Jun. 15, 2020
Pay settlements
Jun. 15, 2020
Major increases in non-profit and private healthcare
Health union ver.di has negotiated very large pay increases in a local agreement with the non-profit ASB ambulance service in Löbau in Saxony. There will be pay rises of 25%-35% in 2021 followed by a further 8.3% over the next three years so that pay will match the public sector by 2024. Working time will be reduced from 48 to 40 hours a week. This follows a similar deal in Görlitz in the same region. Ver.di hopes that these are setting examples for others to follow. Meanwhile the union has also negotiated a new 18-month agreement covering 4500 employees in 34 institutions run by the Paracelsus private company. The agreement is backdated to January 2020 with a 2.2% pay increase, followed by a 2.0% increase in January 2021. There will also be a EUR 110 increase on the payment for trainees while the acute care allowance is increased by EUR 75. There will be an additional three days' of pay leave during the period of the agreement but this applies only to ver.di members.
Jun. 15, 2020
Private healthcare workers finally get new agreement
Fourteen years after the last agreement expired and with a national strike threatened for 12 June, the three public service federations – Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl – finally pressured the employers – Aris and Aiop – to sign a new deal covering around 100,000 workers in private healthcare. The main increase of EUR 154 is worth 4.2% but there will also be a EUR 1000 lump sum paid in two stages. The unions say that the agreement will bring private sector workers in line with those in the public sector. There is a broad range of other improvements in the new agreement covering working time, leave, training with the employers paying into a special fund, social dialogue and measures to tackle precarious work and workplace violence.
Jun. 05, 2020
Public sector pay rises postponed
After four rounds of negotiations it was agreed that two pay rises of 2% foreseen for this year would be postponed and paid in January 2021. The existing collective agreement provided for the pay increases along with increases in other allowances and the Christmas bonus and the government had initially wanted to freeze all pay and allowances. However, the postponement was agreed and other allowances will be increased while the Christmas bonus will be negotiated later in the year.
Jun. 05, 2020
23-month agreement in local government finally agreed
The new collective agreement covering 420000 local government workers, including health care was finally agreed at the end of May and runs from 1.4.2020 to 28.2.2022. There will be a pay rise of 1.22% or at least 26 Euro on 1 August this year, followed by a further 1% on 1 April 2021. There is also a sum of 0.8% to be agreed at local level, valid from 1 April 2021. The annual 24 unpaid extra working hours agreed as part of a "competitiveness" pact with the then government in 2016 will end on 30 August this year. From September 2021 there will be a separate agreement covering healthcare workers as called for by the TEHY and Super trade unions. Unions were disappointed that the employers didn't agree to a COVID-19 bonus but this has not been completely ruled out.
Jun. 04, 2020
Unions sign new agreement with Red Cross
The public service federations - Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl - have signed a new three-year agreement with the Red Cross, running until 2022. The overall pay increase will be around 4.5%, with the increases of €23,56, implemented on 1.12.2020, 1.12.2021 and 1.9.22. There are several other elements in the agreement including strengthening second level bargaining; the recognition of time taken to change into/out of uniforms as working time; the introduction of paid sick leave to look after children and revaluations of certain professions. Other provisions cover allowances for risks such as radiation, arduous work as well as pension and healthcare. Home care workers will see their travel time guaranteed as working time with a specific allowance.
May. 04, 2020
Union focuses on care staff risks and confirms social work agreement
The FNV trade union has again criticised the failure to provide adequate personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing for health staff. The unions says that at least nine health workers have died as a result of the virus and that measures still need to be taken to ensure that safety is prioritised. The FNV also argues that this is a longer term problem and the involvement of employees in safety protocols is essential. Meanwhile the union has confirmed that the collective agreement covering social workers has been declared generally binding and so covers all workers in the sector. The two-year deal runs to July 2021 and includes pay increases of 3.25% for both 2019 and 2020 along with the same increases for holiday allowances and end-of-year bonuses.
