Migration, Training/life-long learning, Privatisation, Embassy and household staff, Firefighters, Prisons Services, Economic Policy
Statement of solidarity with Miguel and migrants - Saving lives is not a crime
EPSU and PSI stand in solidarity with their British firefighters’ affiliate, FBU, in its protest against the prosecution of Spanish firefighter Miguel Roldán for rescuing, as a volunteer on a NGO rescue ship, thousands of people from drowning in the Mediterranean sea.
Firefighters strike to defend pay and conditions
Firefighters, members of the STAL and STML trade unions, took strike action from 18 December to 2 January in protest at government plans to change the statutes covering their pay, retirement and other conditions. The unions not only reject the proposed changes but are angry that the government aimed to implement them without any consultation or negotiation with the unions. The unions have made a series of demands related to protecting basic pay and ensuring appropriate payments for on-call and overtime work as well as allowances for dangerous and arduous conditions. They are also seeking
Privatisation and austerity combined in prison crisis
On 20 August the UK government was forced to take back control of a privatised prison in Birmingham in central England following a damning report by the prisons inspectorate. The prison had been run since 2011 by the G4S group, one of three multinationals that run 14 prisons in England.
Federation warns of staff crisis in prisons
(January 2017) Using the latest official figures, the FSC-CCOO federation warns of the growing crisis in the prisons sector with over 2800 posts unfilled. Some prisons face higher than average shortages and the union warns of the health and safety threat posed both to prison workers and inmates. Projections also show that without urgent action a quarter of the workforce will be over 60 by 2020. The union is concerned that staff shortages will contribute to pressure to privatise some services. This critical situation also featured in a session at the EPSU collective bargaining conference in