Local government

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

The three main unions representing municipal workers – Unison, Unite and GMB – have put in a pay claim for an increase of at least 10% from this April. They say this will begin to redress a decade of cuts and recognise the key role ​played in the pandemic ​by school and council staff. The negotiations cover staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the claim aims to bring the lowest paid workers above £10 (EUR 11.50) per hour. This would put them above the ​real “​living ​wage” of £9.50 (EUR 10.90) per hour (outside London). The unions calculate that staff working in local government

After many years of campaigning by public service unions, the government finally included provisions in the 2021 budget to ensure that public employers could pay an allowance for work that is arduous, risky or poses a threat to health. However, any decision on paying the allowance is left to local level and so unions are approaching local authorities to negotiate over the allowance. The STAL local government union is currently focusing its efforts in the Portalegre district in the east of the country where several parish councils and a municipality have already agreed on the payment. STAL is

After four rounds of bargaining the FNV trade union is still waiting for a concrete offer from the employers in the negotiations covering University Medical Centres. The union has insisted that the offer should include a pay increase for all workers, improvements to the allowance for irregular work, an objective and transparent job evaluation scheme and measures related to pensions and workloads. The FNV is encouraging its members to continue their photo action highlighting the pressure that many workers have been under during the pandemic. Meanwhile, negotiations are also underway in central

Public sector trade union federations have written to the new minister for public services to initiate negotiations for a new agreement covering public sector workers. They argue that there is a range of new and long-standing issues that need to be addressed not least increasing the workforce, creating job stability and reducing the level of temporary employment. There are also the questions of recovering lost purchasing power, improving working conditions and career and professional classification. More and better training, implementing equality plans and occupational health are among the

Public service unions have raised major concerns about the SIADAP performance management system. They reject the use of quotas and call for changes to ensure that workers have a faster and more transparent process of career development. Some unions have launched a campaign and petition calling for a total renegotiation of the system that they argue is bureaucratic and subjective. Others are looking for swift changes to the system and an end to quotas but are angry that the government has stated it will maintain quotas despite having agreed to meet unions to negotiate over SIADAP.

Public sector unions are angry that the government has issued an emergency ordinance to block a pay increase and bonus payments that are due for implementation this year. The pay rise was part of a four-stage increase that was set out in legislation passed in 2017. Unions are particularly concerned about the impact on lower paid workers as some higher paid staff are already benefiting from pay rises. Protests have been organised across the country, including pickets of key ministries. EPSU sent a letter of protest to the president and prime minister and other key people.

The mobilisation of workers in the EGF waste company on 18 December, reported in the EPSU Collective Bargaining Newsletter last month, was followed up with a 48-hour strike on 28 and 29 December. The action is part of a campaign by the STAL trade union to secure an increase in pay, payment of a supplement for risky and arduous work and a collective agreement. Meanwhile, in the public sector the SINTAP trade union has welcomed the inclusion in the 2021 state budget of provisions to allow for arduous work payments for waste and other workers in local government. However, the government has left

The strike across public health and administration on 9 December has led to an important breakthrough with meetings between public service union federation leaders and ministers. The unions underlined the need for an emergency recruitment plan to improve service quality and address the problems created by a 15-year freeze on recruitment. The unions also want to see action to reduce precarious employment and to boost skills and training. Along with a strengthening of safety protocols the unions are also looking at negotiating pay improvements in new collective agreements.

Public service trade unions have negotiated a new two-year agreement which will now be considered by each union’s national executive and put out to ballot of all individual members. The national executive of the Fórsa trade union has already decided to recommend the agreement to its members. The two-year agreement will run from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022 and there will be a general pay increase of 1% or EUR 500, whichever is higher, in October of both years. In February 2022, an additional 1% will be available in sector bargaining funds. The agreement also provides for progress in

The FOA trade union, as part of a joint negotiating committee of public service unions, has submitted the main bargaining demands to employers in municipal and regional government with the focus on tackling low pay and pay inequality. The aim is for a flat rate pay increase that will be more beneficial to lower paid workers along with funding to reduce the pay inequalities suffered by occupations dominated by women. The unions also want to ensure a real pay increase that will protect purchasing power over the three years of the agreement that is set to run from 1 April 2021. Other demands

Support staff working in universities have rejected a proposed pay freeze while those working in colleges of further education have also rejected a 1% pay offer. University support staff point to the work they have been doing over the last nine months to maintain services and ensure safety and a dispute and industrial action are in prospect. Meanwhile further education staff say that their pay has fallen by 30% in real terms since 2009 and that there is a need to address a major pay disparity with the school sector.

Public service trade unions have reacted angrily over the government decision to freeze pay for millions of public sector workers, including municipal employees, care workers, civil servants and teachers. Health workers are excluded from the “pay pause” as the chancellor (finance minister) calls it and there will be a GBP 250 (EUR 278) increase for workers paid less than GBP 24000 (EUR 26730) a year. The unions have attacked the decision as a “divide and rule” tactic and argue that many public service workers have yet to see their pay levels recover in real terms after the last bout of

The Fp-Cgil, Cisl-FP, Uil-Fpl and Uil-Pa public service federations are mobilising for the national strike on 9 December. The unions say that years of recruitment freezes have created staff shortages and mean that public services need around 500000 extra workers. The unions are also calling for action to increase permanent employment with around 170000 workers on precarious contracts. Health and safety are also vital with unions wanting action on personal protective equipment, reduced workloads and measures to tackle harassment. Finally, the federations are calling for a renewal of the