Trade, Training/life-long learning, Greece, Austria

The four trade unions representing health and social care workers in the public and private sectors – younion, GÖD, vida and GPA-djp – have written an open letter to national and regional governments calling for urgent action on training. The unions say that an additional 75000 trained workers will be need in the sectors by 2030 and that measures need to be taken to increase the number of trainees to help meet the demand. Unlike other professions, health and care trainees are not paid when they are working on the job during their training. The unions argue that this is a major disincentive to

The younion and GÖD public sector unions, representing around 120000 workers in health and social care have called on the Austrian Chancellor to stand by his commitment to improve pay for those working in intensive care during the pandemic. The two unions underline that their demand covers all health and care workers, not just intensive care staff, as they are all part of an essential team and need to work together to deliver care and who have endured significant physical and mental challenges in maintaining services. Younion and GÖD are calling for a tax-free €1000 bonus for all health and

The GÖD public service union is calling for compulsory paid internships in the health and care sector. It says that with changes to training implemented in 2016, workers on higher education courses have to undertake compulsory practical work in hospitals and care centres. This amounts to over 2000 hours of unpaid work during training, including night and weekend work. GÖD underlines the importance of increasing recruitment into the sector to tackle shortages of skilled staff, making it essential that internships are properly paid.

The local government and health union, younion, has criticised new government proposals on nursing training that would be offered from the age of 15. The union argues that 15 is too young for people to be involved directly in care and the proposal won't address the shortages in care staff which can only be seriously tackled with better pay and conditions and improved training. Younion also believes it to be a misguided initiative to tackle youth unemployment and argues that it is based on a Swiss system which has a drop out rate of 50%-60%. The union says it has a package of proposals it can

The younion and GÖD public service unions have called for urgent negotiations on measures to address training needs in healthcare in response to an interim report on changes to the nursing and care act. The unions say that around 67000 care workers need to be trained over the next 10 years. However, there have been worrying declines in those completing training in recent years with a 20% fall between 2014 and 2017. Younion and GÖD are calling for more resources to boost training provision including pay for trainees but also better pay and conditions in general for health worker in order to

The vida public services union is joining up with the Chamber of Labour to launch a campaign to highlight the urgent need to increase staffing in hospitals. Various actions are planned as part of the "More of us. Better for All" campaign which will highlight the pressures on workers from understaffing. The main demands are for a 20% increase in hospital staffing with urgent action needed in acute care; introducing a national, binding basis for establishing staffing levels; and measures related to education and training to make health occupations more attractive to younger workers.

The GPA-djp and vida services unions have set out their list of demands in negotiations covering 100000 workers in the private healthcare sector. Along with a 6% pay rise (with minimum increase of EUR 150 to benefit the lower paid) the unions also want to see a reduction in hours to a standard 35-hour week without loss of pay and with additional jobs to maintain services. Other key demands include: avoiding split shifts, a sixth week of leave for all workers, earlier service to be taken into account, better pay for trainees and apprentices, part-time work for older workers and implementation

ADEDY, the public services confederation, has called a 24-hour strike for 14 November. It is calling on the government to negotiate over a gradual process of pay restoration. ADEDY says that civil servants have already seen pay cut by 40% and now tax rises and reductions in tax allowances will further reduce take home pay. It is calling for immediate pay rises and the restoration of the 13th and 14th month salaries as initial steps in this process. The strike demands also cover the urgent need to recruit additional permanent staff, for measures on skills and training rather than a new

The public services trade union, younion, collected 15000 signatures in a petition that it handed in to the parliament of the region of Lower Austria on 10 October. The petition calls for action to deal with the pay and working conditions of the 3000 childcare workers in the region. The union wants to see improvements to education and training in the sector as well as the development of a proper career structure. It is also calling for pay to be commensurate with the responsibilities and demands of the job. The union is expecting to be able to negotiate soon, although there is no offer on this

Younion, representing municipal workers in Austria has launched a petition calling for support for childcare workers in the Lower Austria region. The union highlights the significant increase in responsibilities and workloads for these workers and the key demands being put forward are: improvements in the quality and quantity of education; more opportunities for training and further education; creation of a clear career path; and pay in line with the demands of the job. EPSU has also collected together news of other recent initiatives by childcare unions.