Jan. 21, 2020
Unions welcome implementation of agreed pay rise
The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations have welcomed the confirmation by the government that the agreed pay increase of 2% (plus 0.3% in additional funds) will be implemented for all 3.2 million public sector workers, backdated to 1 January. The unions were concerned about a delay until a new government was in place. The FSC-CCOO says that it will now look to tackle a number of other key issues with the government including measures to reduce the level of temporary contracts to the target level of 8%, to increase recruitment and to work on issues related to career development and equality plans.
Jan. 09, 2020
Pay system delivers 2% pay increase for EU officials
Around 50000 European public service officials and other workers employed by the European institutions and agencies are getting a 2% pay increase backdated to 1 July 2019. This is the result of the application of a pay formula obtained following lengthy strike action organised by EPSU affiliate Union Syndicale Fédérale in the 1980s and 90s and incorporated in the Staff Regulations since 2004. The formula guarantees that the purchasing power of these workers develops in line with inflation and the pay of officials in the central governments of the 28 member states with 1.5% due to inflation in Belgium and Luxemburg and the other 0.5% based on the average increase of the purchasing power of officials in central governments.
Dec. 18, 2019
Action delivers for hospital workers
Following industrial action and the first ever national hospital strike, trade unions have negotiated a new 27-month collective agreement that includes a 5% pay increase from 1 January 2020 and a further 3% from 1 January 2021. Around half of hospital employees work irregular hours and they will benefit from a new allowance which will add a further 2.5% to their pay. All employees will also get a EUR 1200 pro rata lump sum. The agreement includes higher pay for trainees and measures to improve work-life balance for those working on-call and additional shifts. The unions have also managed to block employer attempts to cut sickness insurance and payments. Unions will ballot their members over the agreement.
Dec. 18, 2019
Latest on negotiations in waste and energy
Public services union ver.di has negotiated a new pay deal with waste and recycling company Schönmackers. The company has 1500 employees and operates in the North Rhine Westphalia region. The agreement includes a pay increase of 3.6% from March 2020 and a further 1.3% from August 2021. There is an EUR 80 increase on trainee pay and the agreement runs to the end of January 2022. Meanwhile there is no progress in the GWE negotiations covering 7700 energy and water workers in the same region. Ver.di has rejected as completely inadequate a pay offer over 28 months that would equate to only 1.75% in the first year and 1.57% in the second year.
Dec. 02, 2019
Pay rise in care sector confirmed
Workers in the nursing home and home care sector are covered by a new collective agreement running from 1 July 2019 to 31 August 2021. There will be a 3.5% pay rise by 1 June 2020 followed by a 3.0% increase on 1 July 2021. An increase in the end-of-year bonus has been brought forward and workers will get a full 13th month salary this year. The agreement also includes a commitment to have 90% of all employees in the sector on permanent contracts. There are other measures to allow workers to exchange pay for more time off and special measures for more time off in the lead up to retirement. The Ministry of Social Affairs will be asked to make the agreement generally binding for the sector and so covering employers that are not members of the employers' organisation that negotiated the agreement.
Nov. 21, 2019
Fourth bargaining round delivers real pay rise for public sector
The younion and GÖD public service unions have successfully negotiated a new pay settlement for the public sector after four rounds of negotiations. The main increase in pay will be 2.25% from 1 January 2020 but with a minimum guaranteed increase of EUR 50 a month this will mean 3.05% for the lowest paid. Other payments and allowances will increase by 2.3%. This is above the 1.7% inflation rate used as a basis of the negotiations and ahead of the current inflation rate of 1.13%.
Nov. 20, 2019
Government confirms CZK 1500 increase across public sector
The government has confirmed the pay increase for public sector workers that was negotiated in September. There will be a flat rate CZK 1500 (EUR 59) increase per year, meaning on average a 7% increase. However, the government has also confirmed that it will abolish the pay table for lower paid staff. These include non-teaching staff in regional education, culture staff, secondary professions in social services and non-medical professions in hospitals. These will be transferred to another pay system meaning a additional increase of 3.5%. The increases take effect in January.
Nov. 19, 2019