Equality, Pay settlements, Economic Policy
Civil servants finally see benefits of collective agreement
Public service union ver.di has welcomed the fact that the federal government has finally confirmed that the April 2023 collective agreement for employees in federal and local government should now be applied retroactively to federal civil servants, judges, soldiers and pension recipients. The union has been frustrated about such a long delay at a time of high costs for food, energy and housing. It wants to ensure that at the end of the current negotiations covering employees in regional government, its provisions are applied immediately to the 1.4 million civil servants and 1 million pension
6% for municipal workers but poor offer for health staff
Trade unions in municipalities, including the FNV, have negotiated 15-month agreement that runs to 31 March 2025 and provides a 6% pay increase. There will be a 4.75% increase on 1 January followed by 1.25% on 1 October. While most lower paid employees are on €16 or above a few are still on the national minimum wage of €15.92. The FNV is committed to secure a higher minimum wage in local government. The agreement includes an additional day of non-statutory leave as of 1 January 2025, taking the total to eight. While the early retirement scheme is made more accessible, the union is disappointed
Confederation coordinates day of action against austerity
The CMKOS trade union has called a day of action for 27 November in protest at government policies and the threat of austerity, including cuts to public service pay. Public service unions also organised a press conference to express support for the demonstration and targeted strike action, recalling the negative impact of fiscal consolidation after the financial and economic crisis in 2009. The OSSOO state workers union and OSDLV woodworkers’ union will be among the five unions organising an hour’s stoppage on the day with all CMKOS unions mobilising for protests around the country. The OSZSP
Unions mobilise against government budget proposals
The FP-CGIL, UIL-FPL and UIL-PA public service federations are coordinating strike action on 17 November as part of a series of strikes and protests organised by the CGIL and UIL confederations. The unions are angry about government economic and social policy, the proposed state budget for 2024 and the refusal of the government to consult with unions. The public service strike will be followed by action in other sectors on 20, 24 and 27 November and 1 December. There was also a one-day strike by FP-CGIL and UIL-PA members at the INL National Labour Inspectorate on 30 October. This was part of
Pay rises for workers in religious and sports organisations
The Kommunal municipal service workers’ trade union continues to negotiate collective agreements with a wide range of employers in a busy bargaining round. Workers in church and religious organisations are now covered by a new agreement running from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2025 while the agreement covering those in the sports sector applies from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2025. In both cases the pay increases are in line with the main labour market trend. In the religious organisations there will be average salary increases of SEK 1037 (€89) this year and SEK 961 (€83) next year
Flat-rate pay rise in settlement in local government
The local government unions – UNISON, Unite and GMB – have agreed to accept the employers’ offer of a flat-rate pay rise of £1925 (€2205) on annual salaries for 2023. The increase is worth around 9% for the lowest paid workers but about 4% for most of the workforce. The unions had initially demanded an increase of 12.7% and have made clear that they are already looking to the negotiations in 2024 to deliver better pay for local government workers. The agreement covers workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, UNISON is consulting over an improved offer from the employers
ETUC puts spotlight on food inflation
Using figures from the Eurostat statistics agency, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows that the price of the most basic food stuffs is still rising up to seven times faster than wages. The price of olive oil is 75% higher than it was in January 2021, while there have been substantial increases in the price of potatoes (53%), eggs (37%) and butter (27%). By contrast, the ETUC shows that nominal wages have increased by 11% in the EU and 10% in the Euro area over the last three years. The confederation has also challenged the International Monetary Fund over its analysis of wages
Successful pan-European Conference of Local and Regional Government
The EPSU LRG European Conference brought together over 40 delegates and speakers from across Europe to discuss remunicipalisation of public services, focusing on the climate crisis, gender equality and democratic ownership.
Unions and other organisations mobilised for women’s strike
On 24 October, the BSRB public sector federation was one of more than a dozen organisations supporting a day of action calling for urgent action to address gender inequality, the gender pay gap and to tackle gender-based and sexual violence. Actions ranged from strikes and demonstrations to the withdrawal of all forms of labour, paid and unpaid. Since the first women’s day of action in 1975, unions and other organisations in the country have organised major strikes and protests and there has been some reduction in gender inequality. However, there is still a long way to go with the gender pay
Pay dispute in health sector resolved
The LVSADA health workers’ union reached an agreement with the Ministry of Health on 18 October that will deliver pay increases for doctors (10.6%), nurses (6.5%) and assistant nurses (6.9%) in 2024. This means that medical personnel will have seen pay rises of around 23-24% for the three-year period 2022-24. There will also be an additional €40 per month (gross, average) for non-medical personnel in 2024. The agreement was negotiated with the new health minister and resolves a long-standing dispute over pay.
Public sector negotiations deliver a 5% pay increase
The HSSMS-MT healthcare union reports that following the third round of public sector pay negotiations, unions have accepted a pay increase of 5%, an improvement on the 3% offer made in the second round of bargaining. The unions have also secured the €300 Christmas bonus that they were looking for and an Easter bonus of €100, less than they wanted but a €30 improvement on the previous offer. There is also a commitment that, should the new pay system not be in place by 1 March 2024, then negotiations would open for a general pay increase.
Unions plan actions in response to government plans
Trade unions and their confederations continue to raise concerns about the government’s proposals that will impact trade union rights, employment conditions and the welfare state. Members of the SAK confederation has been involved in a series of events, protests and work stoppages since September and more are planned for November. The STTK confederation is mobilising for a major demonstration on 18 November while the AKAVA confederation is focused on getting the government around the negotiating table.
Union negotiates two new agreement in non-profit sectors
The Kommunal trade union has negotiated two two-year collective agreements with the Fremia employers’ organisation that covers non-profit service providers. In the agreement with Fremia covering personal assistance, wage increases will be negotiated around an amount of at least SEK 993 (€84) from 1 October 2023 and at least SEK 875 (€74) from 1 October 2024. Minimum wage rates will be increased by SEK 1,350 (€115) from 1 January 2024 and by SEK 875 (€74) from 1 January 2025 while all allowances and supplements will be increased by 4.1% and 3.3% on the same dates. In the civil society agreement