A major success of 12 years campaigning of Greek water workers and the broader water and social movement as it was announced that the government will take back control of Athens and Thessaloniki Water companies.
On 28 March 2019 EPSU participated, together with its representatives of the two national affiliates from Romania, Sanitas, and Croatia, HSSMS-MT, in the kick-off meeting of the joint HOSPEEM-EPSU project focusing on strengthening social dialogue in the hospital sector that will run in 2019 and 2020.
ADEDY, the public services confederation, has called a 24-hour strike for 14 November. It is calling on the government to negotiate over a gradual process of pay restoration. ADEDY says that civil servants have already seen pay cut by 40% and now tax rises and reductions in tax allowances will further reduce take home pay. It is calling for immediate pay rises and the restoration of the 13th and 14th month salaries as initial steps in this process. The strike demands also cover the urgent need to recruit additional permanent staff, for measures on skills and training rather than a new
(June 2017) An interview with a member of a Commission appointed by the Greek government and the Troika provides an overview of the massive negative impact of reforms on the collective bargaining system and the continuing pressure for reforms, particularly coming from the International Monetary Fund, that flies in the face of the position of the Greek government, trade unions and employers.
(April 2016) The European and International trade union confederations (ETUC and ITUC) have criticised the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for calling for further changes to Greek laws on strikes, collective bargaining and employment protection. The IMF demands have not been taken up by the European Commission and are not even supported by the Greek employers. An article by EPSU also highlights how the IMF position ignores the recommendations of a committee of experts that reported at the end of last year.
Croatia
Cyprus
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Portugal
U.K.
(March 2017) The ETUC is calling for a pay rise for workers across Europe and in the latest initiative in its campaign reveals that wages are lower now than they were eight years ago in seven EU member states while in 18 EU countries wages have grown much slower over the seven years after the crisis than in the eight years before that.In the 7 years 2009-2016 real wages (adjusted for inflation) have fallen every year by an average of 3.1 % in Greece; 1 % in Croatia; 0.9 % in Hungary; 0.7 % in Portugal; 0.6 % in Cyprus; 0.4 % in UK, and 0.3 % in Italy.