New report examines scope of collective bargaining in public administration

New reports from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Eurofound research agency analyse developments in collective bargaining in the light of the pandemic and other important drivers of change. The ILO report provides an overview of developments in collective bargaining during the pandemic, focusing on seven countries – Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Belgium. The report argues that the role of strong sectoral collective bargaining institutions was particularly important, allowing sectoral actors to negotiate specific responses considering the impact and

The key International Labour Conventions are no.87 on freedom of association and 98 on collective bargaining. A report for UNISON by the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) argues that both of these should apply broadly to the vast majority of public service workers. If there are any doubts about public sector workers’ rights to collective bargaining then Convention 151 on labour relations in the public sector can be used to challenge any restrictions that governments try to impose. While Conventions 87 and 98 have been ratified by most countries, ratification of 151 is more

The Unite trade union has published a new study that highlights the threat that outsourcing poses to the quality of public services as well as the issues of democratic control and accountability. The study also uses new data to indicate how private sector provision of public services often means poorer working conditions for the workers delivering those services. The report found that length of service tends to be much shorter but working hours much longer for employees of private sector companies providing public services than for publicly-employed workers. [Read more at > Unite (EN)->http:/