Collective Bargaining, Digitalisation
Collective bargaining – trends and developments
Collective bargaining is a core activity of trade unions and EPSU’s affiliates negotiate with public service employers at every level. This can range from national public-sector wide bargaining to sector and local negotiations with public sector employers but also private and non-profit providers of public services. EPSU works with the European Trade Union Confederation to try to improve collective bargaining rights for all workers across Europe. We also act as a European information point so that EPSU affiliates are aware of trends in public service negotiations. EPSU’s collective bargaining newsletter provides regular updates on developments across Europe.
Prison unions debate impact of austerity and quality employment
(May 2017) Trade unions representing prison workers across Europe met in Brussels on 10 May to discuss a range of issues relating to continuing austerity, collective bargaining and trade union rights. Key issues that emerged during the meeting included the increase in violence against prison staff, problems of understaffing and developing issues around digitalisation and, in some countries, radicalisation of inmates. The meeting was part of a two-year project run by EPSU with the next meeting in December focusing on childcare workers.
Air traffic controllers plan warning strike
(May 2017) The ATSR air traffic controllers' union was planning a two-hour warning strike on 12 May to put pressure on the employers (Romatsa) to conclude a new collective agreement. The union has been in discussions covering pay, passenger safety, stress at work and rights of workers, highlighting the increase in workload and company income but pressure to cut costs. The Ministry of Transport has refused to talk to the union. EPSU has sent a message of solidarity and also writtent to the Ministry and the Prime Minister.
Unions continue to push for labour code changes
(May 2017) The new labour code is set to be implemented in July although trade unions want it deferred to January 2018 with further amendments in line with the proposals of the President. The code has been discussed in the Tripartite Council but it was unable to find consensus on many issues. President Dalia Grybauskaite has been a consistent critic of the amended code and argues that if adopted in its current form then it would have to be amended immediately to provide better protection for workers' and trade union rights.
Unions call for negotiations following pay commission report
(May 2017) Public sector trade unions want to see a swift move to negotiations following publication of the advisory report of the Public Services Pay Commission. The report focuses on average pay developments in the public and private sector and notes the extent to which public sector pay is on average lower than before the crisis. Public sector unions want to make significant progress towards recovering the lost purchasing power of many of their members since 2008.
Bargaining successes in health and social care
(May 2017) Services union ver.di reports on two significant bargaining developments in the Sana healthcare company and in the non-profit care sector in the Saxony-Anhalt region. Sana's 10000 workers will get a 2.2% pay rise backdated to 1 January this year and a further 2.2% from 1 February 2018 along with several other improvements to pay and conditions, including two extra days off for ver.di members only. The new pay agreement in Saxony-Anhalt covers 4000 care workers employed by the regional welfare federation and is backdated to 2016 while providing pay increases until 2018. Ver.di sees
Report reveals scale of East-West pay gap
(May 2017) A new report from the ETUI research institute reveals that workers in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have seen an increasing pay gap with Germany after many years when there had been pay convergence. Reacting to the report the ETUC argues that a weakening of collective bargaining in these companies is part of the problem and calls on national governments and European Union institutions to promote collective bargaining.
Federations denounce private care agreement with unrepresentative unions
(May 2017) The FP-CGIL and CISL FP public service federations have attacked the Anaste private residential care employers' organisation for signing an agreements with unrepresentative unions and cutting out the main federations affiliated to the CGIL, CISL and UIL confederations. Around 15000 workers are covered by the agreement which the CGIL, CISL and UIL federations had been negotiating. The three unions took strike action on 27 April to try to improve pay and working conditions and are highly critical of the agreement now signed with the other unions.