ORPEA Special negotiating body meets for first time- constructive start

SNB ORPEA 25 April 2018 Bischoffsheim

(26 April 2018) The trade union and works council representatives met for the first time in the Special Negotiating Body. The group of representatives will start the process of negotiating an European Works Council. The EWC is the place to be informed and consulted about the policies of the company and to work on improving working conditions of the people employed by ORPEA. The delegates discussed the nominations and the process of negotiations. We looked at the scope of the company (which companies belong to the geographic and to the consolidated sphere).  Practical issues were considered and the next meeting will be after the summer break. We will look in more detail at the scope of the agreement and at the issues we will be covering.

The unionists took time to express their solidarity with workers in Celenus Clinics, one of the subsidiaries in Germany. Workers have been on strike to get a new collective agreement with better pay and conditions. Many staff are just receiving a bit more than the minimum wages. Trade unionists have been dismissed and EPSU affiliate Ver.di has been protesting this. Unions from other countries joined the protest.

ORPEA is a French multinational company in the care sector. The meeting took place 25 April 2018 in Bischoffsheim, France. The EPSU General Secretary and EPSU vice-President Francoise Geng participated in the meeting.