Ireland
The SIPTU and IMPACT public service trade unions organized a demonstration on 20 October in protest at plans by Fingal County Council, to the north of Dublin, to outsource waste collection services. The unions highlighted not only the threat to workers pay and conditions but the prospect of a poorer service and higher charges to citizens.
Read more at > SIPTU (EN)
Public services union UNISON is backing a campaign among medical secretaries to stop the outsourcing of their work to the private sector. The union believes that the health service is undervaluing this important area of work and outsourcing is creating problems of accuracy and privacy in dealing with patient information. Read more at > UNISON (EN)
The VPOD/SSP public services union is working with other health unions and the SGB/USS trade union confederation to campaign for a major reform of the Swiss healthcare system. The SBK/ASI nurses' association and SVBG/FSAS federation of professional health associations are also supporting the campaign. The unions believe it is possible to move to a more affordable and efficient system with more planning to reduce the costs of what they see as an inequitable and costly system. They are also calling for action on working time and the training and employment of more health specialists. The unions
Around 1,000 firefighters and emergency service workers took to the streets of Santiago de Compostela on 30 October to demonstrate against plans by the Galician government’s privatization plans. The three main union federations – CCOO, UGT and CSI – supported the march, warning of the impact of privatization on the quality of services and of an increase in precarious employment conditions. Read more at > FSC-CCOO (ES)
