Collective Bargaining, Working Time, Gender pay gap, South East European Energy Community
A new WHO Report published on 12 March echoes EPSU recommendations on gender and care
The report, Fair share for health and care: gender and the undervaluation of health and care work details gender value gaps and demonstrates how health and care work is globally undervalued, why this is a gender equality issue, and what can be done about it.
Unions taking different approaches to working time
Following the article on Iceland, the latest in the series of articles on working time commissioned by EPSU from the Labour Research Department focuses on developments in the other Nordic countries. While several unions in Sweden have put shorter working time on the bargaining agenda (see also article on Sweden in this newsletter), there are only a few cases in social care where a shorter working week has been implemented. In Norway and Denmark the priority has been more to ensure that workers in health and care and other services have the right to full-time working although there are some
Health union looks to shorter full-time hours to tackle overwork
A new report from the Swedish Association of Health Professionals (SAHP) shows that more than four out of 10 young people up to the age of 29 do not believe that they will stay in healthcare for the rest of their working lives. One in five young people testify that the workload is so high with inadequate rest and recovery that it cannot be managed. The union argues that if young people leave the health care system, the existing staffing shortages will worsen. The report shows that more than half of young people feel that staffing is rarely or never sufficient and 85% believe that the workload
Civil service union plans new campaign on pay and jobs
The PCS trade union is set to launch a ballot for industrial action on 18 March as a first step in a renewed campaign around pay, jobs and working conditions. The union has around 150,000 members in over 200 bargaining units across the civil service and has been successful in recent years in securing support for targeted strike action despite the strict UK ballot rules covering public services. The ballot will close on 13 May and there will be a special meeting of the PCS national executive on 15 May to consider the results. The union’s key demands include: a cost-of-living rise, with an
EPSU and ETUC welcome last-minute deal on platform directive
Labour movement lobbying helped secure a platform work directive that should provide new rights for millions of workers across Europe. The ETUC and EPSU welcomed the outcome of lengthy negotiations and in particular the inclusion of the presumption of employment in the legislation. This means that Instead of individuals going through lengthy court action to prove they are workers, it will be up to the platforms to prove they are not employees. The directive also recognises the role of trade unions in all aspects of the platform economy, including on issues such as algorithm management. Workers
European Trade Union Federations call on Council to agree Platform Worker Directive with the EP
Next week the final negotiations take place on the Platform workers directive. EPSU joined the other European Federations demanding better rights and protections and for Estonia, France and Greece to stop opposing it.
Unions agree deals in municipal and regional government
The 480,000 workers in municipalities and 140,000 workers in regional government are set to get pay increases of 4% from 1 April as a first instalment of the 6.51% (municipal) and 6.53% (regional) increases over the next two years. An additional 2% fund is available for unions to negotiate separately for different groups of workers and so the overall pay rise will be closer to 8.8% and with an expectation that the real increase overall will be 2.17%. There are also additional amounts for the lower paid. At the end of 2025 there will be further negotiations that will focus on the comparative
Unions plan joint actions on 8 and 19 March
Eight trade union organisations (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, CFTC, FO, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA) are coordinating their call for gender equality on 8 March – International Women’s Day – with actions planned across the country. The unions note the persistent gender pay gap in both public and private sectors and the concentration of women in low-paying sectors. They are calling for the revaluation of jobs in sectors dominated by women, transparency over pay and sanctions against employers that discriminate, massive investment in public services and action to tackle violence and harassment. An eight
Union seeks major changes to pay and hours in collective agreement
The Kommunal trade union with 350,000 members covered by the largest collective agreement in Sweden (1.2 million workers in local government) is seeking major improvements in the current negotiations. It wants to address the problem that many workers don’t understand the pay system and the criteria used to establish their salary. There are concerns that the system is arbitrary. The union also wants to see changes to working time with more worker control over their working time arrangements rather than leaving it to the discretion of management or algorithmic systems. Kommunal stresses that
Unions secure 9%+ pay increases for Red Cross workers
The vida and GPA private services unions have negotiated a new collective agreement covering the 7,000 employees in the regional associations of the Austrian Red Cross. All employees in the framework collective agreement will get a 9.15% increase while all employees in the new collective agreement section B and in the province of Vienna will get 9.2%. The increases are backdated to 1 January 2024. The collective agreement ensures that important provisions that previously differed from one province to another have now been successfully harmonised across the country, with a normal working week