Austria
The collective agreement covering the Red Cross has been extended to cover all emergency service and ambulance workers. The decision has been welcomed by the GPA-DJP and VIDA trade unions that have been campaigning for over two years against wage dumping the sector. The next target for the unions is to negotiate a single pay structure for whole of the country as the Red Cross agreement currently has different pay levels for different regions.
Read more at > VIDA (DE)
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published two reports on collective bargaining and social dialogue. A working paper on social dialogue in public services was published to mark the 40th anniversary of ILO Convention 151 on labour relations in the public services. It covers three of the European social dialogue committees in which EPSU is involved along with examples of how social dialogue works in Italy, Denmark and the Czech and Slovak Republics. The ILO's report on extension of collective agreements provides evidence on the important role that this process can play in reducing
The main federations in the public services from CGIL, CISL and UIL have all expressed their concern about the threat to extend the freeze on negotiations in the public sector. FP CISL highlights the impact on pay after three years of pay freezes with average pay in the sector at €26600 and even lower in local government (€22000) and health (€23000). [Read more at > FP CGIL (IT)->http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/24857] [And at > FP-CISL (IT)->http://www.fp.cisl.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3424:pa-proroga-del-blocco-dei-contratti-pubblici
Trade unions have welcomed the legislation that will see a doubling of the entitlement to paternity leave from 14 to 28 days, including three compulsory days around the time of birth. The measure will be implemented from July 2021. Although unions have been calling for even longer leave, they see this as an important step in the right direction and an important initiative to increase the share of parenting between men and women. Employers cover three days of leave while the rest will be funded by social security and employers will face fines if they deny workers their rights.
