Trade unions demonstrate against dismantling of social security system

In May 2009, seven Luxembourg trade unions joined forces to organise a general demonstration in protest against the threat of the dismantlement of the social security system. The protest was attended by some 16,000 people. The demonstration’s organisation on the eve of the country’s parliamentary elections on 7 June 2009 was intended as a sign to the political parties, which were invited to come out in clear favour of maintaining Luxembourg’s social model.

A relatively rare form of expression

Large-scale demonstrations are rare in Luxembourg. The ‘Luxembourg model’ is characterised by its culture of dialogue, negotiation, consensus and discretion. However, the recession has had repercussions for workers, and the trade unions have chosen a new form of expression to draw attention to the workers’ discontent. Moreover, the 109 proposals issued by the employers’ federation, the Union of Luxembourg Companies (Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises, UEL), in support of competitiveness have been perceived as a provocation during this difficult economic period.

Six trade unions therefore joined forces in response to a call from the Luxembourg Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (Onofhängege Gewerkschaftsbond Lëtzebuerg, OGBL) to hold a protest march on 16 May 2009 in Luxembourg. The other five unions included the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Lëtzebuerger Chrëschtleche Gewerkschafts-Bond, LCGB), the Luxembourg Association of Bank and Insurance Employees (Association Luxembourgeoise des employés de banques et assurances, ALEBA), the General Federation of Local Authority Employees (Fédération générale de la Fonction communale, FGFC), the National Federation of Luxembourg Railway and Transport Workers and Civil Servants (Fédération Nationale des Cheminots, Travailleurs du Transport, Fonctionnaires et Employés publics du Luxembourg, FNCTTFEL) and the Christian Transport Workers’ Trade Union ‘Syprolux’ (Fédération Chrétienne du Personnel des Transports, FCPT-Syprolux).

Several thousands of workers participated in the demonstration, with sectors such as construction, metalworking, healthcare, retail trade and the public sector being particularly well represented (LU0904019I). The slogans used at the demonstration called for greater employment protection and respect for workers, as well as the recognition of trade union rights above the free market economy – ‘Protect employees in the event of bankruptcy’, ‘Employers, show us some respect’ and ‘Union rights above economic rights’.

Main trade union demands

At this time of recession, the trade unions are calling for guarantees regarding employment, social progress and the avoidance of any deterioration in the country’s social security system. They have put forward the following key demands.

• Financing the social security system: Social security benefits – that is, sickness insurance, pensions, incapacity insurance, accident insurance and dependency insurance – should not be cut. Employers’ and state contributions to finance social security should not be reduced; on the contrary, these contributions should be increased if necessary. The trade unions are opposed to any attempt to privatise social security, social insurance and public services.

• Maintaining the indexation of salaries and pensions: For the trade unions, the law on the automatic adjustment of salaries and pensions to take account of inflation through indexation must not be modified under any circumstances. The laws on the minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum income should be complied with scrupulously. The adjustment of pensions to take account of overall pay increases should continue to take place on a biannual basis as it has done in the past. The trade unions are also in favour of maintaining salary levels in the public sector and are opposed to any policy introducing a pay freeze in companies or a delay in adjusting pay to reflect gains in economic productivity.

• Improving unemployment legislation and the legal protection of employees in the event of bankruptcy: The trade unions believe that it is vital to improve unemployment legislation. If the recession continues, unemployment benefit should be increased and paid over a longer period. The legislation on partial unemployment should be improved further, by extending the rules on continuing training needs and raising the level of benefit to 100% of the salary. Moreover, the legislation on job retention urgently needs to be improved to ensure that this instrument plays its role to the full, namely that jobs are protected on a risk preventive basis and job losses avoided. The legal protection given to employees in the event of bankruptcy also needs to be improved.

• Attaching conditions to the allocation of public aid to companies: State aid to companies and public contracts relating to the recession should, the trade unions believe, be subject to conditions guaranteeing jobs and salaries at the companies which benefit from them.

• Reforming the legislation on co-management in companies: The trade unions consider the reforming of the legislation on co-management of employees in companies as an absolute priority – co-management must be profoundly modernised and treated within a socially progressive approach.

• Stepping up of labour inspections: The rise in the incidence of infringements by employers of social and labour law and of collective agreements must be tackled forcefully by political and legislative means. The trade unions demand that state monitoring and inspection urgently need to be reformed and made more effective.

The trade unions have not ruled out a second large-scale demonstration if their demands are not taken seriously by the government.

Odette Wlodarski, Prevent