Social Services, Romania, Norway, Moldova, Latvia, Armenia

Trade unions, including Sanitas and Columna, have managed to secure pay increases for workers in health and social services. According to Sanitas, increases in the health sector vary according to occupation but range up to 26.8% with 20% in social assistance. The union has also been able to resolve discrepancies in salaries affecting a number of specific occupations. Meanwhile Columna has also been active in local government where it organised strike action on 19 March involving nearly 19000 workers as it tries to ensure that the pay increases that apply to health, education and social care

The Sanitas and Columna trade unions are trying to make progress on a number of fronts, including securing pay increases for workers in health, care and local government for 2024 and to negotiate sector-wide agreements in all three sectors. In local government Columna is calling for guarantees that workers will be paid according to a national pay grid and no longer covered by each local authority and it also wants agreements to cover the sector or groups of authorities and not council-by-council. Both Sanitas and Columna are also calling for a pay rise for workers in social assistance and to

Tough negotiating by the Sanitas health union and effective mobilisation of its members is delivering positive outcomes. Following discussions with the government on 25 January the union says that there will be a 20% increase in the salary fund so that all employees in health benefit from an average salary increase of 20% in 2024, paid in two instalments; a 20% increase in salaries for specialized personnel in care and social work; assessment of personnel needs in the public health system and unblocking of posts; and the start of negotiations for a collective agreement covering social work

The Sanitas trade union, representing workers in health and social care has welcomed the government decision to allow recruitment to over 8000 positions in the public health system that it had previously blocked. The union had threatened to strike over the issue and while it sees this initiative as a step in the right direction it is calling for much more to be done to address the critical shortage of staff in health and social care. Sanitas estimates that the 8000 jobs to be filled cover only around a quarter of the needs of the health and social care sectors and that the government will have

Following longstanding problems in ensuring full implementation of the law on salaries that applies to health and social care staff, the Sanitas trade union has declared a labour conflict. For over two years the government has blocked full implementation of the law and the proper calculation of salaries. Bonuses are stuck at levels dating back to 2018 and overtime is unpaid. A holiday allowance has not been granted and the food allowance is also linked to 2018 pay levels rather than current salaries. The situation is made worse by the repeated blocking of recruitment to fill vacancies, leading

Over the course of several months, heath union Sanitas has been negotiating with the government and organising actions to deliver progress on jobs and pay and conditions in health and social care. In May the union was building up for industrial action and in early June members wore union badges and armbands to work to show the level of support for the union’s demands. So far the government has conceded on several issues including the unblocking of 14000 positions in the health system; approval of an emergency ordinance covering increases for all basic salaries for specific groups of workers in

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

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

After a three-year legal dispute, the Fagforbundet public services union has secured a major victory when the Supreme Court's Appeals Committee refused to consider an appeal by the Stendi care company over its claim that 22 workers were self-employed and not employees. Now the 22 members of the union are set to get an average pay out of more than NOK 1 million (€100000) and the company faces further legal claims from another 50 workers. Fagforbundet general secretary and EPSU president Mette Nord said: "Our 22 members have fought a tough battle in three courts. They have been poorly treated

The Fagforbundet public service union is celebrating an important victory in the appeal court for 22 of its members in a case taken against the Stendi (formerly Aleris) care company. The ruling means that the workers were falsely categorised as “consultants” rather than employees and so were denied key employment rights such as holiday and pension entitlement. The union believes that the judgement will have important implications for the private care sector and is urging the NHO employers’ organisation to ensure that its members note the ruling and end the practice of classifying some workers

The UNIO trade union confederation whose members cover workers with higher education has been pushing for higher pay deals in three negotiations – national local government, Oslo municipality and public companies represented by the employers’ organisation, Spekter. The NSF nurses’ union is one of UNIO’s members involved in the strikes and negotiations and they are calling for higher pay for nurses to tackle major staff shortages. The government has stepped in to end strikes in local government and the Oslo municipality on the grounds, rejected by the trade unions, that the actions pose a