Water, Health, Spain

(August 2016) The public sector federations of the CCOO and UGT confederations have set out some key collective bargaining demands. The CCOO federations put their proposals to the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration at the end of July calling for a re-establishment of collective bargaining, creation of 356000 jobs and an end to restrictions on recruitment. They also want to see a recovery of purchasing power for public sector workers, a return to the 35-hour week and recuperation of other cuts to pay and conditions made since 2010. The FeSP-UGT federation demands include a 3% pay

(September 2016) The FeSP-UGT public services federation has called on the interim government to open negotiations with trade unions to ensure that the law setting out the budget for 2017 includes provisions for increased employment and a pay rise for public sector workers. The federation says that urgent action is needed to fill vacancies, take on temporary staff on permament contracts and reinstate the 170000 jobs cut since 2011. It is also arguing for a 3% pay increase in line with overall economic growth. Read more at FeSP-UGT (ES).

(September 2016) The European Court of Justice has issed an important ruling against the use of repeated temporary contracts where it is evident that there is a need for permanent employment. The case involved a nurse at the University Hospital of Madrid whose fixed-term contract was renewed seven times between 2009 and 2013. In response to the case public sector trade union federations in Spain are calling for immediate negotiations with the government to tackle the widespread problem of precarious work.

(October 2016) Four union organisations - CCOO, UGT, FSES and CSI-F - are calling for changes in the framework statute covering public sector workers to take account of the recent European Court of Justice ruling on temporary contracts (see last issue of epsucob@NEWS). The ruling related to staff in the health sector in particular and unions want to see changes that ensure that structural staffing needs are covered by permanent jobs and an end to the replacement rates that have reduced employee numbers in recent years.

(October 2016) Unions want an end to restrictions on recruitment in the health service and a review of the staffing needs of the service in the light of population change and ageing. The imposition of replacement rates in 2010 led to falling staff numbers and an increase in the use of fixed term contracts to around 35% of all workersin the health service. Following the court ruling (see epsucob@NEWS 13) on temporary contracts unions want to negotiate measures to deal with precarious employment.

(December 2016) A report published by the CCOO confederation details the extent to which the use of temporary contracts has increased in the public health service. With temporary jobs making up 31.6% of all jobs in the sector, this is higher than the national average and higher then the private health sector or other parts of the public sector. The report also highlights two further problems. Many temporary workers are on repeat contracts, with some 12000 on 12 contracts a year. The other problem is the length of time on temporary contracts with some workers having spent 10 years on fixed-term

(January 2017) The health federations of the CCOO and UGT unions are calling on the government to provide permanent contracts to thousands of temporary workers and fill vacant posts across the health service. These are among several demands that the unions want to negotiate with the health minister over the coming year along with ending the replacement rate that prevents all vacancies being filled and returning to the 35-hour week.

(April 2017) Public sector trade union federations have signed an historic agreement with the government that will see a massive reduction in precarious employment across the public sector. The deal means that over 300000 workers currently on some form of fixed-term employment will have the chance to move onto a permanent contract over the next three years. This is the result of the first major negotiations with the government since 2010. The unions underlined that they are still looking for an agreement on pay increases over the coming years that will compensate for the 15% loss of purchasing

A new report from the health federation of the CCOO confederation covering the period 2012-2016 confirms the union's concerns over a widening gender pay and employment gap in the health sector. The report finds that women tend to have more precarious contracts with many on temporary contracts while they make up the vast majority of part-time workers and both of these contribute to the persistent gender pay gap. The union wants to see equality plans produced in any health institutions that don't yet have them and existing plans updated. Along with the CCOO, the UGT trade union has called on the

The FeSP-UGT and CCOO federations in the public sector have come together to launch a campaign to get the government to negotiate over employment in the public sector and to adjust the budget for 2018 to begin to tackle the staffing crisis. The unions point out that not only have 350000 public sector jobs been cut since 2010 but the problem is being compounded by an ageing workforce. In social security, for example, around 48% of staff are set to retire over the next 10 years. The unions also want to ensure implementation of the agreement signed earlier this year to reduce the number of

The public service federations of the CCOO and UGT confederations organised a joint mobilisation of public administration workers on 29 November as part of their campaign for increased pay, more jobs and a return of rights lost during austerity. This followed a public-sector wide demonstration on 24 November with plans for further action on 14 December. The unions argue that services are under threat as 14% of jobs have been cut and reduced recruitment has created an ageing workforce where half are over 50. Since the 5% pay cut in 2010 there has been only a single pay increase of 1% while

Around 10000 workers joined a demonstration in Madrid on 14 December called by the CCOO and UGT trade unions as part of their campaign to win back rights for the three million public sector workers who have been hit by austerity measures. Public services have been hit by job cuts while workers have seen their hours increased and pay fall by 13% in real terms since 2010. EPSU president Isolde Kunkel-Weber joined the march and expressed solidarity on behalf of EPSU.