epsucob@NEWS 22 July 2005

Low pay and minimum wages will be a key debate at this year's EPSU collective bargaining conference. A draft document on this subject has just been circulated to members of EPSU's collective bargaining network, epsucob@. This first draft is only in English but after initial comments a second draft will be translated into several languages and will be circulated to conference participants in November. If you would like to see a copy of the first draft please contact: [email protected]

An annual review of collective bargaining and social dialogue will take place at the annual conference in December. In order that the annual report on collective bargaining has as broad as possible information on pay and conditions in the public services across Europe we need you to send in your completed questionnaires. The questionnaires are available in English, French, German, Spanish and Swedish. Please contact [email protected] for copies.

The long-running dispute over pay, hours and employment in the health and social service sector in Belgium could be nearing its end as the government in the French-speaking area of the country, Wallonia, has agreed further funding. This ensures pay increases for many workers in the sector as were agreed as far back as 2000 but other workers may have to wait longer for their increases. [Read more at > SETCA-.http://www.setca.org/code/fr/newspage.cfm?id_news=542&tors=]

After several months of negotiations ABVAKABO FNV and the other unions in the sector (CNV public matter and FBZ) have concluded a new agreement covering child welfare workers. The agreement runs from 1 January to 31 December 2005. The salary increase of 1.5 percent will be paid as 1.0 percent from 1 January 2005 and 0.5 per cent from 1 September. Along with pensions and sick pay there are two other important parts of the agreement covering workloads and employer contributions of at least a sixth of the share of the costs of nursery spaces. [Read more at > ABVAKABO->http://www.fnv.nl/abvakabo