Sector bargaining under threat

The VPOD/SSP public service trade union, with support from the SGB/USS trade union confederation, has attacked demands from the health insurance industry to cut hospital costs and by implication wage bills. The industry wants hospital costs across the country reduced to the lowest that currently apply in any hospital. The unions point out that with employment costs making up 70% of total costs this means an attack on pay and conditions. The unions have warned that such reductions, apart from being unfair to workers, would undermine service quality and lead to hospitals taking on less qualified

The three main trade unions in the municipal sector have agreed common demands in the current pay round and are looking for a two-and-a-half year agreement with significant increases in pay but allowing for more agreements at local level. The overall pay demand for the 30-month agreement is around 9%. JHL, the biggest union, has also put forward a number of qualitative demands. It wants changes to the way the local government workforce is used and making the prerequisites for local agreement more equal between employees and employers. This involves issues such as providing measures to

Services union ver.di highlights the findings of a recent TV documentary that exposes the permament pressure on pay and conditions in the health sector. Health workers are being outsourced to subsidiary companies where they face lower pay and even the transfer onto so-called service contracts rather than proper employment contracts. The use of agency work is also spreading. Ver.di argues that these changes are having a negative and potentially dangerous impact as morale falls, workers become ill and the quality of care is undermined. [Read more at > ver.di (DE)->http://gesundheit-soziales