Low pay/minimum wages

The ZSSS trade union confederation reports that, following unsuccessful negotiations at the Ministry of Public Administration on 14 November, the SDOS public administration trade union organised one-day strike action the day after in seven administrative units across the country. The union demands include an increase in wages for seven pay brackets, improvements to allowances, and a decent level of remuneration for new recruits as part of measures to tackle the current staffing shortage. The SDOS has been pushing for some time for action on a range of issues and the government has failed to

A number of public service trade unions are involved in negotiations with employers and the government to address pay inequality and staff shortages. In September the government set out proposals to provide DKK 3 billion (€400 million) to cover higher pay for social workers, nurses and workers in early years education and care. The government wants part of the deal to provide additional hours for part-time workers. Prison staff are also set to benefit and there is additional funding for them. These negotiations come shortly before and are separate from the normal three-yearly bargaining on the

The Eurofound research agency has published a policy brief which underlines the need to tackle poor job quality among a range of essential occupations, including in the health and care, food systems, cleaning and refuse, transport and protective services sectors, along with manual workers in general. The report argues that these workers’ health and well-being were at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be post-pandemic contributing to the labour shortages that persist in these sectors. The policy brief says that critical occupations facing staff shortages, such as jobs in health

Research by the European Trade Union Confederation has found that payouts to shareholders are rising up to 13 times faster than pay for working people. Taking two examples, dividend payments increased by 75% in Portugal and 66% in Denmark between April and June this year, while nominal compensation in those countries rose by only 6% and 5%. Across Europe, dividends increased by 10% – double the rate at which wages are rising. Meanwhile, the ETUC has also focused on the increase in educational costs for families as children return to school. The price of essential items like pens, pencils

Negotiations over pay and other conditions between the Kommunal trade union and the Visita company that provides catering services for several hospitals have broken down. The union has announced that action by workers at many facilities will go ahead from 14:00 on 15 September unless the company returns to the negotiating table with a commitment to negotiate and particularly to address Kommunal’s proposals to support the lower paid. The union will also block any new hiring as well as implement an overtime ban. Kommunal argues that higher inflation means that it is crucial to deliver pay rises

The ver.di trade union has welcomed the recommendation of the Care Commission to increase minimum wages for long-term care workers but the union also calls for more measures to ensure decent pay in the sector, particularly the negotiation of comprehensive collective agreements, as essential for trying to address the major staff shortages. The three hourly wage rates (skilled, one-year trained and semi/unskilled) will increase by between 6.8% and 9.5% in May 2024 and then by 3.9% to 5.1% in May 2025. So from May 2025 skilled workers will earn at least €20.50 per hour, one-year trained employees

A new analysis by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and European Trade Union Institute reveals that families face the highest increase in the cost of holidays on record. The price of package holidays at home or abroad has increased by 12.4% across the EU and that follows an 11.5% increase last year. That is the highest increase in the cost of package holidays since records began. The research found that people in Estonia, France, Bulgaria, Sweden, and Czechia have been hit by the highest increases in the cost of a package holiday, with rises between 18% and 31%. According to the

Last month the Wage Structure Committee produce a detailed report on pay in the public services as a basis of a tripartite discussion that is due to begin in the autumn and that will have an impact on negotiations of the next three-year collective agreements in the public sector that will run from April 2024. The committee, with trade union participation, was set up in 2021 as a first step in trying to address the persistent problem of pay inequality across the public services and the major staff shortages across many occupations. The initial reaction of many EPSU affiliates is to welcome the

For the first time, employees working at care facilities run by the Protestant church in Hesse in central-west Germany are mobilising to support their union ver.di in collective bargaining. The workers have only been covered by a collective agreement since April 2022 and so building support for their key demand – an increase of €450 a month – is a new experience. They managed to get over 550 signatures on a petition handed to management. In the past, pay and working conditions were simply laid down in church employment contract guidelines. The collective agreement negotiated by ver.di and the

Kommunal and the Almega Vårdföretagarna employers’ organisation have negotiated two new collective agreements for employees working in private health and social care and eldercare both of which run from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2025. In the private health and social care agreement, the minimum wage will be increased by SEK 1350 (€115) in 2023 and by 3.5% in 2024. The general wage rises will be SEK 1156 (€100) in 2023 and SEK 995 (€85) in 2024. The new minimum salary as of 1 December 2023 will be SEK 21297 (€1830) with a rate of SEK 24013 (€2060) for professionals. These rates will rise to SEK

The European Confederation of Trade Unions (ETUC) is calling on employers to offer better-paid jobs to end damaging labour shortages across Europe. An analysis of job vacancy rates and wages in 22 EU countries by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) reveals that industries with the worst labour shortages pay 9% less on average than sectors where it’s easier to recruit. The ETUC argues that lack of skills is often seen as the main problem, but the new analysis suggests that low pay is one of the main drivers of labour shortages. The ETUI research found that across the EU, the industries

A new briefing on the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive (AMWD) argues that its timely implementation would be a key measure to address the cost-of-living crisis. The briefing by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) shows that, despite the dynamic developments of minimum wages between 1 January 2022 and 1 January 2023, the nominal increases have not been sufficient to safeguard the purchasing power of minimum wage earners in almost half the countries with a statutory minimum wage. More broadly the ETUI maintains that the directive has the potential to be a gamechanger, with its dual