Culture, PPPs, Corporate Social Responsibility
EPSU joins 140 organisations condemning blockage of Corporate Due Diligence Directive
The agreement reached between the European Parliament and Council on the Corporate Social Due Diligence Directive has been blocked by an alliance of governments led by France under Macron and with tacit support of Germany and Italy.
Bargaining stalled in hospitals, further action in municipalities
The FNV and NU’91 trade unions have rejected what the NVZ hospital employers have suddenly claimed is their final offer in the negotiations covering 200,000 health service workers. The offer is for a pay rise of 13% over two years but implemented as 5% in February 2023, 5% in December 2023 and 3% in September 2024. This not only falls below the unions’ call for an immediate 10% increase but FNV and NU’91 also strongly reject the employers’ proposals on allowances related to travel and short-notice shift changes. Members will be consulted over the offer and possible action in response
History RePPPeated II - Why Public-Private Partnerships are not the solution
Back in 2020 EPSU welcomed the publication of Eurodad’s first History RePPPeated – see article - and this 2nd edition provides more useful evidence and examples of the failure of PPPs to provide added value compared to direct public investment and traditional public procurement.
New Commission Communication “The power of trade partnerships: together for green and just economic growth
In June 2022 the European Commission published a Communication “The power of trade partnerships: together for green and just economic growth” that strengthens the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) provisions of EU trade agreements.
Still some way to go to establish pension scheme for culture workers
Trade unions Fagforbundet, NTL and Creo working with the LO confederation are in negotiations over a pension scheme for the culture sector. This follows last year’s strike where the unions achieved a commitment from the employers for a hybrid scheme that ensured payments for life and equal treatment of men and women. The main sticking point is that the Spekter employers’ organisation is talking about a defined contribution scheme but the unions argue that this will make it impossible to determine what individuals will actually get at retirement. The negotiations will form part of the spring