Gas, Local government, Spain, Romania

Trade unions, including Sanitas and Columna, have managed to secure pay increases for workers in health and social services. According to Sanitas, increases in the health sector vary according to occupation but range up to 26.8% with 20% in social assistance. The union has also been able to resolve discrepancies in salaries affecting a number of specific occupations. Meanwhile Columna has also been active in local government where it organised strike action on 19 March involving nearly 19000 workers as it tries to ensure that the pay increases that apply to health, education and social care

The UGT-SP trade union and public sector federations in the CCOO confederation are calling on the government to ensure payment of the 2% pay increase across the public sector as set out in the three-year agreement 2022-24. The agreement has so far delivered pay increases totalling 7% in 2022 and 2023 and there could be an additional 0.5% on top of the 2% in 2024 depending on economic developments. The unions also want confirmation that various measures introduced as part of an austerity package back in 2012 are finally rescinded. The unions want the government to immediately begin negotiations

The Sanitas and Columna trade unions are trying to make progress on a number of fronts, including securing pay increases for workers in health, care and local government for 2024 and to negotiate sector-wide agreements in all three sectors. In local government Columna is calling for guarantees that workers will be paid according to a national pay grid and no longer covered by each local authority and it also wants agreements to cover the sector or groups of authorities and not council-by-council. Both Sanitas and Columna are also calling for a pay rise for workers in social assistance and to

Public sector federations in the CCOO confederation and the UGT-SP federation have welcomed confirmation that a 0.5% pay increase (backdated to January 2023) will be implemented in line with the last three-year pay agreement. The 0.5% figure was linked to growth in the Spanish economy. They now also want action on the 2% promised for 2024 and an end to the limit on replacing employees who leave. In the meantime, the federations are calling for an urgent convening of the monitoring committee on the framework agreement that addresses important issues such as partial retirement, annual leave

In the second year of the three-year agreement covering the public sector, workers are set to receive two additional pay increases of 0.5% on top of the 2.5% guaranteed for 2023. The additional amounts, backdated to the beginning of the year, are dependant on the level of inflation and GDP growth with figures for both likely to trigger the additional payments. The unions – FSC-CCOO and UGT-SP – are positive also about the 2% increase due in 2024 which guarantees an increase for public sector workers at time when the lack of a government following the general election might have led to a pay

On 28 February the FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations organised a demonstration outside the Ministry for Ecological Transition in the latest stage of their long-running campaign to secure a coherent, national statute covering the 20,000+ people who work as forest firefighters. The long-promised statute should be confirmed in the coming months but the trade unions want to keep up the pressure to ensure that there are no delays and that some of their remaining issues of concern are addressed. These include qualifications and competences covered by the statute, retirement issues

Public service federations in the CCOO, FeSP-UGT along with ELA and other trade unions coordinated strike action across public services in the Navarra region on 15 February. The unions are calling for increased funding for regional government to guarantee quality, universal and free public services for all. They are also seeking an increase in pay to begin to recoup the 20% loss in purchasing power over the past decade. Other demands include a commitment by the regional authority to reach the long-standing target of having only 8% of all workers on temporary contracts as well as initiatives on

Public service federations, including FeSP-UGT and FSC-CCOO, have taken further steps in implementing the collective agreement covering public administration that covers a wide range of important issues including digitalisation, attracting talent, guaranteeing the 35-hour week, professional classification, partial retirement and equality plans. The second meeting of the committee that monitors implementation of the agreement focused on payment of the additional 1.5% pay rise and the re-establishment of rights cut during the austerity period. There were specific discussions on the timeline to

The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations met with the FEMP local government employers’ organisation on 12 December to agree a framework for negotiations and on setting up an observatory of the public service in local administrations. The trade unions are keen to address a range of issues including training, equality plans, occupational reclassification, digitalisation, job creation, the ageing of the workforce, the improvement and the expansion of services. The aim of the observatory will be to undertake studies and identify good practices in relation to the development of public

The public sector federations in the CCOO confederation and the FeSP-UGT federation have now formally signed the new three-year agreement covering five million public sector workers. The agreement will deliver increases of 3.5% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023 and 2.0% in 2024 but with the prospect of three extra increases of 0.5% depending on inflation and growth. If the conditions for the extra increases are met this would mean salaries rising by 9.8% by the end of 2024. The FeSP-UGT has also called for a government commitment that there will be no delay in ensuring workers in mutual societies, that

Public service federations, including FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT, have welcomed a new three-year agreement that could deliver pay increases of more than 9% by the end of 2024. Following government imposed pay rises of only 0.9% in 2021 and initially only 2% in 2022, unions pushed the government to open negotiations and respond to the cost-of-living crisis. There will now be an additional 1.5% increase in 2022 backdated to January. In 2023 there will be an increase of 2.5% but two further increases of 0.5% will follow depending on the level of inflation and economic output. There will also be a 2.0%

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 Secretary of State for the Environment has told the FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations that he will present a draft statute covering forest firefighters to parliament for approval. This has been a long-standing demand of the trade unions who want to see common national provisions covering the wage structure, professional classifications, training, job security and social protection. The unions argue that this will professionalise the sector, help stabilise jobs and contribute to a better coordination across the autonomous regions.

The main public service unions – CCOO, UGT and CSIF – have agreed dates with the Ministry of Finance and Public Function to negotiate a new agreement covering public administrations and public services. The negotiations will focus on the impact of rising inflation on salaries along with some key other themes including digitalisation, retirement, internal promotion, mobility and professional career development. There will also be discussions about speeding up implementation of the plan to reduce the extent of temporary work and get below the threshold of only 8% of jobs having temporary

The FeSP-UGT federation and the public service federations in the CCOO confederation have called on the government to enter negotiations on pay and conditions. The last three-year agreement covering three million public sector workers ran from 2018-2020 and for 2021 the government unilaterally implemented a 0.9% pay increase. The unions are calling for a pay rise for 2022 and beyond along with action on jobs to ensure the quality of public services and also measures to reduce precarious employment, particularly in regard to the long-running challenge to reduce temporary employment. They also