Water, Social Services, Health

The collective bargaining committee of the ver.di trade union in the TG GWE bargaining group has voted by nearly three to one to back a new 23-month agreement. The negotiations cover gas, water and energy workers who get a 6.5% pay increase this year (from 1 February) and 3.7% next year – from 1 January. Trainees will see their pay levels increase by 3% for each year of training. Meanwhile the union’s members at ONYX Power have made clear their priorities in the upcoming negotiations where ver.di will be demanding a 12-month agreement with a 14% pay increase for all employees, including

The SINTAP trade union has reached an agreement with Águas de Portugal water company that applies to the union’s members and delivers a 3% increase, with a minimum of €53, an increase in the food allowance to €7.60, as well as establishing an entry salary in the company of €905. Workers with more than 10 years’ service get further improvements. Meanwhile, the STAL trade union has been active in the waste sector where it has been involved in protest and industrial action to secure better pay and conditions for workers in the FCC and Resinorte companies. At FCC the demand is for a 15% pay

Health workers around the country, many of them employed by private contractors and among the lowest paid, have had to resort to strike action to ensure they get a £1600+ (€1870) lump sum payment that was paid to most directly employed staff last year. Action has just paid off for members of UNISON and Unite in Dudley in the West Midlands where until recently their employer, Mitie, had refused the payment. UNISON members were also successful following their action in the South West against the contractor Sodexo and Wiltshire Health and Care, a company jointly owned by three NHS trusts. UNISON

Earlier this month the OSZSP health union and other trade unions met with Ministry of Labour officials to discuss proposed amendments to the labour code which have serious implications for workers in the healthcare sector. The governments wants changes in relation to shift lengths, overtime work and, of most concern, the introduction of 24-hour shifts. The OSZSP and the doctors’ union underlined the need to safeguard employee rights and criticized proposals that could undermine worker protections. They pointed out that the Czech Republic should be moving in the direction of countries like

Members of public sector unions have voted by a large majority to accept the pay agreement negotiated earlier this year. The agreement runs from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2026 and provides for pay improvements worth 9.25% but because of flat-rate elements this rises to 17.3% for lower paid workers. This agreement also provides specific provisions for local bargaining, which will give trade unions the scope to negotiate up to an additional 3% of pay costs, inclusive of allowances, for particular grades, groups or categories of employee. The agreement also sees the full and final unwinding of

The ver.di trade union has reached a collective bargaining agreement with the EKBO evangelical church which employs approximately 8,000 employees. The wage increases that were agreed in regional government earlier this year will be taken over in full by the EKBO collective agreement, albeit with a slight time delay. There will be a tax-free one-off payment of €3000 to mitigate inflation followed by salary increases of €200 in January and a further 5.5% in March 2025 by which time full-time pay will be €340 higher per month. In addition, there are improvements to social and educational services