Austria
The GPA-djp services union has negotiated a new collective agreement covering 6000 employees of doctors in Lower Austria. The agreement establishes a minimum wage of €1300 which the union sees as an important step forward for a sector dominated by women workers. GPA-djp members took part in protest action over the summer and an online petition and media releases kept up the pressure on the employers.
Read more at > GPA-djp (DE)
The GPA-djp is campaigning for employees of doctors' (GP) practices in Lower Austria to get a minimum wage of €1300 a month. Regional collective agreements cover the 40000 employees of GP practices across the country, but the agreement in Lower Austria is the only one with a minimum wage below €1300 - currently €1091. The union is also working with the ÖGB confederation to gradually negotiate minimum wages of at least €1500 across all their collective agreements. The GPA-djp believes that achieving this will be an important contribution to closing the gender pay gap. [Read more at > GPA-djp
The GPA-DJP trade union has launched a campaign to win better pay and conditions for workers in doctors' surgeries. The union is calling for a €1,100 minimum monthly salary for the workers who currently have a starting salary of around €800 for a 40-hour week. The union points out that receptionists in doctors' surgeries have a demanding job, having to combine administrative, social and medical skills. Read more at > GPD-DJP (DE)
The ETUI-REHS trade union research centre has organised a conference on 2 and 3 May to discuss minimum wages. The debates will focus both on legal minimum wages and campaigns to increase minimum wage rates in collective agreements. There will be presentations on France, Germany, USA, the Scandanavian countries, Spain, UK, Austria, Central and Eastern Europe and Switzerland. The final panel of speakers will include EPSU president Anne-Marie Perret. [Read more at > ETUI-REHS->http://www.etui-rehs.org/events/conference_minimum_wages_in_europe_towards_a_european_minimum_wage_policy_brussels_may_2
