Central government

After action earlier in the month across health services, more action has taken place across the public service. On 15 June, there were strikes and mobilisations by workers in national ministries as well as by civil servants in the directorate of interdepartmental roads. In the former the main focus was on pay and the declining purchasing power of civil service salaries while in the latter the main concern was a decentralisation of the directorate to regional government. The union’s concern was about the impact of the decentralisation on staff with no guarantees on jobs and pay. Meanwhile

During the second round of negotiations in central government the trade unions raised a number of issues that they want to see addressed. This includes the need to carry out a detailed review of the measures on worker and trade union participation introduced in the last national collective agreement (2016-2018) and to ensure their full effectiveness and enforceability to strengthen the involvement of employees and their representatives in organisational matters that impact on the employment relationship. This includes, for example, the workings of the joint innovation committee that will deal

The PCS public and commercial services union reports strong support for its second round of strike action at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in South Wales. Other unions and Labour MPs have backed the action which aims to secure improved health and safety provision at a workplace that has seen some of the highest rates of COVID infections anywhere in the country. Meanwhile the union is also celebrating a positive result from strike action taken by its members working in the court service but employed by the OCS multinational. They secured a new two-year agreement backdated to April

Trade unions representing workers in the public finance directorate (DGFiP) will be taking strike action on 10 May in protest at the continuing restructuring of the organisation and to defend workers’ rights and working conditions. The unions say that 30000 jobs have been cut since 2008 and a long-running process of restructuring has been carried out with digitalisation a key driver. They want a hold on restructuring and relocation and are concerned that the digital transformation and other changes are having a negative impact not just on the workforce but also on the quality of service. The

Tough bargaining in both the state and municipal sectors have ended up in mediation as employers fail to get close to the unions’ key demands. In the state sector unions were already concerned about the increasing gap between the low and high paid and the prospect of pay increases negotiated mainly at local level were seen as increasing the likelihood that the lower paid would again lose out. Public sector unions support the system where industry settlements set a benchmark and note that last year state workers got 0.5% less than the private sector. However, they also argue that the public

Negotiations over pay are getting underway in the state and local government sectors with unions seeking to protect their members’ purchasing power and focusing on support for the lower paid. While unions agree that the system where the industrial sector sets the trend for pay bargaining is the right one, negotiations in the public sector need to address how pay trends have affected different occupations. This means there are arguments for a flat-rate increase that will benefit the lower paid, including the often undervalued groups like cleaners who have played a key role in coping with the

The three public service federations – Fp-Cgil, Cisl-Fp and Uil-Pa – have set out the main aims for the new round of collective bargaining in central government. The federations are positive about the negotiations taking place in the framework of the pact for innovation in public services agreed recently with the government. The unions have a broad range of issues that they want to see addressed including: a revision of the staff classification and grading system; a review of pay and career progression; improved industrial relations and information and consultation; strengthening supplementary

The main public sector unions, including federations from CCOO and UGT, have called on the government to ensure that trade unions are fully involved in any discussions about reforming public administration. The government has announced that a group of experts from different fields would be established to analyse and formulate proposals for reform. The unions say that it unacceptable that any such work that will affect the working conditions of public employees in areas like digitalisation, for example, should be carried out without negotiation or union participation. The unions are now waiting