2014 February epsucob@NEWS 03
ETUC welcomes Parliament report on Troika
The ETUC has welcomed the report from the European Parliament's Employment Committee which exposes the impact of Troika policies on Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus. Apart from the failed economic policies and devastating social impacts, the Committee report and the ETUC evidence to the Committee highlighted the attacks on wages, collective bargaining and wage determination systems as well as the Troika's failure to undertake meaningful consultations with trade unions. [Read more at ETUC (EN)->http://www.etuc.org/press/etuc-welcomes-eu-parliament-report-denouncing-dire-social-consequences
Local government unions in dispute
Local government unions (UNISON, GMB and Unite) have declared a dispute with the employers following the employers' failure to come up with a pay offer for 2014-2015. The unions have submitted a claim for an increase of £1.20 (€1.45) an hour which they say will go some way to begin restoring the 18% loss of purchasing power for municipal workers over the last four years. [Read more at UNISON->http://www.unison.org.uk/about/local-government-dispute-declared] [And at > GMB->http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/no-council-pay-offer] [And at > Unite->http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/local-government
Unions defend 35-hour in local government
Trade unions in local government have resisted the government's plans to increase the public sector working week to 40 hours by signing agreements with local authorities to maintain the 35-hour week. STAL, SINTAP along with the STML trade union in Lisbon have been negotiating these agreements one-by-one and now over 100 local authorities have signed up to the 35-hour week. Read more at > STAL (PT) And at > SINTAP (PT)
Wages under attack in local government
The three public sector federations - Fp-Cgil, Cisl-Fp e Uil-Fpl - are warning of potential conflict in local government unless the government steps in to stop the attack on pay. The unions say that individual municipalities are reducing additional payments or making unilateral changes to contracts meaning that some workers are suffering even more on top of the four-year general freeze on bargaining in the public sector. Some local authorities under pressure to reduce budgets are looking for cuts in the wage bill and the unions argue that these are creating local conflicts that could build up
High collective bargaining coverage in electricity sector
The EIRO industrial relations observatory has published a study on the representativeness of the social partners in the electricity industry. This is part of the formal process required by the European Commission and confirms that the two European Trade Union Federations - EPSU and industrAll - are the two most representative trade unions at European level. The study found that: "Collective bargaining coverage is relatively high in the electricity sector. Some 18 of the 22 countries with available data record high rates of collective bargaining coverage, exceeding 70%. The remaining countries
Unions set out claim for hospital negotiations
The hospital sector collective agreement expires on 1 March and EPSU affiliates FNV Abvakabo, CNV Publieke Zaak and Nu'91 have agreed on their main demands. In order to protect workers' purchasing power the unions are asking for a pay increase of 3%. They also want to see more initiatives action to retain qualified workers as well as action to prevent employers call workers back on duty during their breaks. [Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)->http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/over-ons/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/2014/02/inzet-cao-ziekenhuizen-behoud-van-werk-koopkracht-e-echte-banen/] [And at > CNV Publieke
Confederation criticises constitutional court ruling
The CCOO trade union confederation has criticised the Constitutional Court for endorsing government decrees on industrial relations that act to reinforce the duality of the labour market and increase precarious employment. The union believes that the ruling marks a shift in Constitutional Court rulings and that the government using the anti-democratic decrees to impose changes on the labour market. The union is also critical of the court ruling to allow changes to the way dismissal payments are made for workers with limited service, effectively shifting the cost of payments from the employers
Research on firefighting and cancer link to go ahead
The FOA public services union has welcomed the decision by the employment minister to commission research into the possible links between firefighting and cancer. The union has been calling for this for some time noting that the link has been formally acknowledged in other countries. FOA also wants to ensure that the research investigates firefighting going back 20 years or more as as health and safety has been improved whereas the original cause of cancer could date back to earlier days when techniques were not so advanced. [Read more at > FOA (DK)->http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid
Public sector unions call for negotiations
Nine public sector trade union organisations - CGT, CFDT, FO, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires, CFTC, CFE-CGC, FAFP - have come together to call on the prime minister to open negotiations over salaries, careers and promotion in the public sector. The unions argue that recent government statements have not created a very good climate for talks and want confirmation from the prime minister that the government is not proposing to put a block on career advancement or bonus payments. Read more at > CGT (FR)
Under-staffed, low paid, stressed out and overworked
Ver.di is highlighting the very poor pay and working conditions suffered by many in health and social care. The union argues that a qualified, full-time care worker should be on a salary of at least €3000 but average pay is more like €2410 while those in elder care are on an average of only €2190. This compares to an average salary across all sectors of €3462. A big problem in the care sector is that many employers are not signed up to collective agreements and so the possibility to extend coverage of collective agreement is very important. Ver.di estimates that hospitals face a shortage of
Pay, holidays and jobs for trainees
After consulting with members, ver.di has drawn up the key elements of its demands in preparation for negotiations covering 2.1 million workers in federal and local government. The union wants €100 a month extra for all workers, including trainees, plus 3.5%, amounting to an increase of 6.7%. The union says this will go some way to rewarding the productivity of a broad range of public sector workers and to closing the gap with pay in other sectors. The claim will also include a demand for 30 day's paid holiday for all workers and for trainees to be taken on at the end of their training period
Bargaining in the hospitals sector
The vida trade union has negotiated a 2.5% pay increase for the 9000 workers covered by the agreement for religious hospitals. The increase will be applied from 1 March and there will be an extra €20 for those on less than €1450 a month. However, the fourth bargaining round in negotiations covering 15000 employees in private health institutions produced an offer from the employers of only 2%. Vida is organising workplace meetings to report on what it sees as an inadquate offer and to discuss potential protest action. [Read more at > vida (DE)->http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename
Above-inflation rise in health and social care
The 95000 employees in private health and social care are getting a 2.5% increase on minimum rates and 2.4% on other pay levels from 1 February. Inflation in Austria is currently at 1.9%. The vida and GPA-djp trade unions have also negotiated an increase for next February with a rise based on the annual inflation rate to October 2014 plus 0.35%. There are also improvements relating to parental leave and the crediting of previous service in other employment. Read more at > vida (DE)
Unions want improved offer from employers
The GPA-djp and PRO-GE trade unions are currently consulting among their works council members in the electricity sector over how to respond to the employers' inadequate offer in the latest bargaining round. On the table is a pay increase of 2.4% for those earning up to €3500 a month, tapering down to 2% for the highest earners. The unions argue that the offer is inadequate both in relation to workers' productivity and in comparison to what company directors have been getting. [Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)->http://www.gpa-djp.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=GPA/Page/Index&n=GPA_0.a&cid