2010 July epsucob@NEWS 14

After two weeks, the government has ended a strike by members of the YS trade union in the hospitals by imposing compulsory arbitration. The union is disappointed with the government’s action having taken measures to ensure patient safety during the action and arguing that it was up to the employer’s organisation, Spekter, to call for arbitration and not the government. The union congratulated its members on their willingness to take strike action in support of equal pay for work of equal value. [Read more at > YS (NO)->http://www.ys.no/kunder/ys/cms.nsf/($All)/F59E78EDE46067B9C125775F00546AD7

Representatives of the public service federations all voted in the three public sector councils to reject government proposals to raise the retirement age and pension contribution requirements. There is a national council for the each of the three sections of the public sector – ministries, hospitals and local and regional government. Some elected officials in local government supported the union position as did some employee representatives in the hospitals and so there were majorities against change in these two councils whereas voting was tied 20:20 in the council for the ministries. [Read

The UNISON and GMB public service unions have won €1.2 million in compensation for 117 care workers who had new contracts imposed on them by the Excelcare company when it won a contract from Essex County Council in the South East of England. The workers saw their pay cut by 40% at the time of privatisation. The unions pursued the matter through the courts using the TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations based on the European Acquired Rights Directive. [Read more at > UNISON->http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=1927] [And at > GMB->http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom

The VIDA services union has backed a government initiative to better enforce minimum pay rates in collective agreements and other employment rights. The proposal is in preparation for the full opening up of the Austrian labour market to the rest of the EU in 2011 and concern about social dumping. The union says that migrant workers in some border areas are already being paid 40% below the rate in the relevant collective agreement and tougher measures are needed to ensure that employers pay the negotiated rates. [Read more at > VIDA (DE)->http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03

The LO trade union confederation has investigated three major public infrastructure projects and exposed how pressure from public authorities to keep costs low has led to a sub-contractors paying foreign workers as little as 55% of the wage a worker would receive if covered by the relevant collective agreement. The report also notes how employers change their names and restrict contracts to six months to avoid Swedish tax rules. The projects investigated also show higher accident rates than the industry average. The confederation wants to see changes to public procurement practices that

The SIPTU trade union agreed to talks at the Labour Relations Commission over a dispute over privatisation but says its members working for Dun Laoghaire council, just to the South East of Dublin, may still take industrial action. The union is angry that the council decided unilaterally to outsource the waste service to a company called Panda. This is not just counter to earlier agreements on outsourcing in the public sector but also to the commitment in the recent national Croke Park agreement to maintain direct labour. [Read more at > SIPTU (EN)->http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases

The FOA public service union has responded to attacks on inefficiency and laziness in the health service by pointing to a long-run increase in productivity in the sector. There has been a increase of 12,000 staff in hospitals since 2001 but in terms of productivity, 77 workers today deliver the same services as 100 workers then. New technology, shorter waiting lists, better outpatient care are among the factors contributing to this increase in efficiency. Over the last 10 years hospitals have faced demands to improve productivity by 1.5%-2% each year. In contrast the private sector has only

The PCS civil service union may return to the courts to defend the current redundancy compensation scheme. The union won two court rulings against the previous government that had tried to change the scheme without proper negotiation. Despite those rulings, the new coalition government is pushing through legislation to cut the scheme. PCS is also challenging the government’s claims about the scheme, arguing that it has exaggerated the levels of compensation by focusing on the maximum payments for those with the longest service. [Read more at > PCS->http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news