Health

The RCN nursing union has voted for industrial action for the first time in its history and strikes over pay across the health service could spread as other unions’ ballot results are announced in the coming weeks. UNISON is recommending strike action to its 350,000 members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with the ballot due to end on 25 November. Members of the GMB union in Northern Ireland have already voted for strike action there. Meanwhile Unite plans to ballot its members in England and Wales and is already carrying out ballots of its members in the ambulance service, as is the

The vida private services union has been organising workplace meetings in the religious hospitals that employ around 10,000 workers across the country. The key question for employees will be their view on potential strike action to support the union’s demand for higher pay in response to soaring inflation. In one of the first workplace meetings on 4 November the initial soundings produced 95% support for industrial action. The meetings continue until 10 November. Vida is calling for an increase of €500 a month and a minimum monthly salary of €2000. With no result after the first round of

The vpod/ssp public services trade union is mobilising its members around the country in support of action to secure higher pay. The union is organising a rally in Bern on 18 November where the regional government is proposing a pay rise of only 2% leaving workers with an effective pay cut. A day of strike action has already taken place in Geneva on 12 October and further action is planned for both 3 and 24 November. Vpod/ssp members in Fribourg are demanding a 4% pay rise in the face of the 2.3% on offer. The union is collecting signatures for a petition which will be handed in on 4 December

The FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and UIL-FPL health and social care unions have joined with other unions in the sector to organise a major demonstration in Rome on 29 October. The protest calls on the new government to take urgent action to address the long-term underfunding of the sector and the crucial question of understaffing. The unions want to see the resources made available to fund the next three-year collective agreement and additional improvements to pay and conditions made through decentralised bargaining. They are calling for an emergency employment plan and measures to ensure that private

The annual negotiations on public sector pay began on 20 October with the younion and GÖD public sector unions endorsing the key data that will form the basis of the negotiations. As with past negotiations the agreement is to apply the inflation rate for the year to September 2022 and this is 6.9%. The other key figure agreed is the 4.75% economic growth rate for 2022. The negotiations are normally concluded before the end of the year so that the pay increase can be applied from 1 January. The union side have not yet put forward a specific demand on the level of the pay increase. The next

The SINTAP public service union has signed an agreement with the government that will see pay increase by €52.11 a month in each of the years 2023 to 2026. The agreement also includes an increase in the food allowance and a range of pay improvements for selected occupations as well as commitments on career development. Meanwhile, the STAL local government union and other unions in the Frente Comum are planning a national strike on 18 November as they believe the proposed pay increases are inadequate.

The ZSVS health union reports that an agreement covering public sector pay and other benefits for 2022 and 2023 was signed by the majority of unions on 13 October. Pay rises range between 4.5% and 8.5% and there are increases to compensation for annual leave and food allowances. As part of the agreement, the government undertakes to adopt systemic changes to the wage system by 30 June 2023, addressing issues relating to the wage gap in the lower third of the pay scale and the minimum wage. The union is continuing to negotiate on pay for health and social care workers and to close the gap with

Thanks to warning strikes and other actions by members, health and care union ver.di has negotiated an agreement with the University Hospital of Frankurt/Main that will ensure more staff and reduced workloads. This makes it the 23rd facility where such an agreement has been reached and negotiations are taking place or being prepared in other hospitals, including the University Hospital in Dresden and the privately run University Hospital of Giessen and Marburg. The agreement in Frankfurt/Main covers approximately 4,000 non-medical employees and stipulates shift staffing in line with the PPR 2

The public sector federations in the CCOO confederation and the FeSP-UGT federation have now formally signed the new three-year agreement covering five million public sector workers. The agreement will deliver increases of 3.5% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023 and 2.0% in 2024 but with the prospect of three extra increases of 0.5% depending on inflation and growth. If the conditions for the extra increases are met this would mean salaries rising by 9.8% by the end of 2024. The FeSP-UGT has also called for a government commitment that there will be no delay in ensuring workers in mutual societies, that

The CGT and FO confederations organised demonstrations across France on 18 October calling for action to increase pay across all sectors, including an increase in the minimum wage. Their demands also covered pensions and social security and defence of the right to strike. The unions estimate that around 300,000 people joined the 180 actions around the country with 70,000 participating in the main demonstration in Paris. Also on the 18th, the CFDT organised strike action in the private health and care sector in protest at stagnating salaries in the face of increased profits for the big private

The major trade unions in the health service are balloting for industrial action over pay with results due over the coming weeks. In England and Wales, unions have generally rejected the £1400 (€1610) increase on annual salaries with ballots in the RCN nursing union and UNISON public services union due to end on 2 and 25 November respectively. The RCM midwives’ union launches its ballot on 11 November. Unite is also balloting its members in Wales. Meanwhile, in Scotland a revised pay offer of a £2205 (€2540) increase on annual pay has not satisfied all unions. UNISON Scotland will consult its

With a general election imminent the FOA trade union has welcomed a proposal from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to set aside an extra DKR 3 billion (€400m) a year for better pay and working conditions in the public sector. The funds would be phased into the public collective bargaining from 2024 onwards and are aimed at helping to solve the recruitment challenges facing the sector over the coming years. According to SDP calculations, the proposal could mean a salary increase of around DKK 2,000 (€270) a month for 235,000 public sector employees if DKR 2.5 billion is spent on better pay.