At last week’s EPSU Executive Committee, public service union leaders from across Europe called for a joint day of action on 23 June next year – the global day for public service workers. We will celebrate workers’ contributions to our communities and call for better pay and conditions and resistance against the privatisation and commercialisation of public services. Some finance ministers are already arguing to reduce public debts and so we can expect more difficult pay rounds, reductions in staff and more privatisation. This is a betrayal of the work so many women and men have done and are doing in the pandemic including those in health and care. New rounds of austerity will not solve the looming crisis, particularly in care where many workers have left the sector, making existing staff shortages even worse. It is appalling that finance ministers have so little respect to public service workers. For an idea of actions that took place this year on 23 June please see this short video and don’t hesitate to share and subscribe to the channel.
The EPSU Executive Committee fully supports the campaign for the waiver of intellectual property rights on vaccines. It is one of the ways to ensure countries can produce more vaccines more cheaply as the global supply mechanisms are failing to deliver. Our global organisation, PSI, coordinated actions across the globe to keep pressure on governments. In the EU national governments and the European Commission are now the biggest stumbling block. They have chosen the side of big pharma that clocks up huge profits every single minute. You can read more on the Executive and the policies that were adopted in the newsletter. Check out the work on digitalisation and see where your union stands on digital maturity for example.
Next week we expect the European Commission to publish a range of new social policy initiatives. A draft directive on improving working conditions in digital labour platforms is due on 8 December and the ETUC has called on the Commission to come forward with ambitious proposals, supported by influential social affairs ministers and MEPs. This is important for EPSU as we heard during the Executive Committee debate on digitalisation how the number of platforms covering care services are increasing. The Commission will also come forward with an action plan for the social economy, a sector where many EPSU members are active, especially in health and care and the broad range of social services like youth and community work. A Communication on decent work worldwide and proposals on sustainable corporate governance and individual learning accounts are also expected.
Meanwhile, this week will see the European Parliament consider opinions on women’s poverty in Europe and amendments to the report on a new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work. This includes better protection of workers from exposure to harmful substances, stress at work and repetitive motion injuries. The Parliament will also debate the EU Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s campaign on musculoskeletal disorders and its contribution to the new strategic framework on occupational safety and health. In addition, the EP agenda includes the Employment and Racial Equality Directives, mental health and wellbeing in digital workplaces and a hearing on workers’ rights and the future of work post-COVID.
EPSU’s President, Mette Nord, several members of the Executive and the General Secretary will join the PSI Board this week to discuss regional and global developments from COP26 and public services, to the waiver and our care strategy. Public service workers’ fights are connected to implement change at the workplace and across the economy to make society a better place for all. Reflecting on this, I recall a great song by Solomon Burke, “None of us are free”, in which he sings:
“We've got to join together in spirit, heart and mind.
So that every soul who's suffering will know they're not alone.
None of us are free.
None of us are free.
None of us are free, one of us are chained.
None of us are free.”
