17 epsucob@NEWS August 2009
ITUC urges affiliates to make use of Global Jobs Pact
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has sent a circular to all its affiliates urging them to make use of the Global Jobs Pact that was negotiated by unions, employers and governments at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in June. The ITUC believes that the Pact is a useful tool for trade unions as it underlines the role that trade unions can play in negotiating solutions to the crisis and the importance of social dialogue and collective bargaining in addressing the root causes of the crisis and what needs to be done to tackle them. The ITUC warns of the risk that
Only minimum wage in Luxembourg reaches 50% of average earnings
The latest review of statutory minimum wages across Europe shows that only Luxembourg has a minimum wage worth at least 50% of national average earnings (50.5%). Countries with minimum wages worth between 45% and 50% of average earnings include Slovakia, France and Malta. The figures in this average pay comparison are from 2007 and don’t include all the 20 EU Member States that have legal minimum wages. The Eurostat report does include up-to-date figures for minimum wages as at January 2009 and provides figures both in national currencies and after taking account of differences in purchasing
EPSU intervenes on behalf of local government union
EPSU has written to the President, Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration in Croatia to protest at proposed changes to pay determination in local government. EPSU’s letter condemns the government for failing to consult with unions over the proposed changes and for planning to implement a form of pay determination that undermines the unions’ right to collective bargaining. EPSU’s letter was reported on the website of Vercernji, one of the main daily newspapers. [Read more at > Vercernji (HR)->http://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/sindikalci-eu-mesica-premijerke-traze-objasnjenje-clanak
EPSU collective bargaining conference 2009
This year’s collective bargaining and social dialogue conference will take place in Brussels on 3 and 4 December with decent work among the main themes. The conference will also have an important session on the economic crisis as well as working groups on women and equality, lifelong learning and precarious employment. Participants will have a chance to discuss the collective bargaining resolution that was passed at this year’s Congress and comment on plans for future work based on the resolution. Read more at > EPSU (10 languages)
Unions demand negotiations over changes to firefighters' terms and conditions
On 7 August a joint delegation of the STAL and STML trade unions presented demands for negotiation to the secretary of state for internal administration. The unions are concerned about government proposals to change the regulations covering the careers, working time and other conditions of firefighters and they demanded the right to negotiate on this. They plan to resort to further action if they don’t get a positive response from the government by 3 September. Read more at > STAL (PT)
Private health workers still waiting for renewal of agreements
The 150,000 workers in the private health sector are still waiting for collective agreements for the years 2006-07 and 2008-09 to be renewed. The FP-CSIL federation has said that this is a priority, particularly now that most of the other major agreements in the public services have been re-negotiated, particularly the public health agreement. Over the summer the FP-CSIL, FP- CGIL and FPS-UIL public service federations have been looking at ways of making progress, for example, by putting pressure on the regional health authorities that sign contracts with the private sector employers. [Read
Employers suspend negotiations over ambulance agreement
Unions are disappointed that the employers have suspended negotiations over the new collective agreement covering ambulance workers. With a restructuring of the sector the employers and unions agreed to negotiate a single agreement for the sector to replace a number of different agreements. Unions thought that it would be possible to announce that a new agreement was ready on 1 September but now the employers have raised concerns over two issues – redundancy pay and second careers (this is the career that ambulance workers might switch to once they are too old for active duty. The unions say
Review of industrial relations across Europe in 2008
The EIRO industrial relations observatory has just published its review of industrial relations. The report covers European-level developments as well as looking at trends in individual countries. There are sections on collective bargaining and pay along with summaries of legal changes affecting industrial relations. Read more at > EIRO (EN)
Vote confirms agreement on pay and health of social workers and childcare staff
The agreement between services union ver.di and the VKA local government employers covering social and educational staff has been confirmed with a 55% vote in favour by ver.di members. The two main elements of the deal are an agreement on health and higher pay rates for 80% of the 220,000 workers in childcare and social work. Ver.di has said that it will continue its campaigning to force politicians and employers to recognize that they should better acknowledge the importance of social occupations. In particular the union is looking to improve the quality of training available to workers in
Union calls for minimum training standards to be maintained
Public services union UNISON is concerned that minimum requirements for training and health and social care may be removed. The government’s Care Quality Commission is consulting over the minimum standards and the union is worried that employers will cut back on training if they are no longer required to meet these standards. This is particularly likely in the private sector. UNISON says that private companies are continuing looking to cut costs and already have a poorer record in training provision than local authority-run care services. [Read more at > UNISON (EN)->http://www.unison.org.uk
Union calls for shorter hours and more jobs
Criticising the tax cuts of recent years, the VPOD/SSP public services union is calling for more jobs to be created in the public sector with shorter working hours and longer holidays for public service employees. The union argues that working hours in the public sector are longer than most other sectors while annual leave is shorter. It also maintains that increased workloads in the public sector justify an expansion in employment rather than any contraction forced by tax cuts. The VPOD/SSP is calling above all for an expansion in training for health workers in order to meet the increasing
Pay formula could lead to salary cut
The FOA public services trade union is concerned that salaries in the municipal sector could be reduced as a result of the mechanism in the collective agreement that links public sector pay rises to those in the private sector. On current trends it is possible that pay could be cut by 1%. Dennis Kristensen, head of the FOA, suggests that there could be a compromise solution that allows the social partners to abide by the agreement but defer any potential cuts to see how salaries develop. He underlines the fact that a 1% pay cut would not help councils recruit and retain skilled and experienced
Government may promise cuts and pay freeze to IMF
There is speculation that the government may commit itself to cutting public sector jobs and freezing pay until 2011, in order to secure more help from the IMF. The IMF agreed a standby with the Serbian government earlier this year and this is now up for review. Suggestions are that job cuts will be implemented this year and could affect health, education, administration and the judiciary. Read more at > SETimes (EN)
Union calls for fairness in public sector pay negotiations
The leader of the FSP-UGT public services federation Julio Lacuerda has called for a “calm, measured and rigorous” analysis of the current economic situation as part of pay negotiations with the government. He rejects the idea of a pay freeze put forward by one minister and underlines the need for a fair outcome for the 2.5 million workers in the public sector. The federation also wants to see progress on a number of statutes covering public service workers that were agreed two years ago but not yet implemented. [Read more at > FSP-UGT (ES)->http://www.fspugt.es/UGT_afirma_que_hay_negociar_ya
Locked-out health workers on the march
Workers at the Lippe mental health hospital in Bad Salzuflen were given support in a solidarity demonstration in the town on 22 August and have taken their case to the regional parliament’s employment committee. Ver.di general secretary Frank Bsirske has also visited the workers who were locked out after going on strike to try to secure a collective agreement at the hospital. Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Unions consult in preparation for negotiations
The vida and GPA-djp trade unions are carrying out surveys of works councils before drawing up demands for the next round of negotiations in the private health sector. The BAGS agreement covers 75,000 workers in a range of health and social services and is one of the biggest negotiated by the two unions. The current agreement was negotiated last November and included a 3.6% increase on pay from 1 January. Read more at > vida (DE)