Transparency & Corruption, Recruitment & organising
Bargaining and organising – join the debate on 27 September
EPSU’s recruitment and organising (R&O) team has arranged a webinar at 13.00 (CET) on 27 September to discuss the links between organising and collective bargaining. It will include practical examples from EPSU affiliates in Finland (JHL) and Germany (ver.di). Pertti Paajanen, JHL’s director of organisational affairs will talk about the union’s successful R&O campaigns and the interaction between recruitment and collective bargaining and industrial action. Ver.di activist Silvia Habekost will explain how the union succeeded in reaching collective agreements on staffing levels in two big public
USA sets example for Europe with initiative on organising and collective bargaining
The US government has set out 70 recommendations to encourage collective bargaining and union membership making it easier for many federal employees to join unions and eliminating barriers for union organizers to talk with workers. A report by the administration’s Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, says, “it is our administration’s belief that unions benefit all of us.” The report notes that union households earn up to 20% more than non-union households, with an even greater union advantage for workers with less formal education and workers of colour. The report calls for
Organising Young Workers: a new report and online interactive workshops
Last week, EPSU held two online, interactive workshops for the EPSU Youth Network and the Recruitment and Organising Network, on one of the most important topic for the future of our unions – organising young workers.
Union strike bus continues its tour
The vpod/ssp public services union has launched an organising and collective bargaining initiative to boost the level of activism in the union across the country. The aim is to talk to members and workers at local level to find out the main issues of concern and discuss what can be done in response. Pay and staffing levels have unsurprisingly emerged among the hottest issues as the bus has made its way through health and social care workplaces in Basel, Bern and the regions of Solothurn and St.Gallen. However, workers have also raised concerns about fair working hours, having proper breaks