08 epsucob@NEWS April 2009
Success over outsourcing and jobs but energy unions continue action over pay
The five union federations in the energy sector are continuing their action to secure open and proper negotiations over pay. The unions highlight the fact that senior managers in the sector have seen their pay increase by between 25% and 180% while workers are being offered a pay rise of 0.3%. Unions have demanded a pay increase of 5%. In the meantime they have secured some positive results in the eRDF and GrDF distribution companies with a commitment not to outsource repair and on-call services, to put on hold any plans to close sites, to replace those leaving and retiring, and a stop to the
No breakthrough in Working Time directive negotiations
The Council of Ministers and European Parliament have failed to reach agreement in their conciliation meetings over the Working Time Directive. The Council of Ministers refused to budge over the controversial issue of the opt-out that allows workers to sign away their working time rights. The European Parliament was pushing for eventual abolition of the opt-out as well as an amendment to acknowledge on-call time at work as working time. Read more at > EPSU (EN) And at > ETUC (EN) And at > ETUC (FR)
Negotiations over nursery teachers and social workers' pay continue
Tuesday 21 April saw nationwide events and demonstrations in support of ver.di’s claim for improved pay for social workers and nursery teachers. The actions coincided with the start of the third round of negotiations to try to get the 220,000 workers moved up the public sector pay scale. The union also wants an agreement on workers’ health in the sector to try to deal with the impact of heavy workloads and stress. According to the union a full-time nursery teacher would only get €2000 a month after five years whereas the union wants to see a starting salary of €2330, rising to €3400. [Read
Study outlines wage formation, wage developments and minimum wages
A new report from the EIRO industrial relations observatory outlines the systems of wage formation that are in operation across the 27 Member States of the EU plus Norway, with a table summarising arrangements in public and private sectors in each country. The report also examines wage developments over the past five years and explains how minimum wages are set. Separate reports are available online for each country. Read more at > EIRO (EN)
Unions reject low increases for council and university workers
Public sector unions organising in local government and higher education have formally rejected employer offers to increase pay by 0.5% and 0.3%. Unions representing the 1.3 million employees in local government have rejected the 0.5% pay offer despite a threat from the employers that they would withdraw the offer if it wasn’t accepted by 1 June. In higher education employers posed pay increases against job security but then refused to discuss a job security agreement with unions. [Read more at > UNISON (EN)->http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=1410] [And at > UNISON
New agreement covering hospital doctors
The EIRO industrial relations observatory reports that the OENGE hospital doctors’ union has signed the first collective agreement to cover doctors in public hospitals. The agreement runs for 12 months from 1 January 2009 and will means increases of between €210 and €420 a month depending on seniority. The agreement also sets out new working time rules and coincides with a commitment to recruit 2,000 new doctors to public hospitals. Read more at > EIRO (EN)
Union attacks plans for cuts in health jobs
The IMPACT public sector union has attacked the Health Services Executive over plans to cut 14,000 temporary jobs, freeze recruitment for all but the most essential jobs and stop allowances for workers who have taken on extra responsibilities. The union says this will be a further pay cut on top of the pensions levy imposed by the government on all public sector workers. The HSE plans are set out in a circular that the union believes will be sent out shortly. IMPACT is asking members not to take on any extra duties that might arise from the recruitment freeze or generally co-operate with any
Union calls for equal pay for agency workers
Ver.di has highlighted the growing numbers of agency workers across parts of the public sector including health, energy and waste. The union points out that many of these workers are not paid the same as the permanent workers they work alongside, often losing out in terms of allowances and additional payments. They are also the first to go when employers want job cuts to reduce costs. Ver.di is running a campaign to secure equal treatment for agency workers, noting that this is no longer a peripheral problem. [Read more at > ver.di (DE)->https://ver-und-entsorgung.verdi.de/themen/leiharbeit
Turkish union wins Court backing over strike ban
The Enerji Yapi-Yol Sen public sector union in Turkey has finally secured a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights over a Turkish government circular banning public servants from taking strike action. The Court press release says that the Court acknowledged that the right to strike was not absolute and could be subject to certain conditions and restrictions. However, while certain categories of civil servants could be prohibited from taking strike action, the ban did not extend to all public servants or to employees of State-run commercial or industrial concerns. In this particular
University workers to get own collective agreement
After five years of negotiations the GÖD public service union is close to finalising the details of a new collective agreement that will cover all university workers and which should come into effect on 1 October this year. The agreement will set a minimum rate for university staff that the union believes will be attractive but also competitive. Academic staff will have their own career structure while all other university workers will be on an eight-grade pay scale, with progression linked to three levels of qualifications. The agreement will also regulate working time. [Read more at > GÖD
Report highlights role of minimum wages in economic stability
A new briefing from the ETUI trade union research institute reveals that minimum wages across Europe increased substantially between 2000 and 2007 but 2008 marked a break in this trend. The report warns that the current economic crisis will put pressure on minimum wages with the danger that their real values will be undermined and contribute to the threatened development of deflation. The policy brief argues that appropriate increases in minimum wages are needed to underpin demand and contribute to price-level and general economic stability. It also raises the possibility of promoting the idea
Members to vote on hospital deal after difficult negotiations
After lengthy and difficult negotiations a new two-year agreement in the hospital sector will be put to union members for their approval. The deal includes pay increases of 1% from 1 July 2009 and again from 1 July 2010. A lump sum payment worth 0.3% of salary will be paid on 1 September 2009 while the year-end bonus will rise to 6% in 2009, to 6.73% in 2010 and then 7.33% in 2011. Abvakabo sees this as a small step towards the goal of a 13th month payment. The agreement also included a new lifetime work-life balance policy that gives workers a yearly allocation of 35 hours that they can carry
Ver.di expresses concern over waste employers' federation
There is a danger that the BDE waste employers’ federation will end its role in collective bargaining and become just an industry association. Ver.di says that the position of lead negotiator for the BDE has been vacant for several months and the current president of the organisation is from Alba, a company that doesn’t apply the industry agreement. The union also points out that more and more companies in the sector are leaving the industry agreement and it challenges the BDE to stand up for fair pay and conditions in the sector. [Read more at > ver.di (DE)->https://ver-und-entsorgung.verdi
Unions win 3.55% for Red Cross workers
The VIDA and GPA-DJP trade unions have secured a 3.55% pay increase for the 5,000 workers covered by the Red Cross collective agreement. The increase will apply to wages, salaries and additional payments and will be backdated to 1 January 2009 and is in line with other agreements in the health sector. Read more at > VIDA (DE)
Energy workers get 2.6% plus lump sum
Employees of the REN and EDP energy companies are getting a 2.6% pay increase this year along with a €160 lump sum. The lump sum payment will go to those with at least six month’s service an with no unjustified periods of absence. Workers at REN will also have to have achieved at least level 3 on the company’s performance measurement scale. Inflation in Portugal fell to –0.4% in the year to March, according to the national statistics agency. Read more at > Sindel (PT)
Cleaners' threatened strike stops outsourcing
The threat of strike action by 400 cleaners at the Federal parliament appears to have been successful in preventing the service being decentralised. The cleaners’ union, VPOD, planned to take industrial action over the summer after the Federal Building and Logistics department said it wanted to decentralise the service. The union thought that decentralisation would be the first step towards outsourcing and attacks on pay and conditions. [Read more at > VPOD (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/erfolg-fuer-die-bundesputzfrauen.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=34&cHash