of service possibility of promotion based on evaluation after 4 years of service night differential increased from 15% to 25% introduction of a Saturday premium of 25% Sunday premium increased from 70% to 80% possibility for administrative staff to telecommute up to two days per week possibility for administrative staff on flexitime to use excess flexitime to attend medical appointments during fixed working hours – a certificate must be presented after each appointment 2 x 4 hours leave per year to donate blood Press release issued by the Public Service OGBL/Landesverband Syndicate and the Railways OGBL/FNCTTFEL-Landesverband on October 6, 2023
TICE – The future of the bus service in the South remains guaranteed FGFC plays on staff fears Following the publication on 11 July of a press release by the President of the Staff Delegation (FGFC), without the agreement of the OGBL/Landesverband delegates, questioning the future financing of the CTBT by the Ministry of Transport, CTBT staff were concerned about the future of their jobs. The press release stated that the Ministry of Transport would not renew the existing agreement between the State and the CTBT at the end of 2024. In the worst case, the future of the TICE was at stake. The OGBL/Landesverband reacted immediately and informed the staff that this issue had already been clarified in April at a meeting between the OGBL/Landesverband and the Minister of Transport. The OGBL/Landesverband reiterated that, according to the Ministry, there would indeed be changes in the CTBT network and that there would in no way be any job cuts at the CTBT. The opposite is true. A study commissioned by the ministry concluded that there would be a massive increase in traffic in the south. There is talk of 90,000 additional road users by 2035. For the TICE intermunicipal syndicate, this means a massive increase in staff. Minister of Transport declares working group to be set up The Minister of Transport put an end to the rumor by inviting all CTBT staff representatives to a meeting on July 19. Significantly, the OGBL/Landesverband did not share the FGFC’s panic from the outset. ”D’ Zukunft vum TICE bleift ofgeséchert,” the OGBL/Landesverband wrote in a press release. “No jobs are at risk at the TICE intermunicipal syndicate,” wrote the minister in response to the emotional letter from the TICE section of the FGFC. This was confirmed by the Minister during the two-hour meeting on July 19. Tensions were eased. The Minister emphasized the central role of the CTBT in the future mobility concept for the south of the country in the complex context of cross-border public services. A working group consisting of the Ministry, the CTBT and the trade unions will now examine what form the new agreement will take from 2025 onwards and what role the CTBT will play. Some changes are not out of the question, not least because of European commitments. This applies in particular to the role of a regional syndicate within the European framework and to direct calls for tenders for public services. In addition, CTBT managers need to think about how to work more efficiently and adapt to new realities. During the negotiations on the agreement between the state and the CTBT, the latter was more notable for its apathy than for its constructive thinking. No need to panic. The OGBL/Landesverband focuses on the facts The fact is that the agreement between the state and TICE expires at the end of 2024 and will have to be renegotiated before then. However, basic bus services are still guaranteed. Negotiations on new requirements related to the new mobility concept are underway. However, we cannot expect the CTBT to be dismantled. This is also what has emerged from the discussions held in recent months with many players in the bus sector. In the context of the National Mobility Plan for 2035 and a doubling of bus ridership, it seems clear that current CTBT services will be fully utilized and even expanded in the south of the country. There is therefore no question of staff cuts or other scenarios that would threaten the CTBT. The OGBL/Landesverband has pointed out that some things will change as a result of local and national elections. The CTBT Board will be renewed. The current CTBT President will no longer be available. Secondly, there will be changes in the CTBT management. Due to the illness of the former Director, this position also needs to be filled. Thirdly, we have to wait for the national elections in October and the formation of the new government. Only then will we be able to put things right. Moreover, we don’t know today what the future of the country and the CTBT will look like in 2025. OGBL/Landesverband stays in the picture Keyword: Finances. If all the strings were pulled and the future of the CTBT were put on the line, politicians in the government and the CTBT would have to expect a massive protest from the OGBL/Landesverband. Despite strong fears, the future of the TICE intercommunal bus syndicate is not in doubt. Nevertheless, the south of the country has to think about the period after 2025. A working group consisting of all the parties concerned will now start working on this task. The OGBL/Landesverband will continue to fight for the interests of the