France
The eight public sector union federations argue that their day of strikes and demonstrations on 20 November was a real success and has put pressure on the government to respond to their demands on pay, public sector employment rights and quality public services. They have demanded a response from the government before the end of November and are threatening further action in December if the government fails to respond.
Read joint union statement at > CGT (FR)
The Impact public service union has warned that widespread industrial action will be organised if the government plans any further cuts in public sector pay, pensions or jobs. The union was responding to what it regards as a relentless campaign by politicians, business and the media targeting public sector workers. Impact stresses that public sector workers have already seen a 7.5% cut in pay as a result of the government’s pensions levy and should not be forced to pay for a crisis created by highly paid finance sector bosses. [Read more at > Impact (EN)->http://www.impact.ie/iopen24/newsdesk
The vida and GPA-djp private service unions will be coordinating further warning strikes on 26 and 27 February to put pressure on the employers in the negotiations covering 125000 workers in private health and social care. This follows the sixth round of bargaining which ended again without a concrete proposal from the employers. The unions are determined to press on with their central demand of a 35-hour week while maintaining pay and with an appropriate increase in staffing.
The dispute over pay in local government in the Netherlands has continued over the summer. Cleaners and street sweepers took a week's strike action in support of a higher pay claim while firefighters have also joined the dispute again, saying they will only respond to emergency calls. Read the news report in English at > Bloomberg Read more at > ABVAKABO
