Early Childhood Education and Care, Digitalisation
Getting to grips with digitalisation
Digitalisation has the potential to positively transform public services and the jobs of public service workers. Quicker and easier access to services and increased participation of citizens can be combined with better quality jobs as repetitive work is replaced with more fulfilling tasks. However, trade unions must be involved in the transformation process not just to ensure that workers have their fare share of the benefits of digitalisation but also to deal with the potential downside. This briefing, produced for EPSU's 2019 Congress, highlights some of the work done on this issue in recent years and sets out the current priorities.
Childcare workers strike over pay and precarious conditions
Members of the CCOO trade union in early years education have taken three days of strike action with a fourth planned for 15 November. They also came from all regions of Spain to join a national demonstration in Madrid on 2 November as part of their campaign to secure improvements to pay and secure real progress after over two years of negotiations with private sector employers. The union wants action to address precarious employment conditions and has had to resort to industrial action to put pressure on the employers to negotiate on the issue. The union argues that pay and working conditions
National and European Administration: EPSU affiliates discuss new leadership, digitalisation, good administration and more
By acclamation the NEA Standing Committee elected Karin Brunzell ST Sweden and Alain Parisot UNSA France as co-chairs of the Committee, and Federico Trastulli, UILPA, Italy as vice-chair.
EPSU Childcare network discussed monitoring and evaluation in early childhood education and care
On 20th September 2023 the EPSU Childcare network met to discuss monitoring and evaluation in early childhood education and care, and the results of a survey on working conditions and professionalisation.
Digitalisation: more flexibility for some but less autonomy for others
Digitalisation can deliver better work-life balance but the risks of greater control and monitoring of workers are significant. This is one of the key conclusions of a two-year research project on digitalisation in the public services that concluded with a conference in Brussels on 25 September.
Survey reveals problem with childcare provision
The trade union-linked Hans Böckler research organisation has published a new survey uncovering worrying gaps in childcare provision across the country. It says that 10 years after the legal right to childcare from the age of one came into force, there is a shortage of childcare places. Further, it reveals that a large proportion of working or job-seeking parents who officially have a place for their child don’t have reliable care, with 57% confronted with reductions in childcare hours and/or even temporary closures of facilities due to staff shortages this spring. Two-thirds of those surveyed
Series of pay deals for private sector childcare workers
EPSU affiliates Fagforbundet and Delta, along with other unions, have been involved in negotiating a series of similar pay deals for workers covered by different private sector collective agreements. Assistants and skilled workers in the PBL group of kindergartens got a NOK 25800 (€2200) addition on annual salaries while teachers and education leaders received NOK 30000 (€2560). The overall cost increase of 5.4% is in line with the public sector increase. A 5.4% rise will also cover childcare facilities run by Norlandia which has moved to the agreement negotiated by the Spekter employers’
Mediterranean trade unions on public services, European parliament elections and the extreme-right
The recent elections in several European countries that resulted in gains for extreme-right parties and even brought them into government were discussed at the constituency of the Mediterranean unions.
EPSU joins European organisations to launch civil society statement on democratic digital infrastructures
On Monday, 5th June, EPSU and 40 other European organisations launched a civil society statement focused on democratic digital infrastructures which proposes the establishment of a European Public Digital Infrastructure Fund.
Childcare workers take to streets over pay, jobs and funding
A trade union alliance involving the CNE, CSC Services Publics, CGSP, SETCA, CGSLB and SLPF coordinated a demonstration in Brussels on 26 April to raise concerns about the state of childcare provision. The protest involved a delegation meeting with the minister for children and health in the Brussels-Wallonia Federation with demands to tackle the long-standing problems of understaffing and precarious work and to prevent the extension of private, for-profit provision across the sector. The union were supported by non-profit providers in the sector.