Serbia
An 18-month pay freeze is just one element in a package of measures that the government is planning to implement to secure loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Public sector unions have called for an increase in the minimum wage for state sector workers and for cuts in non-employment costs in public administration.
Read more at > Reuters (EN)
And at > SETimes (EN)
The Romanian government has signed a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund and European Union that will mean substantial cuts in public spending, cuts in public sector jobs and a freeze on pay. Our regional officer in Romania reports that the IMF has asked the Romanian government to freeze the public sector pay bill and allocate the additional income exclusively to investments. Over the next four years, the pay bill, which has more than doubled in the last three years, must be gradually reduced from 8% to 5% of GDP. The IMF requires that the cut in the pay bill is proportional to
Municipal union Kommunal has welcomed new legislation that will require dementia care homes to provide minimum levels of staffing. The union says this is a victory for both dementia care workers and dementia sufferers. Kommunal will now work to ensure that the new rules are properly applied and adequate funding is provided for extra staff. Read more at > Kommunal (SE)
(May 2017) The FOA public services union has called on MPs to reject the continuing demand on local government and health to deliver a 2% productivity increase each year. Effectively in force since 2003, it means that workers in the sector deliver 49% more services with the same staff. The union argues that there is a limit to what can be done and that services cannot be permanently streamlined without posing a threat to quality. The union points out that while health workers have been delivering a 2.4% productivity increase each year the private sector has managed only 1%.
