Health and Safety, Information & consultation
Strong support for COVID strike and victory for court staff
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
Momentum gathers for a #peoplesvaccine against COVID-19
Following the welcome announcement on 5 May by President Biden that the US Government will no longer oppose lifting IPR patent protection in the WTO TRIPS agreement for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, all eyes are now on the upcoming EU Trade Council meeting on 20 May.
EPSU organizes event to demand better working conditions for Care Workers
On Tuesday, 4th May, EPSU together with Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES), the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Kommunal and Arena Idé organized a conference to raise awareness of the extraordinary challenges care workers had to face during the COVID-19 pandemic.
EPSU participates in conference on the future of social services after COVID-19
On Thursday, 29 April, EPSU participated in an event organized by the European Policy Centre and other civil society organisations on the importance of the European Pillar of Social Rights for the social services sector in the wake of COVID-19.
Health and social care: union defends works council but faces fight over dismissals
Services union ver.di has successfully fought off attempts by the Nord Residenz care company to shut down the works council. On 27 April, the regional labour court in Bremen in North West Germany ruled against the company’s attempts to dismiss the works council chair and her deputy, expel them from the works council and dissolve the works council itself. Nord Residenz is owned by the French multinational Orpea. Ver.di welcomed the many messages of solidarity support from trade unions across Europe and interventions by the state government and mayor of Bremen. Meanwhile, the union faces a major
Civil service union plans further action over safety
Members of the PCS civil service union at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in Swansea, South Wales, have agreed to take another four days of strike action from 4-7 May. This follows the four-day action on 6-9 April that the union says was strongly supported. PCS is concerned that DVLA management have failed to take action to address safety concerns following very high levels of COVID-19 infections at the site where 4000 workers are employed. The union has also argued about the level of continuing risk involved from allowing 2000 workers to carry on working at the site.
ETUC reveals drastic fall in safety inspections
New ETUC research reveals that safety inspections have been cut by a fifth since 2010, falling from 2.2 million annual visits to 1.7 million. Numbers fell in at least 17 countries, including in Germany where 232,000 fewer visits were made in 2018 compared to 2010 and Portugal where checks were cut in half over the same period. Over the same period the number of labour inspectors across Europe fell by more than 1000. Portugal, Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Croatia all saw inspections fall by 35%, with the average fall across the EU at 18%. The ETUC argues that the major cut in labour inspections
Unions criticise government for excluding them from reform debate
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