Union Rights, Pay settlements

A new agreement between unions, employers and the Flemish government has delivered a range of benefits for workers in various health and social services in the non-profit sector. Overall, there will be the equivalent of 3,716 new posts to help tackle high workloads. There will be a general 1.7% increase in wages but with some additional increases for those on the lowest pay rates and those will long service. In elderly care, the rehabilitation sector, psychiatric care homes and sheltered living initiatives, there will be a new pay structure from 1 July 2021, bringing pay rates in alignment

The European and global trade union confederations (ETUC and ITUC) have written to the Romanian government to protest against the decision not to implement a pay increase for public sector workers. The letter also challenges the government on anti-union statements and threats to remove the right of trade unions to collect membership fees through check-off. EPSU also wrote to the government along similar lines in January and followed up this letter in March – with no reply received so far to either letter.

The NSF nurses’ union has negotiated a new agreement with the NHO employers’ organisation that represents private sector providers. A key aim of the union has been to reduce the large differences between the conditions in NHO companies and conditions in other collective agreements. The NSF believes that the settlement for 2020 is a new step in the right direction. With effect from 1 October 2020 the new minimum wages for nurses is NOK 412000 (EUR 40500). There is a general increase of NOK 0.5 (EUR 0.05) an hour for everyone from 1 May 2020 and there will be local negotiations conducted in

PCS, the largest union in the civil service, has negotiated a three-year deal covering workers in the HMRC department (revenues and customs), the third largest section of the civil service with around 60000 workers. The deal includes an average 13% increase in pay over three years: with 3% paid in March 2021 and backdated to June 2020; a further 5% payable from June 2021; and a further 5% payable from June 2022. The pay award is significantly weighted towards providing major increases for the lowest paid. The agreement also allows for significant progression through the various pay ranges for

Members of the ver.di services union employed by the Red Cross have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a pay settlement agreed after arbitration. Workers will get a 1.5% increase as of 1 April 2021 with a minimum guarantee of EUR 50 per month. The increase in April 2022 will be 1.9% and trainees will get increases of EUR 40 in each year. Workers will also get a COVID bonus depending on their pay level – this ranges from EUR 225 to EUR 600. The agreement includes increases in allowances such as shift pay and measures for specific workers including paramedics, nurses and day-centre staff

Services union ver.di and the BVAP social care employers’ organisation have signed a collective agreement for the first time covering eldercare. The agreement will set minimum standards for the sector with a 25% increase over three years taking minimum pay for trained nurses to EUR 3180 a month. There will be minimum pay rates for nursing assistants, those with one year’s training and qualified nurses beginning at EUR 12.30, EUR 13.10 and EUR 16.10 an hour respectively from 1 August 2021. This will then rise in three further stages on 1 January 2022, 1 January 2023 and 1 June 2023 to reach EUR

Public sector workers will be covered by two new three-year agreements running from 1 April to the end of March 2024. The agreements covering municipal and state sector workers both have an overall value of 6.75% of the pay bill over the three years but the amounts are distributed differently. In the municipal agreement there will be a 5.02% general increase but there will be additional amounts allocated to address low pay, equal pay, recruitment and organisational issues, taking the overall increase to 5.94%. In the state sector there will be a 4.42% pay rise over the three years, with

Staff working in medical general practices are set to get a 2% pay increase in a new agreement negotiated by the FNV and other trade unions. There will also be a structural 0.5% addition to the end-of-year bonus and a one-off increase of the same amount. There has also been an agreement on a homeworking allowance but no other significant provisions as the focus was on pay and for a short agreement (12 months to 31 December 2021), taking account of the difficult circumstances created by the pandemic. Meanwhile, central government workers are yet to get a pay offer from the employers who have

The Kommunal municipal workers’ union has negotiated a collective agreement with the Visita employers’ organisation representing companies in the hospitality sector. The agreement runs from 1 January 2021 to 31 August 2023 and provides for a salary increase of SEK 1303 (EUR 130) paid in two instalments in April 2021 and September 2022. This will mean a 6% increase on the monthly minimum wage for professional workers from SEK 21587 (EUR 2150) to SEK 22880 (EUR 2280). Additional allowances will be increased by 5.4% over the course of the agreement.