Executive Committee adopts 2015 Annual Report: Defending Europe's public service workers

(27 April 2016) The impressive work EPSU did in 2015 to defend and promote the interests of Europe’s public service workers and our communities is now available. The EPSU Executive approved the report. You can read about:

  • Our continued work for tax justice. We want corporations and the rich to pay their fair share of taxes. Read about the work we did on McDonalds, in defense of whistleblowers and to demand end to tax havens. We worked with social movements, with ETUC and PSI. Several countries, the European Commission and the Parliament are now investigating the company.
  • Our continued work to get the European Commission to act on the European Citizens Initiative Right2Water. The European Parliament adopted a progressive and positive report on the ECI
  • We work with many other organisations to highlight the problems that exist with the trade agreement between the EU and CETA, or with TTIP and Tisa.  Public services and workers are at risk. There is nothing that improves the quality of our services or strengthens workers’rights
  • The report discusses our work to change Europe’s economic policies and to end austerity. Workers continued to suffer the consequences of the wrong economic prescriptions. Our arguments that we need more public investment and wage increases if we want to grow out of the crisis received more and more support. Unions continued to fight off attacks on trade union rights. EPSU supported many unions.
  • The absence of an adequate reaction of the EU member states to the growing numbers of refugees preoccupied us during the year. We brought union representatives together who represent workers in reception centres, in municipal services and more. EPSU intervened with the European institutions to get adequate responses and resources for public services. We worked with employers on guidelines on migration. With the municipal employers we started work on the impact of digitalization.
  • EPSU build its strong sectoral and professional work further. In health care we work with employers on psycho-social risks. We brought unions together organizing workers in childcare, elderly care and home care
  • And before the end of the year an EPSU delegation participated in the COP21 summit that reached a deal. Other EPSU affiliates finalized their negotiations with the central government employers. They reached agreement on information and consultation rights for workers in Central governments.

The EPSU Executive Committee met 19-20 April 2016, Brussels.

The full report is available in all EPSU languages (see below)

Reports from 2000 - 2015 available in English - French - German - Spanish - Swedish - Russian