Tax justice, Privatisation
Fighting privatisation and defending public services
Across Europe the quantity and quality of our public services and the pay and conditions of our members are under threat from privatisation. EPSU is committed to fighting privatisation in any of its forms whether contracting-out and sub-contracting, public-private partnerships or various processes of commercialisation or marketisation. This briefing on privatisation was produced for the EPSU Congress in 2019 and covers the main work done over the last Congress period and the priorities for the current period.
Public and private sector efficiency is an important report that provides a comprehensive overview of academic research that challenges the idea that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector. The future is public is the latest update on insourcing highlighting the trends to bring privatised services back under public ownership and control.
Turkish and Dutch unions discuss resistance to privatisation and commercialisation of public services
The Turkish unions in DISK (like Genel-Is and Devrim Saglik-Is) and KESK (SES, Tum-bel-Sen) and the Dutch FNV met to discuss the impact of outsourcing, privatisation and commercialisation of public services.
Welcoming Portugal’s strong efforts on the FTT file and urging the tabling of a new legal text
We, civil society organisations and trade unions, campaigning for the achievement of a European Financial Transactions Tax (FTT), are writing to H.E. Mr ANTÓNIO COSTA, Prime Minister of Portugal, to express our appreciation and support for Portugal’s important efforts to progress the FTT dossier under its Presidency of the EU Council.
Unions plan public-sector wide strike in Basque region
Six trade unions are coming together to take strike action over jobs and precarious employment in the public sector in the Basque region. The unions are responding to the failure of the regional government to address public employment and the persistently high levels of temporary contracts across the public sector. Action is planned for 22 April across all the main public services – municipalities, health, education, general administration, justice, public transport, public media and other sectors. The unions want to see the thousands of temporary workers who have been crucial to tackling the
Good news for tax justice fighters: clear majority in EU Council to adopt public country-by-country reporting!
At a public meeting on 25 February, the EU Competitiveness Council reached a common position on a key instrument to tackle corporate tax avoidance, so-called public country-by-country reporting for multinational companies.
Care workers take strike action over private/public pay inequality
Workers in four social care organisations in Oslo have been taking strike action in support of their demands that all employees should be paid in line with pay rates in the municipal sector. Their union Fagforbundet says that pay rates for nurses are comparable to the public sector but assistant nurses and other workers could be paid around NOK 100000 (EUR 9800) a year less than people doing the same job a municipal care provider. The union is challenging two major companies – Stendi and Norlandia – to tackle this pay inequality and ensure fair pay across the sector.