EPSUcob@NEWS July 2004
This is the fifth issue of epsucob@NEWS. You can see earlier issues in the collective bargaining section of the EPSU website.
- EPSU - Please return your questionnaires
- EPSU - Conference on collective bargaining 20-21 October
- EPSU - Congress resolution on collective bargaining
- EPSU - Outsourcing and collective bargaining
- France - Unions continue action over EDF/GDF changes
- Norway - Pay increases in state and municipal sectors
- Ireland - National pay deal will mean 13.16% over three years
- Spain - Collective bargaining and outsourcing
- UK - Unions get outsourcing agreement with water company
- Portugal - Local government day of action
- Portugal - Strike opposes government restructuring
- Bulgaria - Electricity unions protest over privatisation
- Belgium - Unions in non-profit sector organise third national demo
- Greece - Improved rights for public sector fixed-term workers
- UK - Study exposes impact of PPPs on employment conditions
- Estonia - Customs workers’ unions demonstrate over pay
- UK - Civil service unions continue pay disputes but face job cuts
- Slovakia - Public service workers face major changes to pay and conditions
- Germany - Debate over longer working hours hots up
- Netherlands - Union says working time increase as nonsense
EPSU - Please return your questionnaires
All epsucob@ contacts should have received copies of EPSU questionnaires on pay and conditions. Please do your best to complete and return them by the end of July. If you have any questions about the surveys please don’t hesitate to contact us.
EPSU - Conference on collective bargaining 20-21 October
The results of the pay and conditions surveys will be reported and discussed at EPSU’s collective bargaining conference in October. There will also be sessions on low pay and performance-related pay and presentations on developments in equal pay and lifelong learning. Invitations to the conference and a full agenda will be sent out to all EPSU affiliates before the end of July.
EPSU - Congress resolution on collective bargaining
Last month’s Congress in Stockholm overwhelmingly adopted the collective bargaining resolution unamended. The resolution sets out the background and the key action points for EPSU’s work on collective bargaining over the next five years (Congress also agreed to switch from a four- to a five-year cycle). The text of the resolution is available on the EPSU website.
EPSU - Outsourcing and collective bargaining
At a collective bargaining seminar in May EPSU affiliates in the utilities sector identified outsourcing as one of their main challenges. To follow up those discussions EPSU is carrying out a small survey of outsourcing in the sector which will try to identify examples of best practice and in particular how unions have managed to defend employment conditions and collective agreements. See below (Spain and UK) for some recent developments on outsourcing.
France - Unions continue action over EDF/GDF changes
French energy unions organised a sixth day of action on 29 June in opposition to legislation changing the legal status of the EDF/GDF electricity and gas companies. Unions argue that the change from public bodies into limited companies is a step towards privatisation. There were demonstrations around the country and unions report that dozens of industrial sites were temporarily deprived of power.
The bill implementing the change was passed on a first reading in the National Assembly and will now be discussed in the Senate during July. Unions have pledged to maintain their campaign of opposition.
Norway - Pay increases in state and municipal sectors
The EIRO industrial relations observatory reports that pay increases were agreed for the Norwegian public sector at the end of May. Employers and unions estimate that the nationally agreed increases plus local bargaining should produce wage increases of 3.5% overall. The increases take effect from 1 May 2004 with low-paid central state employees getting a flat-rate increase of 6,500 NOK a year (around 785 euros). Mid-range earners get 2.6% worth anything from 6,600 NOK (795 euros) to 12,900 NOK (1,550 euros) while top earners get a maximum of 12,900 NOK. Municipal workers received 6,000 NOK (725 euros) from 1 May and will get another 1,000 NOK (120 euros) on 1 January 2005.
Ireland - National pay deal will mean 13.16% over three years
Public service union IMPACT says that the latest national pay deal, “Sustaining Progress” will be worth at least 13.16% over the next three years. Public service workers should also get further increases under the benchmarking process which links them to private sector pay levels. The increases will be applied in three phases The first 1.5% would be paid on 1 June 2005, the second 1.5% on 1 December 2005 and the rest on 1 June 2006. The agreement ends on 30 June 2006.
Spain - Collective bargaining and outsourcing
A report for the industrial relations observatory EIRO highlights the challenge posed by outsourcing for trade unions in Spain. It looks at the ways in which Spanish unions have tried to use collective bargaining to restrict and regulate outsourcing, for example, by agreeing that certain activities should not be subject to outsourcing or that the main employer should continue to have certain responsibilities for the outsourced workforce such as health and safety training.
UK - Unions get outsourcing agreement with water company
Anglian Water has agreed a new approach to outsourcing with trade unions following the threat of industrial action over pension rights. If any workers are transferred from the company as a result of outsourcing they will get full legal protection of their employment conditions plus guarantees on pensions. The company is also committed to improved consultation over restructuring.
