Health and Safety, Health

Nine trade union federations have sent a joint letter to the public services minister calling for immediate pay negotiations. The unions are concerned about the long-term erosion of purchasing power. At the beginning of this year the national minimum wage (SMIC) rose to EUR 10.25 an hour (EUR 1554.58 a month) and this meant pay rates at the bottom of the Category C public sector pay grade fell below the minimum. Instead of increasing the index point on which all public sector salaries are based, the government simply added two index points to these lowest pay rates. The unions point out that

After the third round of bargaining, the ver.di services union has secured a new 24-month agreement covering around 21,000 employees at the clinic operator Helios. There will be a 3.8% increase in total with a 1.4% rise in April this year, 2.0% in April 2022 and a further 0.4 percent in November 2022. Employees will also receive a EUR 400 corona bonus (trainees EUR 100) as well as an additional day off in recognition of the extra work during the pandemic. Working hours at the eastern German Helios locations will be reduced to the western level from January 1, 2023. A care allowance of EUR 100

Public service union, Fagforbundet, that represents firefighters is taking legal action to try to overturn a decision by the social insurance court that cancer doesn’t quality as an occupational disease. There was a long struggle by firefighters to get occupational injury compensation as a result of being more exposed to certain types of cancer more than other workers. This was achieved in 2016 and several workers have received this compensation. However, a new ruling reverses this decision. The union argues that there is no new knowledge or research to justify any changes. Several recent

Over 1400 workers, members of the PCS civil service union, took strike action from 6-9 April in protest at the failure to address safety issues at the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea in South Wales. Over 600 DVLA employees have tested positive for COVID since last September with no effective response from management or the Department of Transport (DoT). Following the strike the union has called for immediate talks to resume with the DoT and will be discussing next steps with members.

EPSU joined with the ADEDY civil service trade union confederation in sending solidarity messages to trade unions representing health and social security workers taking action to defend jobs and services. The POEDHN health union organised demonstrations on 7 April and plans work stoppages for 22 April to promote a wide range of demands. The union wants COVID-19 to be recognized as an occupational disease and is calling for better pay for health and social care workers as an essential measure to tackle staff shortages. Meanwhile, the POSE-IKA and POPOKP trade unions organised a 48-hour warning

Six trade unions are coming together to take strike action over jobs and precarious employment in the public sector in the Basque region. The unions are responding to the failure of the regional government to address public employment and the persistently high levels of temporary contracts across the public sector. Action is planned for 22 April across all the main public services – municipalities, health, education, general administration, justice, public transport, public media and other sectors. The unions want to see the thousands of temporary workers who have been crucial to tackling the

Members of the DSR nurses’ union have voted to reject the proposed collective agreement for 2021-23 negotiated for local and regional government. The voting process is currently being carried out in other public sector unions and the full result won’t be know until around 21 April. The DSR argues that nurses have been left behind in terms of pay when taking account of their level of education, responsibilities and tasks. Furthermore, the pandemic has meant extensive extra work for a great many nurses and the increased wage costs have had a negative impact as a result of the regulation scheme

The EAKL trade union confederation has called for real wage increases for frontline workers, particularly in the light of all their efforts during the pandemic. Negotiations on health workers’ pay are now continuing through a national conciliator and EAKL is particularly concerned that the pressures on the service need to be addressed and particularly the low levels of pay that is driving workers away from the sector. Meanwhile the confederation reports that negotiations on the salaries of emergency service and police officers have not even started and is concerned that the state budget is not

In contrast to the 1% increase on the table in England, health trade unions in Scotland are considering a 4% pay offer. This would be backdated to 1 December 2020 and cover the period to 31 March 2022. The lowest pay rates (up to around GBP 25000 pa (EUR 29000)) would get a GBP 1009 (EUR 1180) increase worth 5.46% for the lowest paid. The 4% applies to pay rates from GBP 25000 to around GBP 50000 (EUR 58500) and higher rates get lower increases. Health trade unions have been calling for higher pay rises, not just in recognition of the efforts of staff during the pandemic but also as a crucial