epsucob@NEWS 16 September 2005
Sep. 16, 2005
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Unions call for strike and day of action on 4 October
All seven of the union federations that organise workers in the public services are calling on their members to join a day of action of strikes and demonstrations on 4 October. They will be protesting in defence of public services, the rights of public service workers and calling for increases in pay and pensions to compensate for the loss of purchasing power in recent years. Read more at > CGT And at > FO
Sep. 16, 2005
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Unions threaten joint action over public sector pensions
The government has repeated its intention to increase retirement ages in public sector pension schemes. Thirteen public sector unions within the TUC confederation have said they will ballot their members for strike action if the government pushes through its proposals. The non-TUC nursing union the RCN has also made clear its opposition to the proposals. Read more at > UNISON And at > PCS And at > RCN
Sep. 16, 2005
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Regional government employees strike and demonstrate in Hannover
This month sees the implementation of the new collective agreement covering public service workers employed by federal and local government. However, the regional employers continue to refuse to agree a similar deal. Thousands of members of public services union ver.di in Hannover supported warning strikes and demonstrations to keep the pressure on the regional government. Read more at > ver.di
Sep. 16, 2005
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Doctors' union meets with regional government employers
After months of protests and strike action the Marburger Bund doctors' union is resuming talks with the regional government employers over pay and working hours. The key demands of the union include withdrawal of the employers' decision to cut holiday and Christmas payments which have cost doctors up 15-20% of their pay and to set out a strategy for doctors' income to rise by 30%. Read more at > Marburger Bund
Sep. 16, 2005
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Unions gear up for annual pay negotiations
Public service union GÖD will be involved in the annual pay negotiations shortly. It has already written to the government to try to ensure that the negotiations are dealt with promptly so that the pay increase can take effect from 1 January 2006. As usual the union will be aiming for an increase which compensates for inflation, taking account of overall economic growth. Read more at > GÖD
Sep. 16, 2005
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Prison service workers protest
The main Italian union federations representing prison service workers have called a national demonstration in Rome for 29 September. They are protesting at prison overcrowding, the inadequate staffing levels and poor working conditions for prison officers Read more at > CGIL
Sep. 16, 2005
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Civil servants balloted over pay equality
Around 5,500 civil servants working for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are being balloted for strike action over pay. The PCS union is protesting about the wide variation in pay levels within the Department and related agencies. Read more at > PCS
Sep. 16, 2005
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Social dialogue in emergency services
The industrial relations observatory EIRO reports on a meeting earlier this year which discussed the situation for emergency service workers in Bulgaria. Organisations representing the police, firefighters and other emergency staff are facing difficult conditions with not enough staff because of budget cuts and pressure to work excessive hours. Read more at > EIRO
Sep. 16, 2005
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Unions express their opposition to proposed decentralisation process
Public service unions in France continue to express their reservations about the process of decentralisation which will see 135,000 civil servants currently employed centrally transferred to the responsibility of local and regional government. Local authorities too are worried about the impact of the transfer and the extent to which adequate levels of financing will be provided for the municipalities. Read more at > UGFF-CGT
Sep. 16, 2005
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Call for better pay and conditions
The industrial relations observatory EIRO reports that police, firefighters and border guards organised a demonstration in the capital Riga last month in protest at the low rates of pay for workers in such responsible and stressful occupations. Read more at > EIRO
Sep. 16, 2005
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Unions take student initiative
In a new initiative to improve recruitment of younger workers, the SKTF local government union and ST civil service union have joined with the HTF private sector salaried workers union to form Tria, a new organisation for students. The 17,000 student members of the three unions will be transferred to Tria which is hiring 50 students to help organise local activities and provide employment-related information and advice to students. Read more at > EIRO
Sep. 16, 2005
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Union organises protest in support of border guards
State employees' union ROTAL organised a picket at government buildings this month in protest at the treatment of border guards and particularly at low levels of pay in comparison to the highest paid workers in the service. Read more at > EPSU
Sep. 16, 2005
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Social dialogue and collective bargaining conference - 12-13 December
EPSU's fourth conference on the social dialogue and collective bargaining will take place on 12-13 December in Brussels with financial support from the European Commission. There will be general discussions about developments in the intersectoral social dialogue and collective bargaining across Europe. Specific topics will include: low pay, working time, outsourcing, young workers and migrant workers. Read more in 10 languages at > EPSU
Sep. 16, 2005
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Lifelong learning statistics
The European Commission's statistical agency Eurostat has just released figures which show that nearly 60% of 25-64 year-olds across Europe didn't take part in any education or training activity in 2003. It also shows that those with lower levels of skills and education were less likely to take part in training than workers with higher qualifications. Read more at > Eurostat