Solidarity, Outsourcing, Europe

A new report from the Eurofound research agency analyses the extent of labour shortages across Europe and some of the measures being taken to address them. One of the main sectors of interest is health and social care and the report highlights the risks posed by such shortages to the viability of high-quality care provision. These were seen as particularly acute in Germany and in the Nordic countries, where shortages of skilled staff have led to long waiting times for patients. They also mean high workloads for professionals, ultimately contributing to higher turnover rates and reducing the

(June 2017) The IPSO trade union that organises staff at the European Central Bank (ECB) mobilised staff for a demonstration on 7 June in protest at the ECB's long-term use of temporary contracts for staff doing permanent work. IPSO has been pushing for some time now for the Bank to end this practice where some workers have been employed for over five years, in some cases over 10 years, on renewed contracts. In the latest action IPSO also raised objections to the ECB's plans to outsource some services, starting with IT. EPSU sent a message of support.

(August 2016) The IPSO trade union that organises workers at the European Central Bank (ECB) organised a demonstration on 14 July in support of negotiations over the status of 200-250 temporary staff currently worked for the ECB. The union is calling for temporary staff, many of whom have worked for the Bank for several years, to be offered permament contracts. The fear is that changes to German law on temporary agency work will lead to the ECB dismissing many agency staff. EPSU sent a solidarity message that was read out to the 120 workers who joined the demonstration. Read more at IPSO (EN)