Mediation set to continue over collective agreement for personal assistants

Members of the JHL trade union who work as personal assistants are continuing their strike action in support of better pay and conditions, following the failure of the employers' organisation to come up with an improved pay offer after mediation. The union is pushing for improved pay as a key measure in tackling the high turnover in the sector. Meanwhile, mediation is continuing in the private social services sector following strike action by the TEHY trade union. The union reported that the mediation, begun on 5 June and continuing into 8 June, was making some progress.

The Kommunal municipal services union has given notice of a dispute with three private health companies - Frösunda, Humana Assistance AB and Olivia. The union is unhappy with a 2.6% pay increase this year which will give the workers, 70% of whom are women, an extra SEK 500 (€56). These workers earn on average only SEK 19500 (€2200) a month. Kommunal wants to see an increase of around SEK 960 (€108) a month which would be in line with the increase in local government. [Read more at > Kommunal (SV)->http://www.kommunal.se/Kommunal/press/Pressmeddelanden/Kommunal-varslar-om-konflikt-pa-privata

The Kommunal municipal services trade union has declared a dispute with private companies that provide personal assistants who work with people with disabilities. The collective agreement with the private employers' organisation expired on 30 June and the union has been calling for a pay rise of SEK 535 (€56) a month, in line with other agreements in the sector. So far the employers have offered less than half this amount (SEK 249, €25). Kommunal says this is unacceptable for such an important group of workers and with negotiations stalled the union has said its formal notice of a dispute with