COVID-19

Fourteen health service unions have submitted their evidence for negotiations for this year’s pay claim for 1.3 million NHS workers calling for early implementation. To back this up UNISON, the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Midwives have written to the prime minister also urging him to support a pay rise as soon as possible. Although the current agreement expires at the end of March, it would be unlikely that negotiations would be finished by then and in normal circumstances workers might not receive the pay increase until the summer. Unions argue that an early increase would

The Fp-Cgil, Cisl-FP and Uil-Fpl public service federations are ready to mobilise their members unless the management at the Misercordie non-profit health and social service provider responds to their main demands. The unions want a resumption of negotiations on the collective agreement which hasn’t been renewed since 2012. They argue that workers deserve a new agreement in the light of all the sacrifices made to cope with the pandemic. The unions are also calling for clarification of the state of the organisation in the light of the resignation of top management and press reports of budgetary

Health and social care unions in the Basque region have been involved in a series of protests and strikes. Mobilisations in public health during December and January will culminate in a day of strike action on 28 January. The unions are angry about the failure of the public health system to honour basic rights to information and collective bargaining. They are concerned about the impact of the pandemic on the system and the way that management have responded by taking unilateral decisions on working conditions, health and safety and precarious employment. Two days earlier, on 26 January unions

The FNV trade union is seeking a 5% pay increase from 1 January 2021 for the 7000 workers in the private waste sector. It is also claiming a EUR 500 bonus in recognition of the increased risks that workers have faced during the pandemic. A 5% increase would be worth around EUR 50 gross per month, but the employers have only offered an increase worth EUR 40 gross as of 1 June. They have also only offered a EUR 250 lump sum. There, however, agreement on other issues including pensions and sustainable employment. The union will consider work stoppages if the employers don’t come up with a better

The ver.di trade union has warned of problems being created in childcare institutions because of a lack of clarity and consistency in rules that should apply during the current pandemic. The union says that it isn’t right to leave it up to parents and the local management of childcare facilities to decide on their own rules and this fails to ensure planned approach to address the incidence of the virus among children and the increase in sickness among staff. Ver.di argues that the plan adopted by the city of Bremen provides a good example of what is needed to be negotiated at national level in

Around 9000 employees of British Gas were due to begin a five-day strike from 7 January in protest at the company’s decision to fire all workers and rehire them on worse pay and conditions. British Gas’s parent company Centrica claimed the measures are necessary in response to the impact of the pandemic. However, the GMB trade union, representing engineers and call-centre staff argue that the initiative is excessive particularly in view of the company’s latest reported operating profits. 89% of the union’s members in the company voted for the strike action.

The mobilisation of workers in the EGF waste company on 18 December, reported in the EPSU Collective Bargaining Newsletter last month, was followed up with a 48-hour strike on 28 and 29 December. The action is part of a campaign by the STAL trade union to secure an increase in pay, payment of a supplement for risky and arduous work and a collective agreement. Meanwhile, in the public sector the SINTAP trade union has welcomed the inclusion in the 2021 state budget of provisions to allow for arduous work payments for waste and other workers in local government. However, the government has left

Public services union ver.di reports on a new agreement covering 6000 workers employed by energy companies in the Hesse region in central Germany. The union says that the employers were aiming for an agreement below that negotiated in the public sector but the union resisted this and negotiated a 2.6% pay increase which will be paid in two stages (2.1% in June 2021 and 0.5% in June 2022). The payment for trainees will be increased by EUR 50. In addition, there will be a Corona bonus of EUR 900 for those in pay scales 1-9 and EUR 700 for those in 10-14 while trainees will get EUR 350. The

Public service trade unions have reacted angrily over the government decision to freeze pay for millions of public sector workers, including municipal employees, care workers, civil servants and teachers. Health workers are excluded from the “pay pause” as the chancellor (finance minister) calls it and there will be a GBP 250 (EUR 278) increase for workers paid less than GBP 24000 (EUR 26730) a year. The unions have attacked the decision as a “divide and rule” tactic and argue that many public service workers have yet to see their pay levels recover in real terms after the last bout of

The Fp-Cgil, Cisl-FP, Uil-Fpl and Uil-Pa public service federations are mobilising for the national strike on 9 December. The unions say that years of recruitment freezes have created staff shortages and mean that public services need around 500000 extra workers. The unions are also calling for action to increase permanent employment with around 170000 workers on precarious contracts. Health and safety are also vital with unions wanting action on personal protective equipment, reduced workloads and measures to tackle harassment. Finally, the federations are calling for a renewal of the

The FNV, CNV and NU’91 unions that organise health workers have made a joint call on the government to commit to funding pay increases in 2021. In recent negotiations over the agreement covering University Medical Centres (76000 workers), the employers said there was no room for pay rises unless there was an increase in reimbursement to health insurers. The unions are worried that it will be the same message from employers in the other 10 agreements covering health and social care staff that are due for negotiation in 2021. The unions say that it is vital that the government makes funds

EPSU joined with the ETUC and other European and global trade union organisations in a strong call for action to end violence against and harassment of women. The ETUC called for laws against workplace harassment to be updated to protect women working from home against online abuse made possible by surveillance techniques being used by employers. EPSU outlined the many ways in which the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on women not only as the backbone of health and social care provision across Europe but also often facing the double burden of dealing with extra childcare while working from