Health and Safety, Trade, Pensions/retirement, Italy, Greece

The FP-CGIL public service federation reports that the latest official data show that there were 16000 incidents of aggression against health and social care personnel in 2023, affecting 18000 workers. The statistics were published in the 2023 report from the National Observatory on the Safety of Health and Social Care Professionals which was established in January 2022 and is made up of the Ministries of Health, Interior, Economy and Finance and Labour, other government agencies, trade unions and regional professional associations. Nurses were the most affected by incidents of aggression

EPSU and PSI have sent solidarity greetings to the three union federations – Filctem-Cgil, Flaei- Cisl and Uiltec – in their dispute with the ENEL energy company. The three unions are planning national strike action on 8 March and began a month-long period of industrial action affecting overtime, travel and changes to working hours on 24 February. The unions are angry about the company’s unilateral plans to change working hours arrangements, to outsource operations on the electricity grid, and its refusal to renew the remote work agreement. The three federations argue that the measures will

The Fp-Cgil public service federation has described the level of attacks on health workers as a national emergency. According to the INAIL institute for insurance against workplace accidents, in the last five years, there have been more than 12000 incidents at work classified as violence, aggression, threats and the like, with an average of about 2,500 per year, 75% of which affect women. The union argues that in this context, all preventive actions are indispensable and as part of its campaign “let's take care of those who care for us!”, the federation has reminded its members of the guidance

The OSYE prison services union took six days of strike action at the end of February and beginning of March over key demands on safety and staffing. The union is particularly concerned about staff on long working hours and the massive backlog of rest days and holidays that are owed to workers who have done extra shifts to compensate for understaffing. EPSU sent a message of solidarity.

The Fp-Cgil, Cisl-FP, Uil-Fpl and Uil-Pa public service federations are mobilising for the national strike on 9 December. The unions say that years of recruitment freezes have created staff shortages and mean that public services need around 500000 extra workers. The unions are also calling for action to increase permanent employment with around 170000 workers on precarious contracts. Health and safety are also vital with unions wanting action on personal protective equipment, reduced workloads and measures to tackle harassment. Finally, the federations are calling for a renewal of the

The Cgil, Cisl and Uil Pa public service federations have declared a one-day strike on 9 December covering public health, and local, regional and central government. New collective agreements are due to be negotiated across these sectors but the unions argue that the government has failed to guarantee funding to cover any negotiated improvements. They also say that there is no commitment from the government to ensure safety at work, to increase employment or to tackle precarious work. Fp-Cgil (IT)

FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and other unions that organise workers in the INPS social security service are mobilising members in protest at the Institute's failure to abide by a return-to-work agreement signed on 3 June. The unions argue that management pushed for reopening all offices on 1 July without taking the agreed health and safety precautions to protect both workers and service users. The unions also say that the Institute has failed to recognise the efforts put in by workers to maintain services while offices were closed to the public. Unions are organising workplace meetings across the service

The three main trade union confederations - CGIL, CSIL and UIL - have criticised the government for failing to deliver on the additional resources and support needed for health workers as the country prepares to ease lockdown measures. The unions argue that key provisions in the "Care Italy" act have not been implemented leaving health workers still working long shifts, trying to cope with inadequate hospital capacity and all of this without adequate equipment or proper safety protocols - problems that have persisted for three months. The confederations also raise concerns about the pay and

The Fp-Cgil public service federation has launched an online support service for health workers on the front line of the fight against COVID-19. Recognising the increased psycho-social risks for care staff working long hours and having to adapt to emergency working arrangements, the union has put together a pool of 40 or so psychologists, psychiatrists and other welfare support workers who are providing their services free for this online service.

On 3 April, the main trade union confederations - Cgil, Csil and Uil - signed an agreement with the public service ministry covering the health and safety and working time of civil servants. This follows the 25 March agreement covering the safety of healthcare workers and the 19 March agreement in the waste sector. The agreement covers the role of trade unions, smart working, rules for workers who have to attend workplaces and the health and safety procedures to be followed to protect both workers and members of the public, such as closure of facilities for cleaning where there have been COVID