Social Services, Norway, Moldova, Latvia, Italy, Armenia

The Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl public service federations have brought two collective agreements in private social care together and are working on consolidation with a third. The unions have signed the agreement for the period 2020-22 covering the National Association for Public Assistance (ANPAS) and the National Confederation of the Misericordie d'Italia, secular and religious providers of health, social care and other services. The aim is to create a single sector agreement covering providers of social and health assistance, medical transport and emergency out-of-hospital care. The next

The FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and UIL-FPL public service federations called off strike action planned for 31 January after the ARIS private sector health employers’ organisation agreed to sign a bridging agreement as called for by the unions. This means that there is now a temporary agreement with both the ARIS and AIOP employer organisations that allows for negotiations to begin to create a single, sector agreement covering all employees of both organisations. The bridging agreement provides for additional remuneration for different categories of workers ranging from €40 to €318.50 for a 13-month

Following the strike action on 17 November, the Fp-Cgil, Uil-Pa and Uil-Fpl trade union federations were set to organise a national protest outside the Ministry of Economy and Finance on 7 December. The unions are calling on the government to change the budget law for 2024 to ensure funding for renewing collective agreements and providing protection for workers’ purchasing power. They also highlight the failure of the government to tackle staff shortages or make any preparation for the fact that around 700,000 workers are due to retire by the year 2030. Meanwhile, both Fp-Cgil and Uil-Fpl

The Fp-Cgil, Cisl-Fp and Uil-Fpl public service federations have signed a short-term agreement with the AIOP private sector employers in social care which runs from 1 October 2023 to 30 June 2024. The aim is to provide improvements to the pay and conditions of around 30000 workers who have been waiting 11 years for a new agreement. The intention is that the agreement will bridge the gap until a new sector-wide agreement is negotiated with bargaining on this set to begin in January 2024. In the meantime, workers will get increases of between €118 and €301 along with improvements to night shift

The FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and UIL-FPL public service federations have called a one-day strike on 27 September to put pressure on the AIOP employers’ organisation to return to negotiations over the sector agreement covering private residential and care homes. The three unions normally negotiate with AIOP and ARIS, the employer organisation representing religious providers. AIOP, however, is aiming to negotiate a different agreement with the UGL trade union – an organisation outside of the three main confederations and with links to the far right – and the unions argue that this flies in the face of

Trade unions from the three main confederations – CGIL, CISL and UIL – are maintaining their campaign against the Anaste non-profit social services employer organisation for signing an agreement with unrepresentative trade unions. After a mobilisation in March, the unions have been busy lobbying regional authorities to get them to take action and put pressure on Anaste to negotiate with the representative organisations. The Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Piedmont regions have already taken some initiatives in support of the unions.

Following a successful strike over pensions at the PBL employers’ organisation, the Fagforbundet trade union has managed to secure improved occupational pensions for employees in kindergartens covered by the NHO Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. The four-week strike in NHO companies ended on 17 March with negotiations guaranteeing that the portion of public subsidies intended for pension purposes will be fully applied and that savings rates for pensions will also be guaranteed rather than varying from one kindergarten to another. The deal also means that employers are not tempted to

Federations in the CGIL, CISL and UIL confederations are maintaining their protests against the decision by the ANASTE employers’ organisation to sign a collective agreement with unrepresentative trade unions. ANASTE brings together private sector residential care companies that employ around 20,000 workers. CGIL, CISL and UIL argue that the three-year collective agreement signed with the unrepresentative unions is weak in a number of aspects, not least the level of the pay increase – well below inflation – and provisions related to sick pay and leave. The CGIL, CISL and UIL trade unions had

Trade unions, including Fagforbundet, have secured a new agreement covering a range of services in the non-profit social care sector following two days of mediation. Workers will get a pay increase of at least NOK 7800 (€710) backdated to 1 May 2022 and there will be a new pay table that, over the long term, will provide equal treatment for employees on the basis of education and experience and a boost in the minimum wage rates for many. There will also be improvements to allowances for unsocial hours. The agreement applies to employees in a range of non-profit organisations in child and other

A documentary on Norwegian TV and a survey by the FOA trade union in Denmark expose similar problems facing workers in eldercare as they have too many clients, leaving those requiring care regularly seeing lots of different carers for short periods of time. Reacting to the documentary the Fagforbundet trade union highlighted the problem of so many care staff working part-time, chasing shifts to try to make ends meet and being part of a continuing turnover of staff so that there is little continuity for those needing care. In Denmark, the FOA argues that staff spend too little time with those

The FP-CGIL, UIL-PA and UIL-FPL public service federations are planning a week of action from 12-16 December with protests and strikes around the country in protest at the government’s budget for 2023. The unions argue that the budget fails to provide adequate funding across a range of services with nothing to address the cost-of-living crisis, to cover the renewal of collective agreements, to increase public employment, to end precarious contracts, to improve training and to ensure quality of services from childcare to health and social care and across local and national administration. The

The FP-CGIL, CISL-FP, UIL-FPL and UIL-PA public service federations are mobilising their members in protests in two sectors – health and social care and the justice ministry. The national health and social care protest on 29 October will be calling for increased funding, more jobs and better pay and conditions. The unions argue that it is all very well for the EU-backed national reform and resilience plans to support investment in new facilities, but the challenge will be to find the workers to staff them. Meanwhile, the federations have declared a state of agitation in the justice ministry as