Social Dialogue, EPSU Collective Bargaining News

(June 2016) The International Labour Organisation has contributed to the debate around a European pillar of social rights highlighting some of the essential issues such as minimum wages and work-life balance. Above all it agrees with the call from trade unions and employers at European level that "more attention should be paid to recognizing, promoting and respecting social dialogue processes and outcomes." The ILO sees the European Pillar of Social Rights initiative as a unique opportunity to embed effective and inclusive dialogue in the EU governance, raise living standards in the EU and

(July 2016) The ETUC has joined with European employer organisaitons, the European Commission and the Dutch Presidency of the European Council in signing a statement supporting social dialogue at both national and European levels. The statement underlines the importance of the role of social partners, both national and European, in the Semester process and of the need to ensure implementation of European social dialogue agreements at national level. ETUC deputy general secretary Peter Scherrer said that the statement "does not solve the many problems faced by working people today, but it does

(July 2016) The secretary of state with responsibility for public administration has acknowledged the need to resume social dialogue on working conditions. The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT trade union federations have made clear some of their main aims in such negotiations. They want to see adequate funding for public sector jobs along with contracts that provide stability and continuity. They also want to start recuperating the cuts imposed in recent years inlcuding the 5% cut in salary from 2010, a return to the 35-hour week and an end to the replacement rate limiting the number of leavers who are

(July 2016) This month sees the first increase in public sector pay for six years, but trade unions are not so impressed by the 0.6% rise in the index point on which salaries are calculated. A further rise of 0.6% will be implemented next year. According to one estimate public sector workers have lost between 10% and 15% of their purchasing power over the past five years - anything between EUR 200 and EUR 800 a month depending on job and length of service. The 0.6% increase will mean less thatn EUR 9 a month for an average administrative worker. Read more at CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA (FR).

(August 2016) The International Trade Union Confederation and trade unions at the G20 summit of leading industrial nations have called for world leaders to take urgent steps to boost the global economy through co-ordinated action to increase wages and their share in national income. The ITUC says that rebuilding strong labour market institutions to create quality jobs and reduce income inequality must be a priority. Read more at ITUC (EN/FR/ES).

Public and private sector trade unions have suspended their industrial action in protest at planned changes to dismissal legislation following a commitment from the government to negotiate. The proposed changes would have made it easier to sack workers in small firms. Unions were objecting to the discriminatory provisions and to the failure to negotiate. The unions have only suspended the action and may restart it if the government doesn't undertake proper tripartite negotiations.

The OSZSP health union took part in a tripartite meeting with the health minister and health employers last month with pay and staffing high on the agenda. The union is still seeking confirmation from the government that the 10% pay increase offered to health workers will be implemented from 1 January and that it will apply to all health workers. It warns that problems with the health service will arise if workers in some areas don't benefit from the same pay increase. The union has called for data on hospitals, patient numbers, staffing and average pay along with information on overtime hours

The Eurofound research agency has produced a new report that looks into the links between national and European social dialogue. The report identifies some of the key challenges for ensuring an effective European social dialogue and suggests that it is "worth exploring new forms of knowledge transfer, resources provision or engagement with EU- and national-level social partners." It also says that the European Commission "might be more pro-active in promoting social dialogue, notably through its social dialogue website" and that: "Recent initiatives such as the European Pillar of Social Rights

On 17 December the European trade unions and employers in central government administrations signed guidelines on tackling violence and harassment. This extends coverage to 8.9 million public employees and civil servants in addition to the millions of workers who are already covered by the guidelines adopted in 2010 in local and regional government, hospitals, education, commerce, and private security. While not legally binding, the guidelines provide basic yet fundamental guidance on how to put in place a policy and a procedure to prevent and deal with harassment and violent acts, in close

Nadja Salson of EPSU policy staff provided some background on the social partner agreement in the European social dialogue committee for Central Government Administrations. This landmark agreement on information and consultation was signed in December 2015 and was intended to fill the gap in the information and consultation directives that had excluded public administration. The trade unions and employers jointly submitted it to the European Commission for eventual transposition into a directive by the European Council. However, the Commission then took over two years to respond, finally

Public service unions report a massive response to their call for a day of protest and strike action on 22 March against government plans for the public sector. While the unions are calling for a wide range of measures to support statutory employment rights, increase pay, reduce precarious employment, improve career development, the government response has been to talk about reforming existing social dialogue structures, weaking the statutory system and extending individualisation of pay. Following the abortive meeting with the government on 3 April, unions will meet on 10 April to discuss how

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published two reports on collective bargaining and social dialogue. A working paper on social dialogue in public services was published to mark the 40th anniversary of ILO Convention 151 on labour relations in the public services. It covers three of the European social dialogue committees in which EPSU is involved along with examples of how social dialogue works in Italy, Denmark and the Czech and Slovak Republics. The ILO's report on extension of collective agreements provides evidence on the important role that this process can play in reducing

A new report from the Eurofound research body has confirmed that the EPSU-led TUNED trade union grouping represents the large majority of unionised workers and civil servants in 27 of the 28 EU Member States. Its counterpart, the EUPAE employers' organisation represents 88% of the total EU workforce of 9.8 million in central government administrations. The conclusions strengthen the arguments of the social partners for the European Commission to put forward their agreement on information and consultation to the European Council for transposition into a directive.

The Georgian Trade Union Confederation has welcomed the government's ratification of the International Labour Organisation convention on tripartite consultation. The GTUC says that it had been pushing for this for many years and it should now provide the basis to develop social dialogue in the country. However, unions there continue to face major challenges not least the failure of the government to re-establish an effective labour inspection regime. Some 460 workers have died and 796 have been injured since the labour inspectorate was abolished in 2006.

The European Commission has informed the social partners in central government administrations that it will not propose their information and consultation agreement to the European Council for implementation as a Directive. This is a major blow to the trade unions and employers in the sector who signed the agreement in December 2015 specifically with a view to having it implemented as a Directive and to fill a gap in existing information and consultation legislation at European level.