Union pledges to continue fight against law on civil servant mobility

The Constitutional Court has blocked government legislation that would have made it easier to dismiss civil servants. The law is part of a range of austerity measures that the government has planned to introduce as part of the bail out arrangements required by the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. Opposition parties also plan to challenge recent legislation that imposes a 40-hour week across the public sector - five hours longer than the current norm. [Read more at > euractiv->http://www.euractiv.com/euro-finance/portugal-top-court-rejects-labou-news

A draft law that would change the rules on civil servants’ job mobility and career progression is being debated in the National Assembly a year after being passed by the Senate. Unions are very worried about the implications of the legislation which they say will make it easier for public sector employers to make civil servants redundant during a restructuring and to make more use of fixed-term workers. The FO civil service trade union federation was planning to mobilise its members and take strike action in early July in protest at the proposals. [Read more at > CGT (FR)->http://www