Aug. 27, 2020
Pay settlements
Jul. 31, 2020
Keeping up-to-date with public service pay negotiations
This newsletter aims to report on the latest news about public service collective bargaining. Articles are stored on the EPSU website and can be searched by country and theme here. However, it is going to be particularly important to follow the latest developments as EPSU affiliates negotiate on pay in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. EPSU has therefore put together a country-by-country overview that gives the state of play of bargaining in each country. It will be updated at least once a month and information on more countries and sectors will be added. The link to the article is below but also at the end of the introductory paragraph in the collective bargaining section of the EPSU website - here.
Jul. 27, 2020
Government confirms pay rise for one in five in public sector
Around 900000 out of the total of 4.4 million public sector workers will see pay increases this year of between 2% and 3.1%. This is ahead of the current inflation rate of 0.8%. While unions have welcomed the increases they have highlighted the fact that many workers have lost out after 10 years of pay freezes or below-inflation rises. The latest pay increases cover the armed forces, judiciary and senior civil servants (2%), police and prison staff in England and Wales (2.5%), doctors and dentists (2.8%) and teachers in England (3.1%). Health unions have called for early negotiations for the next pay increase which is due in 2021 while most social care workers are excluded as they are employed by private companies. Workers in local government are currently voting on whether to accept a 2.75% increase. Unions fear that the government is already looking for more pay restraint in future negotiations.
Jul. 27, 2020
Agreement for municipal and health managers
The Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl public service federations have finalised a new collective agreement covering around 15000 managers in local and regional government and the health service. The agreement covers the period 2016-2018 and includes a pay rise of 3.48% which follows the other public sector agreements for that period. Apart from pay, there are provisions covering trade union relations, work-life balance and leave arrangements, including support for women who are victims of violence. The agreement also establishes a joint body to look at innovation and service improvement and there is a commitment to start negotiations on an agreement covering 2019-2021. Only one public sector agreement for the 2016-18 period is now outstanding - the one covering employees of the Presidency and Council of Ministers.
Jul. 09, 2020
Unions secure €1 billion for health workers' pay and conditions
After a lengthy campaign of protests and industrial action, unions have secured an additional €1 billion in funding from the federal government to improve pay and conditions for health workers. €500 million will go towards the implementation of a new pay system and harmonisation of pay in the private and public sectors. Unions estimate this will mean pay increases of 5%-6%. €400 million will cover additional staff to ensure a better staff/patient ratio and 10% of this amount will contribute to improved training. €100 million is allocated to improving working conditions, including in particular more permanent contracts and more hours for part-time workers. There will also be new rights to take three consecutive weeks of annual leave, a right to training in general but also for workers' reps and other measures covering pensions and action to reduce burnout. While unions have welcomed this initiative covering services funded at federal level, campaigning continues to put pressure on the other levels of government that are responsible for other health and social services.
Jun. 15, 2020
Unions call for more resources not austerity
Trade unions in the public sector have written to the government, parliament and public sector employers to call for more staff, better pay and conditions and support for quality services - a new direction for the public sector rather than the austerity measures that are already being hinted at. Meanwhile, as hospitals gradually return to normal, the FNV has underlined the importance of ensuring that the collective agreement is properly applied in terms of working time, on-call, rest time and annual leave. The union has also a negotiated a pay deal in social employment services where workers will get 3.2% over two years.
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