Transparency & Corruption, Early Childhood Education and Care, Pay settlements
EPSU statement to mark International Day against corruption 9 December 2011
On 22 and 23 November 2011, EPSU affiliates from Western Balkan (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) and Norway, met in Belgrade, Serbia, to discuss corruption in public services
EPSU Conference on Childcare
Good quality childcare and early years education are vital public services. However, they are often underfunded and, for many workers unaffordable, while childcare workers themselves, the vast majority of whom are women, are often undervalued and underpaid.At European level there is some recognition of the importance of childcare in increasing women’s employment and as a contribution to encourage gender equality. This meeting will debate these issues with a range of speakers including researchers, trade union representatives, employers, civil society and the European Commission.
LuxLeaks trial reminds that whistleblowers need EU legal protection, says trade union coalition
Press Statement (Brussels 29 June 2016) The Luxembourg court condemned on 29 June LuxLeaks whistleblowers Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet, former employees at PWC, to 12 and 9 months suspended
Trade unions & NGOs meet to achieve real public country-by-country reporting by multinationals
Brussels 15 July 2016On 13 July, EPSU, the European Public Service Union, together with the ETUC and affiliates from Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden held a meeting
Unions achieve progress on pay restoration
Unions representing public service workers have secured important pay improvements that reverse some of the main changes introduced as austerity measures. Changes to public service pay scales meant that workers taken on from 2010 were at a disadvantage as they had to work two years longer to reach the top of the pay scale. Pay progression for these workers will now be adjusted by cutting out two points of the pay scale. Meanwhile, workers in social services in the non-profit sector (Section 39 organisations) will get a EUR 1000 increase next April in the first stage of a three-year process to
Unions launch public service pay campaign
The KKDSz culture workers' union and BDDSz childcare workers' union have been instrumental in getting the SZEF public sector confederation to launch a campaign on public service pay. The confederation is highlighting low pay and understaffing across the public services and the need for negotiations on long-term pay development in the public sector. It calls for action on corruption and the need for a redistribution of government spending to workers to ensure a fully staffed and professional public service delivering quality services.
Major pay boost for healthworkers
Health unions in Bulgaria signed a new collective agreement on 8 November which includes substantial pay increases for workers across the sector. Compared to the pay rates set in the 2016 collective agreement, the minimum wage for nurses, midwives and laboratory technicians will increase by 22% from 900 lev (EUR 460) to 1100 lev (EUR 560) a month. The basic rate for doctors and pharmacists will increase by just under 30% from 1200 lev (EUR 615) to 1550 lev (EUR 790). Higher increases of up to 50% will be paid to medical specialists.
Unions secure real pay rise for public sector
After three rounds of negotiations, public sector unions have secured a minimum pay rise of 2.51% rising to 3.45% for lower paid workers. The increase will be implemented on 1 January 2019 and will include a 2.76% increase on other payments and allowances. The increases are ahead of the 2.02% inflation rate that formed the basis of the negotiations The younion public service union says that workers with a gross monthly salary of EUR 2000 will see pay rise by around 3.3% while those on EUR 3000 will get a 3.0% increase. The unions now want to see all regions implement the pay rise in full.
Commission aims for more resilient and inclusive economy
Access to quality health, care and education and fairer and better tax, benefit and social protection systems are among some of the positive elements in the European Commission’s 2019 Annual Growth Survey (AGS) that was published on 21 November.