CTBT personnel and for the extension of the CTBT. And it will do so with its usual cool head and tenacity! FGFC incorrigible – attacks on the OGBL/Landesverband as an expression of its own incompetence? Since the successful protest action of February 4, 2020 and the achievement of a link with the provision of the collective agreement of the communes of the south for the private-law staff of the TICE oil tankers, the FGFC section has been constantly acting against the trade union work of the OGBL/Landesverband. It should be remembered that the above-mentioned protest action initiated by the OGBL/Landesverband was originally conceived as a municipal action. On the day of the action, the FGFC distanced itself from the action of the tanker workers and was conspicuous by its absence. Instead of standing up for the interests of the employees, the FGFC is acting against the staff representatives of the OGBL/Landesverband. It is undemocratically abusing its majority in the staff delegation to exclude OGBL/Landesverband staff representatives from working groups and commissions. In order to completely sabotage the consistent trade union commitment of the OGBL/Landesverband, the FGFC recommended to the CTBT to limit the statutory trade union leave of the staff delegates of the OGBL/Landesverband to 6 days per year. The CTBT immediately implemented this welcome FGFC recommendation. Instead of defending the interests of the staff, the FGFGC never tires of discrediting the commitment of the OGBL/Landesverband with baseless lies; most recently in its magazine, it accused the OGBL/Landesverband of “serious incompetence, disinterest, etc.” without providing any precise, concrete evidence. The question of the driving forces behind this highly dubious action of the FGFC must be asked: Fear of the future, jealousy, self-deception, frustration, impotence, incompetence? The FGFC is playing on the fear of the future of its staff in order to defend its own interests.
Still no justice for police officers with a secondary school-leaving certificate! After litigation against the Luxembourg state established that, during the 2018 police reform, hundreds of police officers should have had direct access to the B1 career on the basis of their secondary school-leaving certificate (the judges used the expression “de plano”, i.e. “by right”) and that, subsequently, the “voie express” mechanism (by which, since 2018, hundreds of civil servants without a high school diploma have received priority treatment on the basis of their seniority, i.e. they have moved up to career B1 ahead of civil servants with a high school diploma) was suspended because the judges had found it unconstitutional, one could assume that the relevant ministers had understood what had rung the bell. This is not the case with Ministers Marc Hansen (Civil Service) and Henri Kox (Internal Security) who, with the “Accord relatif au mécanisme temporaire de changement de groupe de traitement dit “voie expresse” au sein de la Police grand-ducale”, signed on June 12, 2023 by the government, the SNPGL and the CGFP, have deliberately and knowingly allowed the injustices found by the Constitutional Court and the administrative tribunal to continue : Civil servants with a secondary school-leaving certificate are still denied direct access to the B1 career. Seniority continues to take precedence over diplomas, as there is no retroactivity. What’s more, the way in which this project was drawn up is highly questionable and, indeed, unworthy of a minister. Ministers Marc Hansen and Henri Kox had previously excluded ADESP from all negotiations, thereby flouting article 1 of the Grand Ducal regulation of March 5, 2004: “Au cas où plusieurs associations représentatives pour les différents sous-groupes de traitement existent au sein d’une même administration, la représentation du personnel est constituée par les comités de ces différentes associations”. Article 3 of the Grand-Ducal regulation has also been ignored: “Pour les matières où l’avis de la représentation du personnel est obligatoire […], le comité doit être consulté dès le stade de l’élaboration du texte. Il doit recevoir la documentation complète […] .” It should be noted that no staff representation was consulted. ADESP, as the representative organization of police officers with a secondary school-leaving certificate, which from the outset defended the legitimate demand of hundreds of police officers concerned for classification in career B1, both internally within the police force and in the public eye, was here excluded from the discussions from the start. Since December, ADESP has repeatedly requested meetings, only to be left in the lurch. Instead, the government negotiated alone with the SNPGL/CGFP behind closed doors. ADESP and OGBL are very clear in their opposition to the current draft, as both the draft and the agreement were concluded with total disregard for social dialogue, and the conclusions of the Constitutional Court and the administrative tribunal were clearly ignored in the project. We also strongly criticize the actions of ministers Marc Hansen and Henri Kox. The three governing parties must ask themselves to what extent it is tolerable for ministers to ignore social dialogue and deliberately and consciously disregard decrees and decisions of the courts. Press release by ADESP and the OGBL Public Services Syndicate, June 19, 2023
