2022 November EPSU Collective Bargaining Newsletter No.24

Members of the PCS central government union have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in over 120 areas of government activity. The average majority “yes” vote of over 86% is the highest in the union’s history. The union is calling for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. With no response from the government on these issues PCS has agreed an initial programme of targeted action in the ministries covering ports, borders and all areas of transport among others. Meanwhile, more health workers in range of areas including blood and transplant services

The younion and GÖD public sector unions have negotiated a 7.15% pay rise from 1 January next year with a 7.32% increase on allowances. However, the minimum guaranteed increase of €170 a month wiil mean that the lowest paid workers will see pay rise by 9.41%. Meanwhile, the vida and GPA private services unions have concluded a new collective agreement covering 130,000 employees in the private health, social and care sector. The two unions welcomed the 8% wage increase from 1 January 2023 along with the guaranteed minimum rise of €175 a month that means an increase of 10.2% for the lowest paid

After a month of strike action, the Fagforbundet, Delta and education trade unions have been able to secure an agreement with the PBL private childcare employers’ organisation on new pension arrangements. Workers will be able to build up a lifetime contractual pension from 1 January 2025 which will be comparable to that available to municipal employees. In addition, the percentage rate paid by employees for their own occupational pension will be reduced from 3% to 2.5% per cent in 2023, then down to 2% per cent when the new scheme is established. The employer's share is increased accordingly.

After a month of strike action, the Fagforbundet, Delta and education trade unions have been able to secure an agreement with the PBL private childcare employers’ organisation on new pension arrangements. Workers will be able to build up a lifetime contractual pension from 1 January 2025 which will be comparable to that available to municipal employees. In addition, the percentage rate paid by employees for their own occupational pension will be reduced from 3% to 2.5% per cent in 2023, then down to 2% per cent when the new scheme is established. The employer's share is increased accordingly.

The FSC-CCOO, FeSP-UGT and other unions in the ministry of justice in Spain have been protesting to demand negotiations over the impact of legislation on organisational efficiency in the justice sector. The unions coordinated a demonstration outside the ministry on 22 November to highlight their concerns that the law doesn’t guarantee rights in relation to mobility, promotion, remuneration and other labour issues and that it poses a risk to jobs and the quality of service. Above all the unions want to ensure that all these questions are the subject of negotiation. Meanwhile, in Italy the three

After four rounds of negotiations, employers in the childcare sector have failed to improve the pay increase offered at the beginning of November – a 10.15% increase over two years. The FNV trade union argues that this is insufficient to protect against inflation and deliver the level of pay that would help address staff shortages. The union claim is for a 12.9% increase over 12 months. At the beginning of November, the unions launched a petition, now signed over 15,000 times, to make it clear to employers that a decent wage increase is desperately needed to keep the sector attractive to work

The ver.di services union has negotiated a new collective agreement covering the 18,000 employees of energy company RWE. The agreement runs to 29 February 2024 and includes a 6% pay rise from 1 February 2023. There will also be a €1500 lump sum payment before the end of 2022 and a further €1500 lump sum in 2024. Employees also received an exceptional 2.5% increase in September. Meanwhile, the union has negotiated a new agreement covering the 10,000 employees at private health group Sana. The agreement runs to 30 April 2024 and includes a 7% pay increase from 1 June 2023, with a guaranteed

The ČMKOS trade union confederation has sent an open letter to the prime minister asking him to respond to calls to open negotiations on pay rises for public sector workers in 2023 and reminding him that the confederation’s request from 19 October remains unanswered. The last meeting of ČMKOS representatives with the government took place on 27 September with no agreement on pay for 2023 at the time but with both side confirming their willingness to continue negotiations as soon as possible. The minister of labour and social affairs was also approached in October and November in an attempt to

In the main (IEG) electricity and gas sector negotiations the CGT, CFDT and FO unions have agreed a 2.3% increase on the basic national salary for 2023 with a minimum guaranteed increase of €1040 for the year (€80 on the monthly salary over 13 months), along with individualised increases worth 1%. The CFE-CGC union refused to sign arguing that the increase was inadequate. The negotiations followed mobilisations by the unions earlier in the autumn demanding pay negotiations to address the cost of living crisis and the increases come in addition to the extra bonuses paid this year in response to

A major survey by the ST trade union found that seven out of 10 government employees report feeling stressed at work, with many citing lack of influence at work as a contributing factor. The union found that state sector employees are more stressed than those in the labour market as a whole. Some 55% said that their workload had increased in the previous two years, with almost 30% feeling that they cannot speak up when they have too much to do. Threats and violence at work was mentioned by 34% of respondents, up from previous surveys with many saying they have not received sufficient support

The ADEDY public service and GSEE private sector trade union confederations report strong support for their nationwide strike action and national protest on 9 November. ADEDY was calling for an increase in wages to compensate for inflation along with several other improvements to employment conditions, including re-establishing the 13th and 14th month salaries, an increase and extension of the allowance for dangerous and unhealthy work, negotiating collective agreements in the public sector, a boost for public health care funding, and massive recruitment of permanent staff to tackle staffing

A mid-term evaluation of a working time experiment in the Esbjerg municipality in South West Denmark reveals high levels of satisfaction among those compressing their hours into a four-day week according to union HK Kommunal. Some 90% of job centre employees who chose the 4-day week two years ago are very satisfied with the scheme. The experiment began in January 2021 and runs for another year with those switching to four days working 35 normal hours with two hours dedicated to improving competences. Workers remaining on the five-day week work 37 normal hours. A detailed evaluation was carried