Union steps up campaign for equal rights for church employees

The trade union ver.di has launched a petition calling on the government to ensure equal rights for workers employed by church organisations. Currently special rules apply to the major protestant and catholic employers who employ around 1.8 million people and run many health and care services, including hospitals, nursing homes and services, facilities for the disabled and youth welfare, emergency services, daycare centres, etc. As, ver.di points out, these are financed almost exclusively from tax revenues and social security contributions. Employees of these bodies have fewer protections

The ver.di services union has set up a new website as part of a campaign against church employers, who provide a range of social services and who want to deny their workers the right to strike. Ver.di has been successful in cases taken to regional labour courts over church employees’ right to strike. However, the Synod (parliament) of the Evangelical Church is planning to legislate against strike action in church law. Ver.di is planning a protest demonstration on 4 November in Magdeburg. [Read more at > ver.di (DE)->http://www.verdi.de/themen/nachrichten/++co++cf734d90-effd-11e0-5686

The three main trade union confederations – ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGSLB – are taking further steps to defend trade union rights and particularly the rights to strike and protest. They will be joining other civil society and campaigning organisations on 5 October in a national demonstration against the Van Quickenborne law which will make it increasingly difficult to organise protests. The unions have already challenged attacks on trade union rights and particularly legal action taken against trade union strikers and protestors in the recent long-running Delhaize dispute in the retail