Hospital workers take strike action
Workers at hospitals run by religious orders in the Upper Austria region have taken strike action after a completely unacceptable pay offer from the employers. The vida services union says that the 10,000 workers employed by the hospitals have seen pay fall behind inflation over the past three years and the current offer would be an effective pay cut as the employers want to reduce payments for on-call time and overtime. The union reports a positive reaction from patients but attempts by the employers to take action against strikers and even bring in other workers to break the strike. Read more at > vida (DE)
Unions agree new deal in health and social services
The GPA-DJP and vida services unions have agreed new pay and conditions covering workers in the private and non-profit (church-run) health and social services sector. This is the first time that these groups of workers have been covered by the same negotiations although not all elements of the deal were agreed the church employers. There is an increase of 2.75% on minimum rates from 1 February with other pay rates rising by 2.7% (inflation is currently running at 2.8%). Other elements of the deal include 12 months’ care leave, the recognition of earlier periods of non-specialised employment experience and the right to eight hours of paid training. Read more at > vida (DE)
Pay deal in energy sector
After intensive negotiations the GPA-DJP trade union has agreed a pay deal for the private sector that will provide increases on basic pay of between 2.9% and 3.2% with the higher increases for the lower paid. Inflation was 2.8% in the year to December 2012, averaging 2.4% over the whole year. It was also agreed to examine the coverage of the sector agreement in relation to companies in the sector covered by other agreements, subsidiaries of companies covered by the agreement, cooperation with employers who are not covered by the agreement and other employers who are not part of the energy industry. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)
Union looks to establish new social partnership
The GDG-KMsFB union representing local and regional government workers is working to establish new bargaining arrangements in response to the government’s reluctance to negotiate a public sector wide pay increase. In recent years some regional governments have also refused to implement the increase negotiated at federal level. The union will work towards establishing a new social partnership involving regional and local government employers. It wants to see this happen by 2015 but will also work to ensure that its members are not left without a pay increase in 2013 and 2014. Read more at > GDG-KMfSB (DE)
Minimum wage increase for kindergarten workers
Services union vida has agreed a €45 increase in the minimum wage covering assistants in private kindergartens that is regulated by the Ministry of Social Affairs. This will bring the monthly minimum payment to €1325. Read more at > vida (DE)
Negotiations begin for 120000 health workers
For the first time, the vida and GPA-DJP trade unions are negotiating simultaneously 120000 health and social workers covered by three agreements - private sector, charities and churches. They are calling for a real wage increase that is a just reward for the physical and mental stress endured by many workers in the sector. The unions also want to see changes to pay that recognise workers’ experience in previous jobs, that take account of parental leave and that ensure that Sunday and night payments have a bearing on the calculation of Christmas and holiday pay. Read more at > vida (DE)
Unions call for single childcare agreement
The vida and GPA-DJP private services unions are calling for a national, sectoral agreement covering all workers in childcare institutions. They argue that currently workers in the sector are covered by a range of different provisions - an educational collective agreement, the BAGS private health care agreement and in some cases by company-level agreements. This means considerable variation in pay and conditions and the unions want to see a more consistent approach, particularly in areas like the amount of preparation time workers should be paid for. Read more at > vida (DE)
Union calls for better working conditions to tackle labour shortage
The vida public services trade union has called for better employment and working conditions in the care sector to tackle labour shortages. It highlights the problems of long hours, changing shift patterns and low pay that are making it difficult to recruit. The union has called for improved funding for the sector in contrast to employer organisations who have called for care professions to be included in the skilled worker regulations that control which categories of non-EU workers can enter the country. Read more at > vida (DE)
Union campaign: Check your pay grade
The GPA-DJP services union ran a campaign in the week beginning 16 April urging members to check their pay grades. The union points out that a worker’s position on a pay scale normally depends on the occupation, level of qualifications and length of service. However, workers can often be placed on the wrong grade and this could be a particular problem for women workers and contribute to the gender pay gap. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)
Unions renew call for long-term care funding
The vida and GPA-DJP services unions have renewed their call for the need for a new initiative to ensure long-term funding for the social care sector. They have come up with a model that involves a new tax on wealth and the reintroduction of a reformed inheritance tax. The unions point out that with average pay in the sector 17% below national average pay there is an urgent need to increase pay rates along with the provision of quality training at federal level. Pay levels are not just low relative to other sectors but fail to reflect the physical and mental demands made on care workers. Read more at > vida (DE)
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