Portugal - Local government day of action
The STAL local government and STML Lisbon municipal workers unions came together in a day of action last month. They were campaigning for improved pay, against personal contracts and against government plans for further privatisation of public services.
Portugal - Strike opposes government restructuring
The SINTAP public administration union organised a strike on 30 June in protest against government plans to merge two government departments - Treasury and Finance. The union believes the reorganisation will be against the public interest and will have an adverse impact on employees acquired rights and career progression.
Bulgaria - Electricity unions protest over privatisation
Bulgarian energy unions are in negotiations over plans to privatise the industry. The EIRO industrial relations observatory reports that they are pushing hard to protect collective agreements and employment. Protest action has been organised around the country and in the capital Sofia.
Belgium - Unions in non-profit sector organise third national demo
Unions in Belgium’s non-profit sector - hospitals, nursing homes, domestic care etc. - organised their third national demonstration early in June in support of their pay demands. They want pay rises to catch up with other sectors, higher rates for irregular hours and for the introduction of a 13th month salary. Other demands cover pensions, moving to a 36-hour week and getting commitments to keep out private sector operators.
Greece - Improved rights for public sector fixed-term workers
Greek unions have welcomed proposals to change Greek law on fixed-term working to bring it more in line with the Fixed-term workers directive and ensure that most fixed-term workers in the public sector are covered. It is estimated that current legislation excludes around 70% of temporary workers from coverage, with most of these in the public sector. While many public sector workers are expected to move from fixed to open-ended contracts if the legislation is passed, unions are calling for some amendments including retrospective implementation and no exclusions for different sectors.
UK - Study exposes impact of PPPs on employment conditions
A new report from the Catalyst think tank demonstrates the major impact public private partnerships (PPPs) can have on the pay and conditions of workers. The report sets out to challenge the argument of the UK government that PPPs provide improved services at lower cost as a result of innovative management practices. Evidence from the prison service demonstrates that cost savings mainly come from lower pay rates and cuts in holidays, pensions, sick pay and other benefits.
Estonia - Customs workers’ unions demonstrate over pay
Unions organising Estonian customs workers organised a picket of government offices at the end of May in defence of their claims for improved pay and better training. They also used the opportunity to provide further backing for the general demands put forward by civil service unions during April (see last month’s epsucob@NEWS).
UK - Civil service unions continue pay disputes but face job cuts
The PCS and Prospect civil service unions in the UK are both in dispute over pay. In the biggest government department, Work and Pensions, PCS is calling for another two days’ strike action if there is no progress in the pay negotiations. The union has also warned government that it will do whatever it takes to defend its members interests in the face of threats to cut 30,000 jobs. PCS members are also joining with their colleagues in Prospect in taking strike action over pay in the Forensic Science Service.
Read more on pay dispute at > PCS Read more on jobs at > PCS Read more on pay dispute at > Prospect
Slovakia - Public service workers face major changes to pay and conditions
Civil servants and other public service workers in Slovakia face significant changes to pay and conditions with the introduction of new labour law and a collective agreement for civil servants. Apart from some workers in education wage rates will be set in individual contracts. Civil servants’ pay will continue to be set centrally although the new agreement allows local negotiations to make improvements to the sectoral agreement. It also introduces performance-related pay for civil servants.
Read more at > EIRO And at > EIRO
Germany - Debate over longer working hours hots up
Longer working hours has become a central issue of debate in Germany with the recent agreement at Siemens involving longer workers hours without higher pay in response to the company’s threats to transfer jobs to Hungary. In the public services ver.di is facing pressure from regional government employers to increase hours. The union has won support from a wide range of academics for a statement opposing longer working hours, underlining the impact this would have on family life and unemployment.
The WSI trade union linked research institute also warns of the employment consequences of longer working hours and the danger of setting of European-wide competition over working time. The institute points out that with 37.7 hours a week, the average agreed working week in Germany is higher than in France, the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Finland and it is only in the new member states that a 40-hour week is more common.
The ETUI has produced a special issue of its collective bargaining newsletter to clarify some of the issues raised by the Siemens case in particular and to tackle some of the more general arguments about longer hours. Look out for the newsletter in the collective bargaining section of the ETUI website.
Read more at > ETUI->http://www.etuc.org/etui/CBeurope/features/]
Netherlands - Union says working time increase as nonsense
The Dutch public service union ABVAKABO has attacked government proposals for an increase in working hours without compensation as completely unacceptable and total nonsense. The union also points out that a recent economic analysis suggests that a four-hour increase in the working week would only produce a net increase of 0.35% in output. ABVAKABO argues that if the government really wants to stimulate the economy it should invest in public services.
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