Brazil, Iceland, Greece

The ADEDY public sector trade union confederation has called a national, public sector strike for 21 May over the cost of living and low pay across the public services. ADEDY argues that the pay rise awarded from 1 January 2024 of €38-€42 a month has done little to compensate for the loss of purchasing power over the years since austerity. The confederation says that a nurse has to survive on a net salary of €680. ADEDY is calling for a 10% pay increase for all public sector workers, for collective bargaining on pay, for abolition of the 2% unemployment levy, an increase in the tax-free

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

On 21 September the ADEDY civil service confederation organised national strike action in protest at labour law changes that were due to be discussed in parliament that day. The changes target the public sector and include relaxations in working time rules that could see civil servants working up to 13 hours a day/78 per week. The changes would mark the end of the five-day week, allow for highly precarious contracts as well as stricter rules on strikes.

The ADEDY public service workers’ confederation called a nationwide work stoppage from 11am on Wednesday 26 July and organised a protest outside the Ministry of Finance. This follows an earlier action on 19 July in protest at new legislation that ADEDY argues fails to address the long-term impact of austerity on public sector workers’ pay and conditions. The Confederation is demanding a range of measures to support workers, including re-establishing the value of the 13th and 14th month salaries, tax-free salaries up to €12000, an increase in the allowance for hazardous and unhealthy work and a

The POEDHN health workers’ union, supported by the ADEDY public sector trade union confederation, organised a national demonstration on 22 February with calls for urgent action on health service funding. The union is demanding increased staffing and measures to address the widespread use of precarious contracts across the health service. It is also continuing to campaign for better pay and conditions with many health workers facing low pay, often little more than the minimum wage. This is a long-term legacy of austerity with pay cuts imposed in 2009 and pay frozen since 2015.

The ADEDY public service and GSEE private sector trade union confederations report strong support for their nationwide strike action and national protest on 9 November. ADEDY was calling for an increase in wages to compensate for inflation along with several other improvements to employment conditions, including re-establishing the 13th and 14th month salaries, an increase and extension of the allowance for dangerous and unhealthy work, negotiating collective agreements in the public sector, a boost for public health care funding, and massive recruitment of permanent staff to tackle staffing

The ADEDY civil service and GSEE private sector confederations have called for a national strike and demonstrations on 9 November over the cost-of-living crisis. ADEDY says that nothing has been done to reverse the pay cuts imposed on public sector workers as part of austerity measures 12 years ago and the government has not proposed any pay rise for civil servants for 2023 despite inflation reaching 11%. Along with its demands on pay, the confederation wants to see a boost to health funding and commitment to increase health and public service employment. Meanwhile, the GSEE is calling for an

With inflation increasing rapidly across Europe, trade union movements are mobilising to highlight the cost-of-living challenges facing workers, their families as well as pensioners and students. Latest figures show prices rising at anything from 6.5% to nearly 23% a year in Europe with further increases predicted. The CMKOS confederation in the Czech Republic is calling for a national demonstration in Prague on 5 September while the ÖGB confederation in Austria is coordinating protests around the country on 17 September. In between these two, the GSEE private sector and ADEDY public sector