11-2007 epsucob@NEWS 12 June 2007
Public sector strike averted as government agrees funding
The public sector strike planned for 1 June was called off following negotiations with the government which finally produced an agreement to fund pay increases for 2006 and 2007. Public sector workers will get an average €101 a month increase. This was agreed several months ago but implementation was delayed when the finance minister refused to endorse funding for the increases. Part of the latest agreement involves a shift away from the traditional two and four year negotiations. Currently pay increases are negotiated very two years and other conditions every four years. From 2008 a three
Report exposes aggressive employers in waste sector
The latest report from ver.di on the waste sector provides further evidence of the pressure workers are under from employers determined to boost profits by cutting pay and conditions. One ver.di member, Bernd Schuster, who spoke out on German TV was reprimanded by his employers (Lobben) for revealing confidential company information. He had revealed how pay at the company, previously part of the RWE multinational utility, had hardly changed since the 1990s. He also said that the company no longer respected the works council or the union as had been the case before. The report also reveals that
Telekom strike enters fifth week
Over 14,000 members of the ver.di services union are involved in a major strike at Deutsche Telekom, the telecommunications company. The strike began on 11 May in protest at the company's plans to transfer 50,000 employees to three new companies where they would have to work longer hours for lower pay. Read more at > ver.di (DE) Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Progress in firefighters' early retirement campaign
The CCOO and UGT trade unions have finally secured an agreement from the social security minister that firefighters will be able to retire any time from 59 depending on their contributions record. The unions had been involved in talks over the issue for four years and a demonstration on 24 May was their latest attempt to get the matter resolved. The current retirement age is 65. Read more at > FSAP-CCOO (ES) And at > FSP-UGT (ES)
Commission consults over work-life balance
The European Commission has started a second stage consultation over what can be done to improve work-life balance and help tackle the employment and pay gap between men and women. An important element of this is achieving better childcare and encouraging more men to take up measures such as paternity and parental leave. According to the Commission the first-stage consultation produced a clear between trade unions looking for European-level initiatives and employers focussing on national and local developments. The consultation lasts for six weeks and so responses have to reach the Commission
Continuing anger over staged pay award in NHS
The RCN nurses' union has taken the unprecedented step of organising an indicative ballot for industrial action over pay. The RCN, along with other health unions, is angry that the government is insisting on paying this year's 2.5% pay increase instalments. This means that the effective pay rise this year will be only 1.9%. Other unions are also planning ballots on the issue. [Read more at > RCN (EN)->http://www.rcn.org.uk/news/display.php?ID=2426] [And at > UNISON (EN)->http://www.unison.org.uk/healthcare/a4c/index.asp] [And at > Amicus/Unite (EN)->http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx
Union claims broad support for strike action
The STAL trade union reported widespread support for the strike across the public services on 30 May. In some towns nine out of 10 municipal and other state employees joined the action which was organised to protest against government policies on public sector pay and conditions and against privatisation. Workers in refuse disposal, street cleaning, schools, crèches, the fire service, local transport and municipal enterprises were involved in the action, the latest step in a long-running campaign. Read more at > STAL (PT)
Union protests at failure to negotiate
The FNME energy section of the CGT federation organised a day of demonstrations and industrial action on 7 June in protest at the failure of electricity producer EDF to agree to proper negotiations covering workers in the nuclear power sector. EDF management had proposed a new agreement on social dialogue setting out a wide range of issues to be discussed. However, the union rejected this agreement as it failed to cover the key issues of pay and jobs. Read more at > FNME-CGT (FR)
Unions raise concerns about extra working hours
One of the first initiatives of the new government of Nicolas Sarkozy is to push through legislation allowing workers to work overtime with no additional tax to pay on the extra hours. Three union confederations, CGT, CFDT and CGC have come together to reject the proposal, arguing that it will create inequalities at work as not all workers will be able to benefit. The FO confederation also has serious concerns pointing out that part-time workers and those on annual hours will not benefit from the new rules and that extra hours are only at the discretion of the employer. FO's civil service
Future of industrial relations in the public services - EPSU collective bargaining conference 3-4 December 2007
This year's collective bargaining conference will take place in Brussels on 3-4 December and will provide an important opportunity for EPSU's collective bargaining contacts to debate the future of industrial relations in the public services. This key discussion will take place on the second day of the conference and will focus on what is possible to achieve in social dialogue and collective bargaining at a European level in the public services. The debate will be in both working groups and a plenary session and will also provide a first opportunity to discuss a resolution on collective