The ball is in the government’s court In the context of cases brought by a large number of police officers with baccalaureate degrees who want to be reclassified in B1, the Administrative Court has just issued appeals. In it, the Court points out that “although, in the light of the Constitutional Court’s findings, the intervention of the legislature appears to be necessary, the Court itself cannot remedy this situation, for fear of encroaching on the powers of the legislature”. The conclusion is therefore clear: since the Court finds discrimination but cannot intervene in the legislative process, the responsibility now lies with the relevant minister. The current state of the law must therefore be amended to comply with the constitutional principle of equal treatment. In its judgment, the Court also speaks of a missed opportunity: “The choice thus made by the legislature, in adopting the law of July 18, 2018, not to automatically reclassify police officers […], holders of a diploma of completion of classical or general secondary education or an equivalent diploma […], in treatment group B1, is a political choice […].” The OGBL, which has been working with ADESP since February 2020, fully agrees with ADESP’s demand to be reclassified in B1 and supported the legal steps taken to achieve this. Indeed, it is unjustifiable that police officers who perform the same tasks, have largely the same level of work and have the same job description, are nevertheless classified in different pay grades depending on whether they were hired before or after August 1, 2018. It should be recalled that before August 1, 2018, the civil servants concerned did not have a choice between B1 and C1 careers, and anyone who wanted to become a police officer had to become an inspector, which corresponds to today’s C1 career. It is now up to the government, which has so far shown no inclination to reverse its 2018 decision, stating that it wants to “wait for the decision of the Administrative Court”, to act quickly and present a draft law within a short timeframe. ADESP has already drawn up a draft law – a proposal supported by OGBL – on which Minister Kox could base his draft law. The main points of ADESP’s proposed law are as follows: All officers in career C1 of the police cadre whose first appointment took place before August 1, 2018 and who held a high school diploma on August 1, 2018 will be reclassified to career B1; they will be reclassified in the salary grade corresponding to their seniority; Agents will be exempted from the promotion exam if they have already passed a promotion exam in career C1; all civil servants who meet the conditions for reclassification but who have been transferred to career B1 after August 1, 2018 by means of the “out-in” (Article 66) or “Voie Expresse” (Article 94) mechanisms will also be reclassified retroactively as of August 1, 2018. The effects of these mechanisms are considered not to have occurred. However, civil servants who have passed the B1 career promotion exam since 2018 will not have to retake it. The OGBL and the ADESP call on Minister Kox and the government as a whole not to waste any more time and to present as soon as possible a draft law corresponding to these proposals, in order to prevent the situation within the Grand Ducal Police from getting worse. It should be noted that the civil servants who have already been wronged have been saddled with the additional responsibility of training a large number of trainee police officers. The ADESP has already been informed of various facts, always pointing out that the necessary professional supervision of trainee officers is not guaranteed due to low morale. This predictable and harmful scenario has been repeatedly reported to the Minister of Police. OGBL and ADESP press release, May 8, 2023
Better working and salary conditions for staff are a prerequisite for the consistent expansion of public passenger transport Recently, four structures of the OGBL and the Landesverband – Public Service OGBL/Landesverband Syndicate, Road Transport and Navigation-ACAL Syndicate, Railways FNCTTFEL-Landesverband Syndicate and the Public Service Department – held a meeting with the Minister of Mobility and his civil servants. The union representatives had requested this meeting based on information that within the framework of the reorganization of public passenger transport in the south of the country, there would be a reduction of the lines operated by TICE. The trade union delegation criticized in this context the creeping tendency to replace publicly operated lines by lines operated by private bus companies, as well as the fact that the observed staff shortage, the constant overtime and the resulting absences due to illness (especially burnout) are mainly addressed by a deterioration of working conditions, by hiring new bus drivers in a less well paid status (municipal employees instead of municipal civil servants, private law instead of public). For OGBL and Landesverband, this is exactly the wrong way to proceed: career prospects, salary and working conditions must be improved