European Federation of Public Service Unions

(15 May 2012) EPSU has joined the Global Campaign to end immigration detention of children, launched by the International Detention Coalition on 21 March 2012 condemning the use of detention as a common migration management tool. This campaign focuses on child detention by promoting stories of children and parents from all over the world who have experienced or been impacted by immigration detention. Key aims of the campaign are both to spread the stories of those children who have (...)

(7 May 2012) The European Commission is proposing to regulate the right to strike. The need for this arises out of the decisions of the European Court of Justice that ruled in the Laval and Viking cases that the economic free movements are primary EU law and hence have a higher status as the right to industrial action. Strikes and other actions could be curtailed if they would hinder the free movement of establishment, goods and services. In its proposals to promote the internal market and (...)

EPSU Press Release - 7 May 2012 EPSU trade union representatives from more than 20 European countries will discuss at the EPSU Annual Conference Local and Regional Government in Riga on the 8th of May about the advantages and challenges of remunicipalization. Local and Regional authorities across Europe are responsible for the delivery of a wide range of services to citizens, which include: public passenger transport, public utility services (water supply and waste water treatment, waste (...)

European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard addressed the EPSU Executive Committee on 24 April 2012. EPSU had invited the Commissioner to discuss the impact of climate change on public services following the EPSU study which explored the effects for a broad range of services. Public services play a key role in mitigation and especially in adaptation measures. The Commissioner is also responsible for adaptation. EPSU is concerned that the austerity crisis will affect the (...)

(Press Communication, 27 April 2012) EPSU welcomes the vote in European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee on 25 April in favour of a Financial Transactions Tax in Europe, as a first and essential step towards a global FTT. The vote in plenary is scheduled for 21-24 May 2012.