Jan. 21, 2020
Spain
Dec. 18, 2019
Union rejects government delay to pay increase
The public service federations of the CCOO confederation have called on the acting government to guarantee that the 2% pay increase, agreed as part of a three-year pay deal, will be paid on 1 January 2020 to all three million public sector workers. Formally a new government has yet to be confirmed and the acting public service minister is claiming that the increase cannot be confirmed but that it could be paid and backdated later in 2020. The union argues that the increase can be paid on the basis of a royal decree and say this needs to be done urgently as part of the union demands to win back rights cut or reduced during austerity.
Dec. 04, 2019
Unions push for better pay and conditions in health and care
Health and social care trade unions are campaigning for better pay and conditions for hundreds of thousands of works in the dependent care sector and national health service. Around 3000 trade unionists protested outside the Ministry of Health on 30 November as part of the campaign by the CCOO-Sanidad union to secure major changes to the health service pay system. On 2 December the FeSP-UGT federation sent key demands to all the autonomous regions calling on them to intervene with the companies that are blocking measures to improve pay, reduce precarious work and tackle excessive workloads in the dependent care sector.
Nov. 22, 2019
Unions continue their campaign for better pay for care workers
The FSS-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service unions mobilised members working in care across the country on 7 November to put pressure on the employers to agree to a EUR 1000 minimum monthly wage for the sector (14 payments). Demonstrations took place outside several of the regional headquarters of the CEOE employers' organisation. The unions are demanding urgent action to improve pay for the overwhelmingly female workforce that faces challenging working conditions with significant risks of musculo-skeletal and psycho-social disorders. The next action is planned for 14 December.
Nov. 07, 2019
Health union mobilises for action on pay system
The CCOO-Sanidad health federation organised a national mobilisation on 6 November to put pressure on the national health service to deliver on reforming the pay system that covers around 500,000 workers. The union wants to see major changes in the pay structure on the basis of a professional qualification framework that recognises the skills and competences of a wide range of occupations. It argues that this is necessary to establish appropriate salary levels that should provide higher pay for many health workers.
Nov. 05, 2019
Care workers fight for better conditions and services
Care workers in the Basque region are engaged in long-term struggles to secure better pay and conditions and higher quality services for the elderly. Members of the ELA trade union working in residential care in Gipuzkoa province are set to take another 31 days of strike action from 11 November to 11 December, taking the total number of days to 149. Meanwhile the ELA, LAB, UGT and USO unions in Bizkaia province are coordinating action in home care. This follows 27 days of strike action in 2018 and a dozen days in 2017 in a campaign to end a seven-year pay freeze, improve health and safety and impose limits on flexibility.
Oct. 24, 2019
Unions to mobilise over care workers' pay
The trade unions representing care workers - FeSP-UGT and CCOO-Sanidad - are planning two days of mobilisation on 30 October and 7 November to put pressure on the two employer organisations (CEOE and CEPYME) to negotiate on pay. The union federations are angry that the employers have failed to negotiate the introduction of a EUR 1000 minimum wage (14 payments) for the sector even though it had been proposed in the last collective agreement. The unions put forward a proposal for reaching the level in stages up to 2021 but the employers failed to respond.
Oct. 09, 2019
Public service federations want government action on pay and conditions
The public service federations of the CCOO confederation have called on the government to confirm the pay increase for 2020 as agreed and to undertake major negotiations over a range of issues including the re-establishment of rights and benefits frozen or removed as a result of austerity measures. The federations underline the need to stabilise employment and tackle the excessive levels of temporary work. They also say that long-standing issues relating to public employment, job classification, career development and equality need to be addressed.
Sep. 27, 2019
Prison unions protest while bosses celebrate
The three prison unions - FeSP-UGT, ACAIP and FSC-CCOO - organised a demonstration in Madrid on 24 September to coincide with an event organised by the prison service management to celebrate their patron saint. The unions highlighted the urgent staff shortages - around 3000 across the service - and the daily attacks against prison workers. They also raised issues such as the lack of negotiations and unilateral decisions by management and the need for pay to properly reflect the demands of the job.
Sep. 12, 2019
Health union exposes social security fraud at ambulance company
The FSC-CCOO public service federation exposed social security fraud at the ambulance company, Ambulancia Tenorio, and this has now been officially confirmed following an investigation by the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate of Badajoz. Tenorio employs over 1000 workers and provides services mainly in the Extremadura region. The company has been found guilty of underpaying salaries, social security contributions and overtime. The company has to pay 505 workers EUR 1.4m and must pay back EUR 400000 to the social security system. This comes shortly after Tenorio was found to have infringed rules on hiring and working time - also exposed by the FSC-CCOO.
Aug. 22, 2019
Public sector still has high level of temporary work
Latest figures on public sector employment show that the overall level has still not recovered from the impact of austerity with 112100 fewer in public sector employment than in 2011. The data also show the scale of the two major problems facing the sector - a continuing high level of temporary contracts (28.2%) and an ageing workforce. Workers aged under 30 make up only 7% of the workforce with those over 50 accounting for 43.6%. Young workers are also more than three times as likely to be on a temporary contract (78.9%).
Aug. 06, 2019
Unions set to mobilise over failure to implement agreement
The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations say they will organise action in September unless there is progress in implementing a key agreement covering workers in the state administration. The unions say that two months after signing the agreement no progress has been made in attributing occupations to the new pay structure and so there is a delay in paying workers their new salaries and any back pay. The FeSP-UGT also raises concerns about the failure to fully implement other agreements covering state workers, including ones on additional funds, mobility and temporary work.
Jul. 25, 2019
New four-year agreement in water sector
The unions UGT-FICA and FSC-CCOO are both very positive about negotiating a new four year agreement with the AGA employers' organisation in the water sector. The agreement will run until 2022 and covers around 20000 workers. There will be a 3% pay increase in each year but there is also an opening clause if inflation exceeds this figure. Working time is reduced by eight hours with annual total of 1744 from 2020. There is a wide range of other measures relating to health and safety, work-life balance, equality and digitalisation among others.
Jul. 09, 2019
Another bargaining breakthrough for health union
The CCOO-Sanidad health union has negotiated another new collective agreement following on from its success reported in the last issue of the newsletter. Around 900 workers employed by the CIBER network of biomedical research institutions will be covered by a new agreement that will run until June 2022. The agreement will mean standardisation of pay and conditions for this group of workers and it will set out their rights in relation to pay, leave, relocation, working time and telework, the right to training and the target of limiting temporary contracts to 8% of the workforce.
Jun. 27, 2019