The voice of 8 million European public service workers

Remunicipalisation, Staffing levels, Gender pay gap

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Mar. 03, 2011

UK: hospital cleaning brought in house in Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland

(May 2011) In the 1980s, the Thatcher government in the UK introduced compulsory tendering of all cleaning and catering work in hospitals throughout the UK. This was bitterly fought at

Mar. 03, 2011

Hungary: Court supports Pecs decision to terminate Suez water contract

(May 2011) A Hungarian arbitration court ruled in March 2010 that the city council of Pecs was legally entitled to terminate its water service contract with the multinational Suez Environnement

Mar. 03, 2011

Controlling contractors: Finland, Macedonia and Malta

(May 2011) Controlling the pay and conditions used by contractors is crucial both to protect their employees and to prevent the use of outsourcing to undercut the jobs, pay and

Apr. 12, 2011

Hospital cleaning brought in-house

Over the past three years the authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have introduced regulations that ended the privatization of cleaning services in hospitals.

Apr. 12, 2011

Council terminates water contract

PECS City Council in Hungary managed to terminate its water contract with the Suez multinational despite heavy lobbying by the company, the French government and Hungarian prime minister.

Apr. 12, 2011

Controlling contractors

A major challenge for trade unions is monitoring and controlling how companies operate if they win contracts from public authorities. In Finland there is now cross-party support for legislative proposals

Jun. 24, 2011

Portugal: unions convince Lisbon city council to reject outsourcing

In 2010 Lisbon city council decided to restructure its services to try to reduce its levels of spending. It published plans which included proposals for reducing the number of departments, transferring some work to the smaller district councils in the city and for contracting-out some services.

Jun. 24, 2011

Georgia: Health unions fight hospital closures

The health workers union in Georgia is facing up to two main challenges - anti-trade legislation and privatisation.

Jun. 28, 2011

UK: bringing local services back in-house

A new report commissioned by UNISON provides survey evidence on how local authorities in the UK are insourcing services - bringing services back in-house.

Jun. 28, 2011

UK: bringing local services back in-house

A new report from UNISON, Insourcing update: The value of returning local authority services in-house in an era of budget constraints, reveals how many local councils in the UK are

Jun. 28, 2011

Georgia: health unions fight hospital closures

Despite aggressive anti-union policies and legislation, health workers in Georgia are fighting back against the government's plans for widespread privatisation. A combination of cutbacks and a switch from public funding

Jun. 28, 2011

Portugal: unions convince Lisbon city council to reject outsourcing

In 2010, when Lisbon City Council drew up plans to outsource services, the STAL and STML trade unions worked together to compile evidence to oppose the changes.

Jul. 21, 2011

UK: Islington Council re-municipalises cleaning contract

(July 2011) In 2010 over 160 cleaners in Islington, north London, became direct employees of the local council again, on much better pay and conditions. The decision came after the

Jul. 21, 2011

Georgia: Unions defending public services

(July 2011) Trade unions in Georgia have managed to campaign and negotiate for improved services despite the challenges they face. The greatest problem faced by the public services unions in

Jul. 21, 2011

Sweden: Parliament rejects further privatisation

(July 2011) In March 2011 the Swedish parliament voted to reject government plans to sell shares in state-owned companies. The centre-right government, which does not have an overall majority, proposed