Care training law needs improvement

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

A new report from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions reveals how low pay and low status are making it difficult to attract workers to the care sector and to keep them in their jobs. This report looks at a range of innovative approaches, in 11 EU Member States and two acceding countries, aimed at increasing the supply of qualified workers who can meet the growing demand for care services. It highlights strategies such as improving the public image of care work, raising the qualification profile of care workers, increasing salary levels, attracting more