2012 December epsucob@NEWS 18

Over 100 participants from 23 countries met in Brussels on 13-14 December to discuss a range of issues related to collective bargaining and social dialogue in the public services. There were key sessions on economic governance, austerity, public sector pay trends, outsourcing, equal pay, coordination of bargaining and national level and changes to labour law across Europe. The conference also discussed the first findings of the survey to evaluate the European sectoral social dialogue and had the opportunity to comment on EPSU's recent and planned work on collective bargaining issues. A full

The ADEDY public sector confederation organised a 24-hour strike on 19 December in its latest protest at austerity measures. It argues that the cuts in public sector are so deep that it can no longer operate effectively and deliver services to citizens. It is difficult to keep up with the "reforms" being imposed on public sector workers but this article by the EIRO industrial relations observatory reviews some of the main cuts and freezes on pay and recruitment. There is a new public sector pay structure, a weakening of the role of trade unions and restructuring of public sector organisations

Workers in national administration are facing further changes to their pay and hours with the government planning changes to sick pay, holiday arrangements and working time flexibility. Sick pay will be reduced when on short-term sickness with larger reductions for each subsequent case of sickness absence in each year. Some government offices may be closed completely for two weeks over the summer leaving employees no choice when to take their holiday and their will also be restrictions on working time flexibility so reversing measures that had increased employees' work-life balance. [Read more

Public services union Unison reports further successes in ensuring that outsourced workers are paid at least the living wage as opposed to being stuck on the lower official minimum wage. The living wage is calculated on the basis of the cost of living and there are different rates across the country. The new rate in London is £8.55 (€10.50) compared to the national minimum wage for adult workers (21 and over) of £6.19 (€7.60) an hour. [Read more at > Unison->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=8265] [And at > Unison->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=8259] [And at >

The government has refused to sign a job security agreement covering central government workers. The unions will take the matter to arbitration and in the meantime will try to secure agreements at ministry level in order to provide protection for their members. The government is also taking a hard line on pay, saying it wants another two years of pay freeze on top of the two-year freeze in 2011 and 2012. [Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)->http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/nieuws/nieuws/centraal-overleg-rijk-definitief-geklapt-bonden-naar-aac] [And at > CNV Publieke Zaak (NL)->http://www.mijnvakbond.nl

The GDG-KMsFB union representing local and regional government workers is working to establish new bargaining arrangements in response to the government's reluctance to negotiate a public sector wide pay increase. In recent years some regional governments have also refused to implement the increase negotiated at federal level. The union will work towards establishing a new social partnership involving regional and local government employers. It wants to see this happen by 2015 but will also work to ensure that its members are not left without a pay increase in 2013 and 2014. [Read more at >

The Kommunal municipal union has submitted its main collective bargaining demands to the SALAR and PACTA employer organisations. The union is looking for a 2.8% pay increase with a minimum guaranteed increase of SEK 700 (€81). It is also calling for a reduction in the use of temporary contracts in the local government sector where there are currently around 140000 fixed-term workers. Kommunal's other claims include an end to split shifts and higher additional payments for weekend and night work. [Read more at > Kommunal (SV)->http://www.kommunal.se/Kommunal/Nyheter/2012/Satsning-pa

For the first time, the vida and GPA-DJP trade unions are negotiating simultaneously 120000 health and social workers covered by three agreements - private sector, charities and churches. They are calling for a real wage increase that is a just reward for the physical and mental stress endured by many workers in the sector. The unions also want to see changes to pay that recognise workers' experience in previous jobs, that take account of parental leave and that ensure that Sunday and night payments have a bearing on the calculation of Christmas and holiday pay. [Read more at > vida (DE)->http

EPSU has published a new study looking at the history of pay clauses in public procurement and focuses on five countries (Denmark, German, Norway, Switzerland and the UK). The study provides ample evidence and examples of the positive impact of pay clauses, which are also enshrined in an International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention ratified by 10 EU Member Stares. By requiring all bidders for public contracts to respect locally established standards there is no downward pressure on wages and working conditions and a level-playing field for competition. The study was published to coincide

Public service union ver.di has called for a 6.5% pay increase for employees of regional government. The pay claim is based on the need to close the pay gap with the private sector and to keep pay increases in line with those negotiated in the local and federal government agreement signed earlier this year. Ver.di is also calling for jobs for those qualifying from apprenticeships and for an increase of €100 in the apprentice allowance. The union wants to negotiate improvements in employment conditions and will demand that any agreement is immediately applied to the 1.2 million civil servants