Electricity, Outsourcing
Immediate measures are urgent, but the energy market must be fundamentally changed!
Ahead of the extraordinary Council of EU Energy Ministers on 9 September 2022 to discuss emergency measures to mitigate the currently exploding energy prices, EPSU reiterates the need for an urgent and immediate price cap on electricity and gas prices.
Pan-European Conference on Public Utilities
EPSU’s Pan-European Conference on Public Utilities is back! Join us online on Tuesday, 10 May 2022 for the opening proceedings and a panel discussion on an issue that is only becoming more important: rising energy prices, and how unions can take action.
Pay deal in electricity industry
The GPA and PRO-GE trade unions have negotiated a new collective agreement that provides an annual pay increase from 1 February of at least 3.6% with lower paid workers getting up to 4.0%. This takes the minimum monthly salary in the sector to €2,069.52. Allowances will increase by 3.85% while pay for apprentices will go up by an average of just over 6%. Other elements in the agreement include how previous periods of services are credited when workers are transferred to other employers and an increase of the overtime supplement to 50% for part-time workers.
Two-week strike stops threat to pay and conditions
The JHL public services union has successfully defended the pay and conditions of workers employed by the Arkea municipal company that provides catering and other services to the Turku local authority. The company had sought to change collective agreements that would have meant significant changes to pay rates with some workers potentially losing out by as much as 30% of their earnings. The strike action led to negotiations with the company which will now stick with the current agreement which is due to be re-negotiated next spring.
Strike action in municipal company to defend collective agreement
The JHL public services has organised strike action at the Arkea Oy municipal company, owned by the City of Turku. The union is challenging the company’s plans to switch employers' organisation and transfer around 1000 employees to a different collective agreement with poorer pay and conditions. Lower-paid workers could see their pay cut by 15%-30%. The city's group management has given the plan its blessing and discussions between the trade union JHL and Arkea have not yielded any results. The action began on 17 November with measures taken to ensure no risks to safety. The strike will affect