U.K., Luxembourg

The PCS civil service union has successfully pursued equal pay cases on behalf of over 2,500 administrative and managerial workers in the Prison Service. The union proved that a range of administrative and managerial jobs were of equal value to those of prison officers and prison governors but that in some cases the salaries of the mainly women administrative workers were up to £5,000 less than the mainly male prison officers. The case has been running since 1999 and this is the latest failed attempt by the Prison Service to stop the claim. [Read more at > PCS-> http://www.pcs.org.uk/Templates

Public services union UNISON is calling on the government to recognise the skills and potential skills of thousands of healthcare assistants across the UK. The union argues that many healthcare assistants are on the lowest pay rate because the health service is trying to cut costs rather than pay proper salaries. UNISON also says that healthcare assistants' desire for training should be recognised as a way of boosting nursing numbers rather than relying on recruitment from many countries than cannot afford to lose trained healthworkers. [Read more at > UNISON-> http://www.unison.org.uk/news

Public sector unions in the UK have won an important concession from the government over the protection of pension rights. Existing members of public sector pension schemes will retain their right to retire at 60 on a full pension but all new employees will face a pension age of 65. The agreement covers all the main schemes apart from local government where negotiations continue. [Read more at > UNISON->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=2322] [Read more at > PCS->http://www.pcs.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=898944] [Read more at > GMB->http://www.gmb.org.uk/Templates