EPSU organises regional collective bargaining conference in Copenhagen
4 February 2010
There will be a regional collective bargaining conference in Copenhagen on 16-17 March aimed at EPSU affiliates from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. This is the first of three regional collective bargaining conferences that will give affiliates an opportunity to exchange information on a range of key negotiating issues including equal pay, outsourcing and precarious employment. Affiliates from other countries will be invited to conferences later in the year in Madrid (June) and Bratislava (September).
Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Energy affiliates concerned about EON restructuring
4 February 2010
EPSU affiliates that represent workers from 11 countries in the EON energy group met in Brussels at the end of January to exchange information on developments in the company. They were particularly concerned about the impact of EON’s Europe-wide “Perform to Win” restructuring programme. One result of this is the planned closure of a call centre in Essex in the UK with the loss of up to 800 jobs.
Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Parental leave changes summarised
4 February 2010
The ETUC has produced a short presentation that outlines the recent negotiations on revisions to the parental leave directive and highlights the main changes. Leave is increased from three to four months. The ETUC wanted this to be non-transferable to try to ensure that men took up their full rights but the outcome is that a minimum of one month is transferable. The new provisions also underline the need to avoid discrimination against part-time, fixed-term and agency workers. The full text is available on the EPSU website in English and French along with the ETUC presentation in English.
Read more at > EPSU
17% of full-time workers are low-paid
21 January 2010
A new analysis of statistics by Eurostat finds that 17% of full-time workers are low-paid – that means they are paid less than two-thirds of national median earnings. The data comes from the 2006 structure of earnings survey that excludes public administration. However, the statistics do cover the energy sector, which has the lowest proportion of low-paid workers, and the health sector where nearly 15% of full-time employers are low-paid. The report also reveals that 23.1% of women workers were low-paid compared to only 13.5% of men.
Read more at > Eurostat (EN)
EPSU collective bargaining conference agrees statement on crisis
17 December 2009
Around 150 participants from over 30 countries joined the debates and discussions at this year’s collective bargaining and social dialogue conference. The sessions and workshops covered the economic crisis, decent work, precarious employment, women and equality, working time and lifelong learning. The conference agreed a statement rejecting pay cuts and pay freezes as measures that not only penalize public sector workers but only run the risk of deepening the recession.
Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Please help with our lifelong learning and working time survey
17 December 2009
EPSU has commissioned researchers Jane Pillinger and David Tarren to review policies on working time and lifelong learning. These were discussed at the collective bargaining conference but Jane and David are keen to get more information from affiliates about their negotiations on working time and lifelong learning and the relevance of EPSU policy. You can find the questionnaire at > EPSU (EN)
Report shows real value of public service workers
17 December 2009
A new study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) challenges the way jobs are valued in the labour market and uncovers the additional social and environmental value of key public service jobs such as hospital cleaners, childcare workers and waste and recycling workers. The NEF contrasts the positive social and environmental contributions of these jobs with the negative impact of top bankers, advertising executives and tax consultants. According to NEF calculations while collecting salaries of between £500,000 and £10 million, leading City bankers destroy £7 of social value for every pound in value they generate. In contrast, for every £1 they are paid, childcare workers generate between £7 and £9.50 worth of benefits to society. The report challenges a series of myths about pay as well as the idea that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector.
Read more at > NEF (EN)
European Council workers take action over pay
17 December 2009
Employees of the Council of Ministers took strike action on 14 December and planned another day’s strike on 16 December in protest at attempts by Member State governments to block their annual pay increase. The employees are covered by a formula that links their pay increases to an average of those in specific Member States. However, some national governments want to block the increase because
Read more at > European Voice (EN)
Briefing highlights risks of private pensions
17 December 2009
A briefing on pension systems in Europe for the ETUI trade union research institute questions the extent to which there should be public support or tax relief for private pension arrangements. Where private pension systems exist then, the author argues, there should be strong monitoring systems with a role for the social partners. The briefing also highlights the fact that public systems are not only low risk but are better at ensuring a broad and equitable coverage of pensions, particular for workers in atypical employment.
Read more at > ETUI (EN)
ETUC warns against pay cuts and public spending cuts
16 November 2009
The ETUC has called for public spending to be maintained and that governments should not be looking for exit strategies until it is clear that a recovery is really underway. The ETUC was putting forward its arguments at the Macroeconomic Dialogue where it meets with the European employers, European Central Bank, European Commission and Council of Ministers. The Confederation also warned that pay cuts would not help the economic recovery and the more labour flexibility and precarious employment would not be a long-term solution to the crisis.
Read more at > ETUC (EN)
And in French at > CES
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