Health
Health union continues campaign for pay equity
(May 2017) The Sanitas health union says it will continue to campaign and mobilise in order to ensure that new legislation creates pay equity for all workers in the health and social services sectors. In its latest form the legislation fails to take account of a series of amendments submitted by the union. Sanitas says the process of consultation appears to have been for show only. The union will consider what further action to take should the legislation fail to incorporate the key changes on pay.
Union calls for end to productivity requirement
(May 2017) The FOA public services union has called on MPs to reject the continuing demand on local government and health to deliver a 2% productivity increase each year. Effectively in force since 2003, it means that workers in the sector deliver 49% more services with the same staff. The union argues that there is a limit to what can be done and that services cannot be permanently streamlined without posing a threat to quality. The union points out that while health workers have been delivering a 2.4% productivity increase each year the private sector has managed only 1%.
General strike against further austerity
(May 2017) The ADEDY public sector confederation expressed its thanks to the thousands of workers who joined the general strike and rallies on 17 May. The strike was to express opposition to further austrity measures being put forward as part of the bail-out package being negotiated between the government and the European creditors and International Monetary Fund. The strike was jointly called by the GSEE private sector confederation and supported by the International Trade Union Confederation.
Mental health workers to benefit from new agreement on pay and working time
(May 2017) The FNV and NU'91 trade unions have negotiated a new collective agreement covering 80000 workers in the mental health care sector. The agreement runs from 1 March 2017 to 1 July 2019 and includes a 4% pay increase - 1.65% this year and 1.88% next year with an extra 0.25% coming in end-of-year bonuses. The agreement also includes measures to address problems of overwork and long working hours with a checklist to assess the health impact and sustainability of workers' rosters. There are also measures to improve the provision and scope of training.
Union highlights risk to recruitment from pay restraint
(May 2017) The UNISON public services union warns of a recruitment crisis in public services if public sector pay restraint is continued. UNISON quotes a new report from the independent Insitute of Fiscal Studies which say that if public sector pay continues to fall compared to pay in the private sector, the public sector will struggle to recruit and retain the workers it needs to deliver public services, and the quality of those services will therefore be at risk.
Trade unions set out key concerns to new minister
(May 2017) Public service trade unions have had a series of meetings with the new minister of public accounts, Gérald Darminin, with some already unhappy that his remit is not broad responsibility for the public services. The unions have a number of major concerns including the need for a pay rise, particularly for the lowest paid occupations and rejection of the plans to cut 120000 civil service posts. Pensions and other working conditions were also raised in the meetings with the minister indicating that joint meetings with the unions would take place later in the year.
Court victory for privatised workers
(May 2017) Two members of ver.di with the support of their union and the DGB confederation have won an important ruling in the European Court of Justice that protects the link between their pay and conditions and the public sector collective agreement. The two hospital employees were part of a transfer to a private company in 1997 but were then transferred again when the Asklepios company won the contract. Asklepios refused to maintain the link with the public sector collective agreement arguing that it was not party to the original negotiations. The European Court decided in favour of the
Unions call for negotiations following pay commission report
(May 2017) Public sector trade unions want to see a swift move to negotiations following publication of the advisory report of the Public Services Pay Commission. The report focuses on average pay developments in the public and private sector and notes the extent to which public sector pay is on average lower than before the crisis. Public sector unions want to make significant progress towards recovering the lost purchasing power of many of their members since 2008.
Unions unite in national demonstration over care
(May 2017) The four unions that organise care workers in the public (GÖD and younion) and private (vida and GPA-djp) sectors have come together to organise a national demonstration on 12 May. The key demands of the protest are for better funding for care and action to deal with the excessive workloads, stress and long working hours of many care workers. The unions want to see action to tackle staff shortages and national legislation on staffing levels.
Bargaining successes in health and social care
(May 2017) Services union ver.di reports on two significant bargaining developments in the Sana healthcare company and in the non-profit care sector in the Saxony-Anhalt region. Sana's 10000 workers will get a 2.2% pay rise backdated to 1 January this year and a further 2.2% from 1 February 2018 along with several other improvements to pay and conditions, including two extra days off for ver.di members only. The new pay agreement in Saxony-Anhalt covers 4000 care workers employed by the regional welfare federation and is backdated to 2016 while providing pay increases until 2018. Ver.di sees