Brazil, Switzerland

RESPEKT@vpod is a new network for care and domestic workers set up in the VPOD public services union. Following VPOD's support of a Polish migrant worker who successfully secured compensation after being sacked for questioning her pay, the union was approached by many other migrant care workers seeking advice and information. RESPEKT@vpod is a response to these demands in a sector known for exploitative pay and employment conditions. The network is seen as particularly important for workers who live on the premises where they work and can feel very isolated. [Read more at > VPOD (DE)->www.vpod

The vpod public services union says that it is considering industrial action if the Bern cantonal (regional) government goes ahead with a package of severe cuts. The union says that 600 jobs are under threat including many jobs in health and social services. The Canton's workforce is also facing cuts in pay. Vpod will be discussing its response with the employees and the institutions that are affected, highlighting the serious impact that these cuts will have on the quantity and quality of services to citizens. [Read more at > vpod (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article

The vpod public services union is supporting a migrant worker who was sacked by the Spitex Perspecta care company. Bozena Domanska is a Polish care worker who appeared in a TV documentary exposing the issue of inadequate pay for 24-hour working in the care sector. Although the company was not mentioned in the TV programme, it still decided to sack Bozena. The vpod is supporting Bozena in a claim for unfair dismissal and is calling for a boycott of Perspecta if they don't reinstate her. [Read more at > vpod (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/polnische-care-migrantin

The VPOD-SSP public services union and other trade unions are calling for a "yes" vote in the 24 November referendum that would set a limit on executive pay. If passed, it would mean that the top pay in an enterprise could be no more than 12 times the lowest pay rate. The union points out that 20 years ago such a policy would be irrelevant as on average executive pay was only six times that of the lowest paid. Now the figure is more like 43 times. Over the decade to 2010 executive pay rose on average by CHF 23700 (€19190) while average pay stagnated. [Read more at > vpod (DE)->http://www.vpod

Public services union vpod reports that federal employees will get a pay increase of 0.7% after some tough bargaining. Although the economic outlook is relatively good and public finances quite healthy the government was reluctant to offer more than a 0.5% rise. The joint trade union committee, of which vpod is a member, reluctantly agreed the 0.7% increase as an improvement on 0.5% but argued that this was a modest increase and failed to provide a decent increase for the many workers who would not benefit from any performance-related increase or movement up the pay scale. [Read more at > vpod

Respekt@vpod is a network of migrant and other workers in the care sector which is campaigning actively over care worker rights and the practices of some private care providers. The network organised a demonstration outside the head office of the Home Instead Schweiz company to protest at the franchise system that the company operates. The system guarantees profits for the company while shifting all the risk to the franchisee and this creates a situation where the franchisee cuts costs with an impact on workers' rights. Examples include workers being pressured to sign away pension rights as

The vpod/ssp public services union is calling for a "yes" vote in the referendum on introducing a statutory minimum wage. The vote takes place on 18 May and the vpod/ssp believes that the introduction of a minimum wage will be a positive step towards reducing the gender pay gap. It also sees it as important to protect pay in parts of the private sector where there is less coverage of collective agreements, including former public services that have been privatised. [Read more at > vpod/ssp (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/mindestlohn-hilft-gegen-lohnungleichheit

The vpod/SSP public services union has lodged a complaint over the right to strike with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The case involves employees of the Neunberger Hospital who took strike action at the end of 2012 in protest at the decision of the Hospital's new owner, Genolier, to end the collective agreement and worsen employment conditions. The hospital sacked the striking workers and their dismissal was upheld by the courts despite the fact that the right to strike is in the constitution and Switzerland has also signed up to the key ILO conventions 87 and 98 on the right to

The vpod/ssp public service union reports that the gender pay gap in the public sector is 13.6% on average but rises to 18.6% when comparing lower paid occupations. In the health sector the size of the pay gap is reversed with women higher up the pay scale getting 13.7% less than men while the pay gap at the bottom of the pay scale is 5.4%. The union concedes that public sector employers have shown more willingness to discuss pay inequality than private sector employers, however, they have generally failed to undertake a proper examination of the extent of the pay gap. [Read more at > vpod (DE

Protests by the the Vpod public services union, along with other staff unions at the Winterthur city council were successful in getting the council to reject a proposal to cut city workers' pay by 2%. Over 300 workers joined the demonstration before the crucial vote. The Vpod welcomed the victory but recognised that it still had work to do to challenge other cuts being proposed by the Council. [Read more at > Vpod (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/erfolg-in-winterthur-lohnkuerzung-vorerst-vom-tisch.html?tx_ttnews=34&cHash=f0f58451ba17b5e3b55bec149843e55c[

The vpod public services union and its confederation, the SGB, have welcomed proposals by the federal government to require companies to report on gender pay. However, the unions are concerned that the legislation is too weak and fails to include any obligation to tackle the gender pay gap and nothing in the way of an effective monitoring and investigatory body. The unions also want to ensure that public administration will also be covered by the legislation. [Read more at > vpod (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/lohngleichheit-freiwilligkeit-reicht-nicht-aus.html?tx

The SGB/USS trade union confederation is co-ordinating a pay campaign among its affiliates with the key demands being real pay increases of 3%-4% and action to tackle pay inequality. The VPOD/SSP public services union is part of the campaign and notes that the healthier financial situation of public sector organisations means they should end pay restraint. The union warns that cutbacks in recent years are threatening the quality of public services and that there is a risk that the public sector will fail to recruit if pay increase lag behind the public sector. [Read more at > SGB (DE)->http:/

Unions across Switzerland mobilised over 25,000 members for a national demonstration in Bern over pay increases and pay equality. Public sector workers joined the demonstration to make their case for a 4% pay increase to compensate for inflation and begin to recoup the loss in real pay over the last 12 years. Unions also demanded higher increases for women workers to start to reduce the 10%-20% gender pay gap. Public sector unions are particularly angry at their employers plans for further cuts in public spending while implementing take cuts for the higher paid. [Read more at > SGB (FR+DE)-

The VPOD/SSP public service trade union, with support from the SGB/USS trade union confederation, has attacked demands from the health insurance industry to cut hospital costs and by implication wage bills. The industry wants hospital costs across the country reduced to the lowest that currently apply in any hospital. The unions point out that with employment costs making up 70% of total costs this means an attack on pay and conditions. The unions have warned that such reductions, apart from being unfair to workers, would undermine service quality and lead to hospitals taking on less qualified