Legal case delivers better protection for striking workers

In January the vpod public services union won an important case for live-in (24 hours) care workers. The federal court ruled that 24-hour carers, who are placed in private households by temporary employment agencies, must be covered by the labour code. Previously, these workers had no protection which meant no limit to working hours and no rights to rest or time-off because the labour code didn’t apply to working arrangements in private households. The union will continue to campaign for live-in care workers’ rights as the ruling does not apply to those directly employed by households.

After six weeks of strike action the CGT trade union has secured a monthly increase of €200 for workers in the GRDF gas distribution company. The first increases will be implemented in January with increases ranging from a minimum of €50 up to and €87. The CGT is concerned about any attempt to intimidate strikers and has warned GRDF's management against any action that could be taken against striking employees, whether in terms of disciplinary

Public services union Unison is continuing to support a key case affecting outsourced workers that is now going to the European Court of Justice. The union argues that workers transferred to the Parkwood company by Lewisham Council in South East London have the right, under the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations (Acquired Rights Directive) to continue to benefit from pay increases negotiated as part of the national local government agreement. The outcome of the case has implications for thousands of other workers across the sector. [Read more at > Unison (EN)->http://www.unison.org.uk