Water, Equality, South East European Energy Community
Norwegian and Polish shop stewards: common experience of taking services back into public hands
Poor treatment of employees, outdated equipment and low quality of services – outsourcing and privatisation of municipal services has similar negative effects whether it takes place in Poland or Norway.
Water workers in national strike action
Workers at the national water company, AdP, took strike action on 11 June over pay and long-standing problems with working conditions. The STAL trade union reported very high levels of support for the action with workers angry that company profits and investments have been increased while the situation for employees has deteriorated. The union is call for a €90 pay increase and minimum wage of €850; new measures on careers and professional development that value and recognize the knowledge, experience and commitment of workers; a progressive reduction of working hours to 35 hours a week
Nurses take action to win higher pay
The DSR nurses’ union organised industrial action on Saturday 19 June following a two to one membership vote to reject a conciliator's mediation proposal for a new agreement. Earlier this year the DSR membership rejected the main municipal and regional government collective agreement, calling for a higher pay rise for nurses. The conciliation process failed to deliver a result that the membership could endorse and so action involving around 5000 nurses went ahead. The union argues that the health services have been starved of investment and nurses have faced increasing work pressure and
New book on the Struggle for Public Water in Europe
In the wake of the global financial crisis, neoliberal restructuring has continued unabated across Europe, with the privatisation of public services a key element of both national austerity policies, and European Union (EU) – level economic governance structures.
24-hour strike over labour law changes
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
Union welcomes decision to set up committee on equal pay
The FOA trade union has welcomed the government decision to set up a committee to examine the problem of pay inequality. FOA has been part of a large group of trade unions that have been pushing for new measures to achieve pay equality. While collective bargaining has been able to deliver some improvements public service unions argue that the problem requires a broader political approach. The committee will analyse the pay gap across all sectors and is due to report in May 2022.
Unions call for tripartite negotiations to tackle gender pay gap
Fifty-one public service unions are backing a further call on the government to engage in tripartite negotiations to tackle the gender pay gap. The recently concluded three-year public sector agreements include specific amounts to reduce the gap, as did the previous agreements in 2018. However, the unions argue that this is simply not enough to properly address the problem and that the economic constraints on the normal collective bargaining process prevent action on the scale necessary to make real progress. The 51 trade unions that represent well over half a million employees in
2.05% pay rise for water authority employees
The FNV trade union reports that pay rates for water authority workers are set to increase by EUR 50, backdated to 1 January 2021. There will also be two increases of 0.5% to the individual choice budget (IKB) as of 1 January and 1 July. The union says that on average, this amounts to a 2.05% salary increase. The personal basic budget (PBB) will be increased from EUR 5,000 to at least EUR 6,000 for five years. The IKB and PBB can be used to exchange salary for other benefits such as annual leave. The new agreement also includes provisions on standby duty allowance and parental leave
Unions set to mobilise across water company
Unions in the AdP – Águas de Portugal – water company will be planning mobilisations and potential strike action unless the company responds to some key demands. The STAL trade union reports that many issues have remained unsolved for several years. Unions accuse the company of making excuses for its failure to properly implement the collective agreement signed almost two and a half years ago, with no pay rise since November 2018 and no plans to introduce the allowance for dangerous and arduous work that it now being applied across many municipalities. The unions submitted a review of the