2015 November [email protected] 17

The SSP/VPOD public service union is one of a number of unions that have taken strike action against cuts proposed by the government of the Geneva canton (region). The unions are protesting against planned cuts that would see pay reduced by 5% over the next three years, a freeze on recruitment, an increase in the working week from 40 to 42 hours and 1800 job cuts. The unions argue that nothing like this has been seen since the 1930s. The initial strike action was suspended in the expectation of revised proposals from the regional government but it has yet to come up with any alternatives

The state sector union Pardia has attacked the government for trying to imposed limits on employment conditions, particularly in the state sector. The union argues that there have been significant improvements in productivity over several years with negotiated changes to work organisation, working time and the spread of digitalisation. For Pardia these are the ways of increasing efficiency and not cuts to employment conditions. The union says that public sector workers are being targeted in particular with the proposed cap on annual leave and other changes. [Read more at > Pardia (EN)->http:/

Members of the FNV and CNV have voted in favour of a new collective agreement covering ambulance workers that will run until the end of 2018. The deal was reached at the beginning of November after a campaign of industrial action over several months. There will be basic pay increases of 1.0%, 1.2% and 1.5% in each of the next three years but workers will also benefit by around 1.25% a year from a new way of calculating holiday pay. Workers over 57 will no longer have to do night shifts and there is also a commitment to replace temporary jobs with permanent ones. [Read more at > FNV (NL)->http

The European Commission has launched both public and social partner consultations on how to improve work-life balance and reduce obstacles to women's participation in the labour market. These consultations follow the withdrawal of the Commission's 2008 proposal to amend the 1992 Maternity Leave Directive. The consultation document gives an overview of the main challenges arising from work-life balance for parents and people with caring responsibilities; takes stock of the current EU-level legislation already existing in the area of work-life balance such as maternity leave, parental leave and

Trade unions are continuing to campaign against the Trade Union Bill which, if passed in its current form, will particularly impact on public sector unions. They will be faced with thresholds for vote for strike action if deemed to be in "important" public services and will also be hit by proposals to end employer deductions of union contributions and to reduce facility time for union officials. The government has withdrawn some planned restrictions relating to picketing and use of social media in strikes but the main anti-trade union measures remain. EPSU and PSI have been supporting the

The ver.di services trade union reports on a recent European Court ruling on procurement that says that companies can be excluded from bidding for contracts if they don't commit to pay the relevant minimum wage. The case concerns the decision in 2013 by Landau city council to exclude the company Regio-Post from bidding for contracts when it refused to pay its workers what was then the minimum hourly rate of €8.70 as set by the Rheinland-Pfalz regional authority. The European Court of Justice has ruled that the city council's actions were compatible with European legislation. [Read more at >

Following a sustained campaign by public service union IMPACT, an arbitration ruling has recommended four separate pay rises of 2.5% for school secretaries and caretakers between 2016 and 2019. This means these workers who are employed directly by boards of management in State-funded schools, would see their minimum hourly rates increase from €10.25 to €13 an hour over the period. Caretakers and secretaries pay rates vary, as they are determined by the individual board of management of each school, and almost all are paid below the scale paid to equivalent public service workers. The union

On 19 November some 7500 people took part in a demonstration in the Hague as part of a long-running campaign to secure a new collective agreement in the sheltered employment sector. However, the FNV was outraged when 30 protestors were arrested for occupying the VNG local government employers' offices. They were later released but missed the summit meeting between the union, employers and Ministry of Social Affairs. [Read more at > FNV (NL)->http://www.fnv.nl/sector-en-cao/alle-sectoren/overheid/sociale-werkvoorziening/sos-sw/] [And at > FNV (NL)->http://www.fnv.nl/over-fnv/nieuws

Around 5000 childcare workers across the country will benefit from a 2.5% pay increase from 1 January 2016. The rise was agreed between the vida services union and the Ministry of Labour's Federal Arbitration Office. The union is pleased about the result which it sees as an important step in improving the pay of an occupation dominated by women. The new minimum wage will be €1435 a month, marking progress towards the €1500 target agreed by unions in the ÖGB confederation. There will also a a new €5 an hour "cleaning allowance". [Read more at > vida (DE)->http://www.vida.at/servlet

The Eurofound research agency has published initial findings from its latest survey of working conditions across Europe. While there are positive results in terms of health and safety awareness and job motivation there are large minorities of workers with major concerns. The proportion of workers worried about losing their job in the next six months is 16% - the same level as 2010. More than two in ive workers are dissatisfied about working time in their main paid job, with 28% wanting to work shorter hours, while involuntary part-time work means 13% want more hours. [Read more at > Eurofound

Municipal union Kommunal has made it a priority to improve the salaries of nursing assistants in the 2016 bargaining round. The union argues that there is widespread support for this across society, not least from service users and their relatives. A real wage increase for all its 500,000 members is Kommunal's aim with a particular focus on the lowest paid in its strategy to reduce pay gap between jobs dominated by women and those dominated by men. The union says that it is unfair that nursing assistants are paid on average SEK 2800 (€300) a month less than factory workers even though they

The main public service federations in CGIL, CSIL and UIL are joined by other federations in CONFSAL and the GILDA teacher's union in building for a major national demonstration on Saturday 28 November. The unions are calling for the unfreezing of collective bargaining in the public sector, blocked now for six years. They want the government to recognise the contribution made by millions of public sector workers as well as the workers employed by private companies that provide public services. [Read more at > FP CGIL (IT)->http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/32810]

On 3 December the FSC-CCOO and FSP-UGT public service federations will organise a joint protest outside the headquarters of the civil service. The unions see it as important to keep the pressure on the state administration to reinstate collective bargaining, to increase public employment and stop privatisation, to restore pay lost as a result of austerity and to re-establish possibilities for promotion and career development. [Read more at > FSC-CCOO (ES)->http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/Inicio:918008--El_Sector_del_Estado_se_concentrara_el_3_de_diciembre_en_la_sede_de_Funcion_Publica] [And at >