USA, Iceland, Belgium

EPSU has published the second in a series of articles on working time reduction, focusing this time on Iceland. Ten years ago the country had some of the longest weekly working hours in Europe and then trade unions began to address the issue through a series of pilot projects and negotiations in both municipalities and central administration. Trade unions worked closely with management to ensure services were maintained and the results of the pilot projects showed that working time could be reduced without loss of pay with surveys showing increased well-being among workers. Many local and

On 24 October, the BSRB public sector federation was one of more than a dozen organisations supporting a day of action calling for urgent action to address gender inequality, the gender pay gap and to tackle gender-based and sexual violence. Actions ranged from strikes and demonstrations to the withdrawal of all forms of labour, paid and unpaid. Since the first women’s day of action in 1975, unions and other organisations in the country have organised major strikes and protests and there has been some reduction in gender inequality. However, there is still a long way to go with the gender pay

The three main trade union confederations – ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGSLB – are taking further steps to defend trade union rights and particularly the rights to strike and protest. They will be joining other civil society and campaigning organisations on 5 October in a national demonstration against the Van Quickenborne law which will make it increasingly difficult to organise protests. The unions have already challenged attacks on trade union rights and particularly legal action taken against trade union strikers and protestors in the recent long-running Delhaize dispute in the retail

The three trade union confederations – ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGLSB are organising a national demonstration on 22 May in protest against increasing anti-union actions by employers and the authorities. The coordinated action is prompted by the conflict in the Delhaize supermarket chain where unions have been striking and campaigning against the company’s plans to franchise all its stores, posing a major threat to jobs and working conditions. Unions have been met with a hardline response from both the employer and aggressive tactics from the police. The confederations are concerned that

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.

The three main federations in the public services – ACV/CSC, CGSP/ACOD and SLPF/VSOA – have called for a week of action from 6 to 10 March to highlight the staffing and funding crisis facing all parts of the sector. The federations will be coordinating a series of actions with calls to strengthen public services with more public investment and funding and end the push for privatisation. They also want to see improvements to pay and conditions to make public services more attractive to work in and especially to stop the attacks on public service pensions. Finally, the federations want to see

Over 25000 workers in the non-profit sector joined a march through Brussels on 31 January to highlight the urgent need for action on jobs and investment in health and social care services. The unions in the sector are warning of the pressures created by understaffing across hospitals, social care, childcare and other vital services and calling on the federal and regional governments to provide the additional funding necessary to improve pay and conditions, take on more staff and invest in these vital services.

Following the day of protest and strike action on 9 November, the three trade union confederations – ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and CGLSB/ACLVB are planning further action with a national demonstration set for 16 December. The unions are calling for a revision to the salary law that restricts the unions’ scope to negotiate and they want to retain the pay indexation system that they are worried is under threat from the employers. Their other demands cover action on energy costs, a shift in taxation to support workers and measures to restrict flexi-jobs.

The three trade union confederations ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGSLB organised a day of action and strikes over pay, prices and welfare benefits on 9 November. The confederations are calling on the government and employers to negotiate pay increases to help address the cost-of-living crisis and in particular to changes in the law to provide trade unions with more room to manoeuvre when negotiating on pay rises. The unions also want government support to help with energy bills and for increase social security payments. The confederations are determined to defend the system of pay indexation