A public sector-wide strike over pensions could take place on 30 November as several major trade unions agree to ballot their members over industrial action. Government proposals to change several public sector schemes is meeting serious resistance as unions express their anger of the imposition of higher retirement ages and increases in employee contributions, despite evidence that such measures are not necessary to fund the schemes. Read more at > UNISON (EN) And more at > Unite (EN) (...)

The two largest unions in the FNV trade union confederation have rejected a national deal on pensions. Both the Abvakabo public service and Bondgenoten general union argue that the deal doesn’t do enough to help low-paid workers who will lose out if they want to retire at 65 once the retirement age is increased to 66. They are also concerned that the workers will be shouldering too much of the risk in terms of investment returns and their should be more of a commitment from employers to (...)

The ADEDY civil service confederation along with other trade unions has been maintaining its protest and strike actions against the austerity measures being imposed on Greece by the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. Further measures were announced recently that could lead to 20,000 public sector workers losing their job or being transferred to a labour pool on lower pay. They may also face early retirement or part-time work. ADEDY members were on (...)

Ver.di general secretary Frank Bsirske gave his support to care workers in Berlin as they showed their determination to continue their strike for a collective agreement despite intimidation from their employer. As reported in the last issue of the newsletter the ver.di collective bargaining committee has demanded a framework agreement covering working time, shifts, shift pay and annual leave. Workers in other Alpenland homes outside Berlin are on better pay and conditions. Read more at > (...)

A major conference organized by the European Commission’s Employment directorate takes place on 15 September providing an opportunity to discuss in detail trends in wage developments across Europe. The debate around wage determination and the extent to which pay trends follow productivity developments has moved up the political agenda as the economic governance proposals come closer to implementation. The conference will also consider issues of inequality both in terms of the gender pay gap (...)

The Kommunal municipal union was disappointed by the decision of three other unions in the LO confederation not to support a larger element allocated to equal pay in forthcoming negotiations. The general aim is for a pay increase of 3.5% with a minimum increase of 850 Skr (€94) a month. Kommunal also wants an extra 100 Skr (€11) to go to workers where the average wage is less than 22400 Skr (€2434) a month. Kommunal argues that it is unfair for workers in social care to get on average 2600 Skr (...)

The GPA-DJP and VIDA trade unions have expressed support for the idea of having a special round of collective bargaining to address the persistently large gender pay gap in Austria. Figures from 2009 show that female salaried workers had annual gross earnings of €17639, 40% less than the €29181 average for male salaried staff. The GPA-DJP says that special negotiations could take place perhaps three times over a 10-year period, where employers and trade unions discuss detailed pay figures for (...)

The VPÖD/SSP public service union has said that it wants at least a 2%-3% pay increase for all public sector workers. It is also calling for an increase in public sector employment to ensure and improve the quality of service to citizens. VPÖD/SSP says that public sector employers should acknowledge the substantial savings have been delivered by public sector personnel along with higher productivity and these factors certainly justify an across-the-board increase. It also emphasizes the fact (...)

The regional government of Valencia has told the CCOO confederation that it will no longer honour an agreement to give trade union representatives full time off to carry out their duties. This will affect 197 trade union officials across the public services in the region – education, health, administration and justice. The regional authority claims this is a necessary cost cutting measure while the CCOO argues that this is a direct attack on the trade union, aimed at undermining its ability (...)

ETUC general secretary Bernadette Ségol and the presidents of the six Hungarian trade union confederations have met with Employment Commission Andor to express their serious concerns about proposals to change the Labour Code. The changes pose a threat to trade union recognition, the rights of trade union representatives and the protection of pregnant workers against dismissal. The ETUC points out that such changes clearly conflict with European Union standards for social dialogue and the (...)

Over 3,000 workers in the energy, waste and water sectors took part in an international survey on pay and conditions earlier this year. The full survey findings will be announced at a conference in Vienna on 26-27 September. However, preliminary findings show significant variations pay across Europe, even once different standards of living are taken into account. For example, median hourly pay in the sector in Germany is €25.38, more than three times the level in neighbouring Poland at (...)

The FP-CGIL federation has criticized the Istat statistics agency for releasing data showing that on average public sector pay is 11.6% higher than private sector pay. The union makes the point that the comparison doesn’t take into account the different occupations in the public and private sector and the different levels of qualifications and education. Therefore it is not really a fair comparison. Read more at > FP-CGIL (...)

Trade unions have criticized employer organisations who are calling for the next pay settlement in the export industry sector to set the framework for pay developments in other sectors. This is part of a wider debate about collective bargaining in Finland where there is still support within the trade union movement for cross-sectoral bargaining to set a framework for sectoral negotiations that last took place in 2007. Read more at > Trade Union News (EN) And at > Nordic Labour Journal (...)

The Frente Comum group of public sector unions has set out its main demands for improvements in pay and conditions for 2012. It is challenging the government and the recommendations of the troika of European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. The unions want the salary cuts of 2011 reversed and an increase in 2012 that reflects inflation with a minimum increase of €50. Among the range of other demands is a call for the government to tackle the spread of (...)

The CGT-UGFF civil service federation is heavily critical of a new system of incentive payments introduced into the public sector. The union is not convinced that such payments, mirroring the profit-linked “prime d’intéressement” in the private sector, can really reflect performance in the public sector which depends on very different criteria. The CGT-UGFF also believes that no extra money will be available for the payments which will effectively be funded by job cuts. Read more at > CGT UGFF (...)

The dispute with Southampton City Council in the South of England is continuing although the Unite and UNISON unions were due to re-open negotiations with the Council on 13 September. The dispute is over the council’s attempt to impose pay cuts and to sack over 4,000 employees and re-employ them on contracts with poorer pay and conditions. Meanwhile UNISON members are also taking action against Barnet Council in North East London. There the council is attempting to outsource most of its (...)

The CISL FP federation reports on its campaign to get involved with public authorities in measures to improve services and cut out waste: In the wake of the Italian Parliament’s vote on the 2011-2014 budget law, that includes among others provisions the threat of another freeze of national collective agreements in the public sector until 2014, Cisl Fp has intensified actions in order to obtain a commitment from public authorities to involve workers and their representatives in a (...)

The International Monetary Fund has agreed a further loan package with the Serbian government. The IMF has made it clear that it expects the government to restrict public spending and specifically mentioned limited growth for pensions and pay as well as rationalization of employment. Read more at > SETimes website (EN)

Prime Minister Emil Boc has made it clear that public sector workers are unlikely to get any pay increase in 2012 unless the economy grows by at least 3.5%. Read more at > Romania Insider news website (EN)