Environment/Climate Change, Transparency & Corruption, Low pay/minimum wages, Spain, Moldova, Croatia

The health and social care federation, FSS-CCOO, is closely monitoring companies in the care sector to expose those that fail to apply the salary increase of 6.5% from January 2022, in line with an earlier court ruling. The union has denounced the companies for their treatment of care workers and the wage freeze imposed since 2020, despite the provisions of the agreement. The union also points out that even with 6.5% wage increase, some workers will still be left on pay rates below the minimum wage – a situation made much worse by soaring prices. FSS-CCOO underlines that this only goes to

The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations representing forest firefighters say they will launch a campaign of strikes and protests unless the government and the autonomous regions deliver legislation that really protects the rights and conditions of this essential group of workers. The unions warn that action is needed urgently in the light of the surge in serious and large forest fires this summer. They argue that the legislation put forward on 25 August does not fully address the demands of the unions for homogenous working conditions covering training, salary structure

The main unions in residential care in the Galicia region, UGT, CC.OO. and CIG, have formed a common front to mobilise and put pressure on private nursing home companies, which they accuse of blocking the negotiation of a new collective agreement to replace the one that expired at the end of 2019. The series of mobilizations will end on 19 May with a demonstration outside San Lázaro residence in the Galician capital, run by the DomusVi French care multinational. The unions point out that pay scales mean that effectively some jobs are set below the minimum wage with pay for kitchen assistants

Health and social care unions in the Basque region have been involved in a series of protests and strikes. Mobilisations in public health during December and January will culminate in a day of strike action on 28 January. The unions are angry about the failure of the public health system to honour basic rights to information and collective bargaining. They are concerned about the impact of the pandemic on the system and the way that management have responded by taking unilateral decisions on working conditions, health and safety and precarious employment. Two days earlier, on 26 January unions

The Sanidad-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations have called for a range of actions in the elder care sector in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Both federations were already campaigning to secure better pay and conditions for the workforce, 90% of which are women. They both argue that the impact of the pandemic has further exposed the fundamental problems of low pay, inadequate staffing, stress, excessive workloads. These have been compounded by the lack of personal protective equipment and inadequate testing which have exposed both workers and service users to the virus. Key union

The health and social service federations - CCOO-Sanidad and FeSP-UGT - are planning to mobilise workers in the care sector in March to put pressure on employers to negotiate a collective agreement. The unions will organise protests outside the head offices of the main companies in the sector highlighting the problems in relation to low pay, health and safety and inadequate staffing that face the 250,000 overwhelmingly women workers. The unions are also calling on the government to tackle underfunding of services and to ensure decent working conditions through procurement.

The FSS-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service unions mobilised members working in care across the country on 7 November to put pressure on the employers to agree to a EUR 1000 minimum monthly wage for the sector (14 payments). Demonstrations took place outside several of the regional headquarters of the CEOE employers' organisation. The unions are demanding urgent action to improve pay for the overwhelmingly female workforce that faces challenging working conditions with significant risks of musculo-skeletal and psycho-social disorders. The next action is planned for 14 December.

The trade unions representing care workers - FeSP-UGT and CCOO-Sanidad - are planning two days of mobilisation on 30 October and 7 November to put pressure on the two employer organisations (CEOE and CEPYME) to negotiate on pay. The union federations are angry that the employers have failed to negotiate the introduction of a EUR 1000 minimum wage (14 payments) for the sector even though it had been proposed in the last collective agreement. The unions put forward a proposal for reaching the level in stages up to 2021 but the employers failed to respond.

In a timely intervention, the FSC-CCOO has called on the government to put more resources into the prevention and fighting of forest fires - an issue which the union sees has become one of the most urgent for the country and rural communities. Along with a strengthening of the fire service - increased employment, professionalisation and training - the union argues that more has to be done to take preventative measures, some of which could actually help to boost rural economies.

The four unions representing home care workers in the Basque region (ELA, LAB, UGT and USO) have planned further work stoppages as part of their long-running campaign to end the pay freeze and negotiate new collective agreements. Two three-hour stoppages will take place on 25 and 31 May. There will also be a protest outside the Mungia town hall on the 25th and workers will surround the Bilbao town hall on the 31st. The unions are targeting local authorities for allowing the contracting out of home care services without any minimum prices specified and no hours guaranteed for the workers. The

On 12 May healthworkers in Sofia and Zagreb demonstrated over poor pay and working conditions and the crisis of understaffing. 5000 nurses, medical professionals, midwives and lab technicians joined a demonstration outside the Council of Ministers in Sofia demanding a 1500 Lev (EUR 765) minimum wage for health workers as a step towards stemming the flow of health workers out of the country. In Zagreb the call was also for improved pay and working conditions and in particular the respect for collective agreements in relation to overtime pay.