Portugal
The FNFSP public service trade union federation has called for salaries and pensions to be increased by 5.8% in 2008 with a guaranteed minimum increase of €50 a month for all workers. The Federation's document supporting the pay claim points out that workers in public administration have seen their pay fall by between 6.5% and 9.7% in real terms since 2000.
Read more at > FNFSP (PT)
The fourth round of negotiations in regional government produced a two-year agreement with a pay increase of €40 plus 3% in 2009 and a further 1.2% in 2010. With the €40 increase worth around 1.6% this produces a 5.8% over the two years from 1 March 2009. A lump sum of €40 is also being paid to the 700,000 workers in regional government to cover the two-month period between the previous agreement and the new agreement. Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Unions representing firefighters organised a demonstration in Brussels on 10 February in support of their demand for a retirement age of 58. They argue that this would be in line with the police and would recognise the stressful and dangerous nature of their profession. Read more at > Le Soir news website (FR)
The FES-CCOO services federation is calling for an increase in wages as part of a strategy to boost demand and create jobs. The union warns that with inflation down to 0.7% the country is at risk of a deflationary slump and there needs to be a concerted effort to win back the loss in real pay suffered since the crisis. In terms of the public services the federation wants to see an unfreezing of pay and recruitment, factors which have threatened the quality of services. The federation remains unconvinced of the Juncker investment plan and argues that something more substantial, like the ETUC 10