in order to make the profession of bus driver more attractive again. This is also in line with the government’s goals. During the meeting, the representatives of the Ministry explained the government’s plans to further expand public passenger transport, to increase complementarity between the various services and also to introduce more cross-border lines in the south of the country. The representatives of the Ministry underlined that by 2035 it is expected that instead of 75,000 passengers today, 160,000 passengers per day will have to be transported. Also, a study has shown that a very large number of cross-border workers work in the south of the country, while until now cross-border passenger transport has been mainly focused on the city of Luxembourg. It is therefore necessary to improve the complementarity of the various services, between the fast tram, to an increased frequency in rail transport, as well as to the additional cross-border lines, and thus to increase the overall capacity. These efforts cannot be achieved without sufficient and satisfied staff. Regarding the TICE, the representatives of the Ministry gave the all-clear to some extent: it is not yet clear whether there will really be a reduction in the number of lines operated by the TICE, as the negotiations with the Municipal Syndicate in this regard are still ongoing. The current convention is still in place until 2024. Although the content of this convention is not yet known, it is clear that there will not be less service overall, given the capacity increases that will have to be provided. The representatives of the Ministry have underlined that in any case there would be no dismissals at TICE. It is not up to the Ministry of Mobility to decide under which status new drivers should be hired at TICE, but the ball is clearly in the local authorities’ court. The minister did not want to make any statement about the operator of the future tram line between Luxembourg and Esch-Belval; this decision would have to be made by his successor. Other topics discussed during the meeting included the situation at the training center CFC (Centre de formation des conducteurs), which should be reorganized for the OGBL and receive additional regional branches, as well as the annoying and still largely unresolved question of access to toilets, especially for the RGTR bus drivers, but also for the drivers of the TICE. Even at a central hub such as Belval, this is currently not yet guaranteed. This is also part of attractive working conditions for drivers. The representatives of the Ministry have assured to continue to influence the local authorities in this sense, especially since 50% of the costs are now covered by the state. Communicated by the Syndicates Public Service OGBL/Landesverband, Road Transport-ACAL, Railways FNCTTFEL-Landesverband and the Public Service Department of the OGBL, on April 21, 2023.
A paradigm shift for 1,600 employees After years of negotiations, the OGBL and LCGB unions, the NVGL association and the Conseil échevinal de la Ville de Luxembourg have signed a new collective agreement covering 1,600 employees of the City of Luxembourg. After lengthy negotiations with the City of Luxembourg, the signatory unions were able to sign a modern and attractive collective agreement for the employees of the City of Luxembourg. The social partners are clearly committed to a paradigm shift, as the new collective agreement takes into account a number of new requirements in the world of work. The new text has been adapted to current working conditions and is presented in a new, coordinated version. It has a clear structure, particularly with regard to the regulation of working hours and rest periods, vacation rules, time savings account, pension benefits, health and safety rules, and sexual and moral harassment in the workplace. The right to disconnect, which ensures a better work-life balance, was renegotiated. In particular, it was agreed that no disciplinary action would be taken for not answering phone calls or emails during rest periods and vacations. In addition, the salary provisions were improved as follows Introduction of a new linear salary structure and a new career model based on 6 clear and understandable careers. The previous model was based on 12 salary groups, which made it possible to identify a variety of career paths. The new 6-career salary grid now allows for easy career classification and ensures a fair compensation policy for all employees. It also makes it easier to move from one career to another. In addition, the careers of employees with disability status who benefit from a support measure will be aligned with the new career model. Introduction of new allowances for team leader positions (e.g. foreman, department manager) and for the master’s certificate. 25% increase in special allowances (clothing, holiday and meal allowances) for all employees. This corresponds to a gross monthly amount of 456 euros. This qualitative and financial upgrading of the collective agreement contributes to increasing the value of the work of the employees of the City of Luxembourg. The collective agreement is valid from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025. Press release of February 21, 2023