Factbox: Strikes, protests in Europe over cost of living and pay | Popgen Tech

Nov 24 (Reuters) – European countries are facing strikes and protests over high energy prices and a steep rise in the cost of living. Here are details of some of the industrial actions and protests.

Britain

* About 400 fast food delivery staff employed by Tesco-owned Best Food Logistics ( TSCO.L ) have voted to strike over pay, the GMB union said on Thursday.

* Postal workers began a two-day strike on Thursday and a six-day strike in the run-up to Christmas looked set to continue after the Communication Workers Union rejected a pay offer from Royal Mail on November 23.

* More than 70,000 staff at British universities and teachers in Scotland walked out on Thursday to demand better pay.

* Thousands of British rail workers will stage further strikes over the next two months in a long-running dispute over pay, the RMT union said on November 22, signaling travel disruption before and after the Christmas holiday period.

* Hundreds of workers at British security company G4S voted to strike for 48 hours in early December in a dispute over pay, union GMB said on Nov. 22, warning the walkout could cause cash shortages over Christmas.

* Exxon Mobil said on Nov. 21 that its 390,000 barrels per day (bpd) Fawley oil refinery in southern England was unaffected by strikes. GMB union workers voted to strike over pay on 21 November to 2 December.

* Thousands of British civil servants plan a month of “sustained industrial action” through the winter in an ongoing pay dispute, the Public and Commercial Services union said on Nov. 18 after the biggest strike vote in its history.

* Tesco ( TSCO.L ), one of Britain’s biggest private sector employers, is offering its staff pay advances in the latest sign of distress stemming from a worsening cost-of-living crisis. Some 280,000 of the supermarket chain’s workers will be able to receive up to 25% of their contractual pay early if they pay a small fee.

* Outsourcing firm Mitie ( MTO.L ) offered its lower-paid workers a support package totaling 10 million pounds ($12 million), including one-off bonuses, retail discounts and options to borrow money against future pay.

* Union Unite said more than 700 workers at Bakkavor’s food manufacturing plant in Lincolnshire will strike over pay from the end of November until the new year, which the union says will hit Christmas food supplies to supermarkets Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Marks and Spencer.

* Pay awards by UK employers held at a 30-year high of 4% in the three months to October, well below annual inflation of more than 11%, data from human resources company XpertHR showed.

GERMANY

* Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) on Nov. 23 agreed a two-year wage deal for about 125,000 workers at its west German factories, offering about 8.5% more pay – below inflation but more than other employers have offered in recent weeks produced.

* Germany’s IG Metall union on Nov. 18 agreed a below-inflation wage deal in a powerhouse region, setting the benchmark for 3.9 million metal and electrical sector workers nationwide.

* The Verdi union said on Nov. 18 it had reached a wage deal with energy company RWE for about 18,000 employees that includes one-off payments of 3,000 euros ($3,122) and an increase in salaries of at least 6% from Feb. 1.

* Lufthansa and the UFO union have reached a pay deal for 19,000 cabin crew members, the German airline said.

* German carmaker Audi favors offering employees one-off tax-free payments instead of permanent pay rises, its human resources director said.

NETHERLANDS

* BP (BP.L) said on Nov. 22 that the planned restart of its major refinery in Rotterdam after it was shut down due to a technical problem had been put on hold after unions said they would not help with the return to work due to a payment dispute.

FRANCE

* The UNAC and SNGAF unions said they are calling for strike action over working conditions at Air France ( AIRF.PA ) during the December 22 to January 2 Christmas break.

* France’s EDF ( EDF.PA ) said on Oct. 27 it had formally signed a wage deal for its workers in the country with all unions present at the company.

SPAIN

* A union group representing shop assistants at fashion retailer Zara has called a two-day strike over pay during the November 24 and 25 “Black Friday” sales at stores in the company’s hometown of A Coruna in northern Spain.

* Insurer Mapfre will pay a one-off bonus of 400 euros ($417.32) at Christmas to its roughly 10,000 employees in Spain to help them cope with rising inflation. The company provided a bonus of 350 euros in July.

* Thousands of Spaniards packed Madrid’s landmark Plaza Mayor square on Nov. 3 to demand higher pay, in the country’s first mass protest since the start of the cost-of-living crisis.

PORTUGAL

* Thousands of Portugal’s doctors, nurses, teachers and civil servants walked off the job on November 18 to demand pay rises amid rampant inflation.

AUSTRIA

Austrian metalworkers secured an average annual salary increase of more than 7% on November 4, above the 6.3% inflation rate for the negotiation period, which could be a wake-up call for other sectors.

($1 = 0.9609 euros)

Compiled by Toby Chopra and Catherine Evans; editing by Barbara Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.