Recruitment & organising, Health
Health staff surveys reveals problems with workloads and pressure
(November 2016) The FNV union's welfare and care section has published survey evidence showing the extent to which hospital workers are under pressure from high workloads, staff shortages and higher demands in terms of the quality and complexity of care. The survey found that nearly one in two workers are considering finding a job ouside the sector, with workload, pay and work-life balance among the main reasons for dissatisfaction. The FNV will be preparing it collective demands for the sector and will be fousing on workloads and how to increase staff recruitment into the sector, especially
Union takes initiatives on staffing
(November 2016) Service union ver.di has taken two initiatives to tackle staff shortages in hospitals and eldercare. As the first step in a national campaign, the union has called on all 21 hospitals in the Saarland region, whether public, private or non-profit, to negotiate agreements to increase staff, regulate working time and reduce workloads.Meanwhile, ver.di also launched a postcard campaign to highlight the vital work done by employees in eldercare institutions who are similarly facing increasing pressure of work and a major shortage of staff.
National protest in non-profit sector
(November 2016) A common front of trade unions in the non-profit sector organised a national demonstration on 24 November in opposition to continuing austerity and in support of new collective agreements. The sector, with over 525000 workers, covers a broad range of health, social and cultural services. The trade unions are calling for more jobs, a real pay increase and other measures to ensure qualiity employment and quality services, particularly to improve work-life balance, particularly for workers coming up to retirement.
Health union continues mobilisation to support negotiations
(November 2016) The Sanitas health union has been maintaining its protests and picketing of the Ministry of Health in support of the negotiations for a new collective agreement. The union wants to see a number of key improvements in the agreement and compliance with regulations on additional pay for night and weekend work. The union has also raised the question of equal pay for equal work, highlighting examples where health staff doing the same job are paid different rates depending on the institution they work for.
EPSU Executive Committee addresses Tax Justice, Brexit, situation in Turkey, CETA, elects new leadership and much more
We have a new President in EPSU. Isolde Kunkel-Weber from the German union Ver.di was elected and will take over from Annelie Nordstrom. Mette Nord from the Norwegian union Fagforbundet was elected vice-President.
EPSU’s debates public health and social services at EASPD’s 20th Anniversary Conference
Speaking as a panelist at EASPD’s 20th Anniversary Conference, which took place in Brussels on the 20th of October, EPSU’s Secretary General Jan Willem Goudriaan stated that: ‘Public services guaranteeing the general interest are essential to achieve and defend an inclusive society
Union calls for national, legal staffing levels
(October 2016) Services union vida is calling for urgent action to tackle serious understaffing in health and social care. The union says that lack of finance often means that while demand has increased significantly while employment has remained the same or even fallen. Employees are overworked and around 30% of workers in the sector are at risk of burnout.Vida wants to see statutory minimum staffing levels for health and social care taking out also of qualifications.
Unions want action on health workforce
(October 2016) Unions want an end to restrictions on recruitment in the health service and a review of the staffing needs of the service in the light of population change and ageing. The imposition of replacement rates in 2010 led to falling staff numbers and an increase in the use of fixed term contracts to around 35% of all workersin the health service. Following the court ruling (see epsucob@NEWS 13) on temporary contracts unions want to negotiate measures to deal with precarious employment.
Union highlights risks of outsourcing
(October 2016) Public service union JHL has written to local authority members across the country warning of many of the problems created by outsourcing. It quotes survey evidence indicating threats to service quality coming from cuts to jobs and working time as well as trends towards using less skilled staff. While noting that over 100 municipalities have brought services back in-house, JHL says there is still a trend towards outsourcing which, in healthcare, is now dominated by a small number of big companies.
Three-year deal will benefit nursing assistants
(October2016) Municipal union Kommunal has negoitated a three-year collective agreement with KFO, the organisation that represents cooperative and non-profit organisations. The deal includes a SEK 500 (EUR 51) increase for all full-time workers in the first year then increases that match the going rate in industry.. But in order to address the lower pay faced by undervalued jobs predominantly done by women, the agreement includes additional increases for nursing assistants in each of the three years.
Major pay boost for healthworkers
(October 2016) After six months of negotiations the health unions from the CITUB and Podkrepa confederations have negotiated a new collective agreement with the Mnistry of Health and health employers that includes pay increases of between 15% and 40% for healthworkers. The increases are part of an attempt to stem the flow of trained staff out of the country and include a 30% increase on the minimum wage in the sector.
UN Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth: Investing in health workforce will create jobs and drive economic growth
PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli joined co-chairs, the President’s of France and South Africa, François Hollande and Jacob Zuma, as they delivered, on 21 September 2016, the final report of the UN High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Protest march highlights critical state of healthcare
(October 2016) The POEDHN health workers' union, supported by the ADEDY civil service federation, organised a caravan of health across Athens on 6 October. The march took in the major hospitals in the country and ended up at the ministry of health calling for urgent action to increase funding for the service which has been badly hit by austerity measures, with major problems of understaffing.