The EPSU General Secretary and EPSU Vice-President Thomas Kattnig joined Europe’s trade union leaders in condemning the acts and attacks of the Russian government against people and activists of the LGBT+ community.
A national demonstration of health workers foreseen to take place in Belgrade on 23 November was cancelled as the GSZSZ Nezavisnost trade union reached agreement with the government on a number of key demands on pay. The aim is to get the ministry of health to sign a new regulation on salary coefficients that would define the common basic salary for all workers in the healthcare sector. The union argues that this would be a significant improvement on the current situation where the five basic salaries for different professions in the healthcare are not viable. The union is also calling for
The Nezavinost trade union confederation has called a national demonstration outside government offices in Belgrade on 10 December with a call for a 25% pay increase for all public sector workers. The key message of the demonstration is the need to properly value and recognise the work of public sector employees, to ensure their health and safety and guarantee compliance of employers with collective agreements.
The ETUC and the ITUC call for an immediate end to hostilities and the conflict in eastern Ukraine following the recognition by the Russian government of the Donetsk and Luhansk socalled people’s republics.
The FNPR trade union confederation has stressed that any move towards a four-day working week has to ensure that pay levels are maintained. The confederation is aware of employers switching to a four- or even three-day week but with similar cuts in wages. However, the confederation believes that there is the need for a debate and for an examination of legislation with the 40-hour working week established in the constitution. The confederation wants to see a debate around changes to working time with the possibility of a 35- or 36-hour working week or changes to work schedules with the option
Government, trade unions and employers signed a new cross-sector agreement on 31 March that includes a wide range of provisions, among them three key points: adoption of the International Labour Organization Centenary Declaration on the Future of the World of Work; amendments to the Constitution covering the special role of social partnership in the regulation of social and labour relations; and the need to take into account the pandemic when formulating measures to protect workers. The agreement also highlights issues that need to be addressed in relation to public sector pay in order to
After the surge in remote working as a result of the pandemic, trade unions in Ireland, Russia and Spain have welcomed new initiatives, including legislation and collective agreements, that regulate telework. Research by the Eurofound research agency also looks into the negative and positive implications of telework for workers’ autonomy and work-life balance raising again the challenges to ensure that workers have control over their working time and underlining the importance of current discussions at European level on the right to disconnect.
