Municipality angers unions with response to legal challenge

EPSU has launched a legal case against the European Commission and is now waiting for the first formal response. EPSU has taken the case because the Commission refused to submit to the European Council the information and consultation agreement signed in the Central Government Administrations social dialogue in December 2015. Despite signing the European Pillar of Social Rights and making positive statements about social dialogue, the Commission has failed to act to provide important rights to 9.8 million central government workers that are already enjoyed in the private sector. The complaint

(September 2016) Public services union Unison has launched a legal challenge against the Haringey local authority in north London and the Sevacare company which had been contracted to provide homecare services. The action is on behalf of 17 homecare workers and pay rates that fall below the minimum wage. The company failed to pay for the time workers spent travelling between people's houses, leaving them effectively on hourly rates of pay less than half the minimum wage.

Seven trade unions with members in the public sector have launched a legal challenge to the government’s decision to change the way that public sector pensions are protected against inflation. The change from the Retail Price Index (RPI) to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was introduced without consultation or negotiation last year and the unions estimate that the difference in the two indices mean that public sector workers could lose £15000 (€17700) over the course of an average period of retirement as their pensions will be uprated by lower amounts. [Read more at > PCS (EN)->http://www.pcs