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Around 5000 workers in early years education joined a noisy demonstration outside the education ministry on 14 October. The protest covered both public and private sectors and was organised by the younion, vida and GPA trade unions, with the support of the ÖGB trade union confederation. The unions have been frustrated by the ministry’s refusal to invite them onto the advisory board that debates key issues affecting the sector. However, the protest had one immediate result in that the unions were invited to the next meeting. More broadly the unions used the demonstration to set out their key

The ver.di services union is celebrating a major victory in Berlin where members in the health sector have been on strike for 31 days. Workers at the Charité university hospital, Vivantes clinics and their joint subsidiary, Labor Berlin, have now suspended the action, pending negotiations over new collective agreements. The key points in the new deal at the Charité hospital include more than 700 additional nursing staff to be hired over the next three years and there will be new benchmarks for staffing for specific wards such as intensive care units, operating theatres and central emergency

The government’s initial offer of a pay increase of 0.9% for public service workers for 2022 is well below the demands of the main trade unions. Trade unions in the Frente Comum federation are calling for a minimum EUR 90 a month increase from 1 January 2022 with a minimum wage set at EUR 850. The SINTAP trade union has claimed an increase of 2.5%. The unions have a range of other demands relating to meal allowances, the pay structure and career development, arduous work, precarious employment, changes to the performance management system and working time.

The three public service federations – Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Pa – organised two days of protests on 13 and 14 October in Naples, Milan and Rome. The mobilisation was about the crisis facing the justice sector with serious staffing shortages and excessive workloads, compounded by inadequate facilities and equipment. The unions argue that workers have been left out of the justice debate as politicians focus on legal reform while ignoring the situation facing the staff who are supposed to uphold and implement the law. Further mobilisations are planned if there is no response from the minister

A new collective agreement covering state workers is now subject to a vote by members. The FNV trade union is pleased with elements of the agreement which it says is better than the previous offer but argues that the final pay offer from the employers is too low. The main elements of the deal include: a 2% wage increase as of 1 July 2021; a one-off payment of €300 in December; a one-off and structural work-from-home allowance; the integration of cleaners into the pay structure and an extra amount for employees on irregular shifts. Union members will now have until the end of the month to

The JHL public services union has made clear that in the upcoming pay round it will be seeking pay increases for all the workers it represents across public and private sectors. It argues that moderate pay rises in the public services in the past have been part of a strategy to boost economic growth but now these workers need to benefit from that growth. JHL is also concerned to take further steps to close the gender pay gap and argues strongly that decent wage rises are needed to address staffing shortages.

Thousands of trade unionists took to the streets of Kiev again on 7 October in their long-running campaign against government proposals for labour reforms. The legal changes have been condemned by the international trade union movement and clearly contravene key International Labour Organisation conventions. The demonstration was also used to call for a range of measures including increases to the minimum wage and social benefits.