Union Rights

The STAL municipal union has joined with the FIEQUMETAL industrial union in a series of public “tribunals” to denounce the EGF/Mota&Engil waste and construction company. The unions’ aim is to expose the poverty wages paid by the company and its failure to enter into a proper process of collective bargaining. The joint action started in Coimbra in central Portugal on 12 July, moving on to Guimarães in the north of the country on 20 July with further events planned for 26 July and 2 August. The two unions argue that the company is denying them the right to collective bargaining while maintaining

The GSEE and ADEDY private and public sector trade union confederations organised a 24-hour general strike on 10 June in protest at draft legislation on labour law changes. The confederations are particularly concerned that the new law will allow individual worker contracts that will undermine the eight-hour day and increase overtime. They are also protesting over further attacks on the right to strike and the weakening of the labour inspectorate. EPSU sent a solidarity message. Meanwhile, the OME-EYDAP water trade union has been mobilising to resist job cuts and other threats to pay and

The UNIO trade union confederation whose members cover workers with higher education has been pushing for higher pay deals in three negotiations – national local government, Oslo municipality and public companies represented by the employers’ organisation, Spekter. The NSF nurses’ union is one of UNIO’s members involved in the strikes and negotiations and they are calling for higher pay for nurses to tackle major staff shortages. The government has stepped in to end strikes in local government and the Oslo municipality on the grounds, rejected by the trade unions, that the actions pose a

A successful legal case backed by the UNISON public services union means that employers will no longer be able to mistreat workers who take part in union-organised workplace disputes. UK law had previously prevented employers from sacking staff, but not from disciplining or making life difficult for them. The employment appeal tribunal (EAT) case was taken by care worker Fiona Mercer against the Alternative Futures Group. She had been involved in a long-running dispute and was disciplined, suspended, and prevented from going into work by her employer. The EAT said that UK law was not compliant

On 25-26 May EPSU, along with the European trade union federations for police (EuroCOP) and military personnel (EUROMIL), organised a conference to launch a new project on trade union rights. The project will explore the extent to which public service trade unions face limitations or bans on their rights to organise, negotiate and take industrial action. The project will also focus on transposition of the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive which includes an article allowing governments to exclude certain groups of public service workers from parts of the directive. Over

The LPPSF industry trade union federation is celebrating a major legal victory with the conviction of an employer for pressurising workers to leave the trade union. This is a first for Lithuania. Many earlier attempts to bring employers to book have failed for lack of evidence. This time there was an audio recording of a manager threatening a trade union member with dismissal if she didn’t leave the union. The case involved the Transachema company where a trade union was established in 2018 and 80% of workers became members. The union began collective bargaining but a year of delays by the