Union Rights, Staffing levels, Europe

Labour movement lobbying helped secure a platform work directive that should provide new rights for millions of workers across Europe. The ETUC and EPSU welcomed the outcome of lengthy negotiations and in particular the inclusion of the presumption of employment in the legislation. This means that Instead of individuals going through lengthy court action to prove they are workers, it will be up to the platforms to prove they are not employees. The directive also recognises the role of trade unions in all aspects of the platform economy, including on issues such as algorithm management. Workers

The ETUCLEX newsletter, produced by the ETUC’s legal team, provides a regular update on key legal developments across Europe and in the latest issue includes reports on the right to strike. In a long-running case involving the right to strike of civil servants in Germany, the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that disciplinary action taken against teachers who took industrial action in 2009 and 2010 did not involve a breach of their human right to freedom of association. The Court found that the particular circumstances of civil servants in Germany in relation to their pay and

Millions of workers across Europe could benefit from new rights, says the ETUC, if the latest version of the platform directive is backed by member state governments. The text is still being negotiated by the European Parliament, Council and Commission but could deliver important improvements, including a reversal of the burden of proof so that platforms would have to prove that there is no employment relationship. It also will require inspections in the workplace following any reclassification of a worker to assess the situation of their co-workers; transparency over the algorithms that set

The Eurofound research agency has published a policy brief which underlines the need to tackle poor job quality among a range of essential occupations, including in the health and care, food systems, cleaning and refuse, transport and protective services sectors, along with manual workers in general. The report argues that these workers’ health and well-being were at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be post-pandemic contributing to the labour shortages that persist in these sectors. The policy brief says that critical occupations facing staff shortages, such as jobs in health

The European Confederation of Trade Unions (ETUC) is calling on employers to offer better-paid jobs to end damaging labour shortages across Europe. An analysis of job vacancy rates and wages in 22 EU countries by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) reveals that industries with the worst labour shortages pay 9% less on average than sectors where it’s easier to recruit. The ETUC argues that lack of skills is often seen as the main problem, but the new analysis suggests that low pay is one of the main drivers of labour shortages. The ETUI research found that across the EU, the industries

The debate over a shorter working week continues next month with a hybrid conference on 20-21 October – “A 4-day week in Europe: how to get real working time reduction”. Organised by the European Network for the Fair Sharing of Working Time, the conference will cover practical examples of working time reduction in both public and private sectors, including the major move to a shorter working week in Iceland. There will also be contributions from trade unionists from Switzerland and France. Another conference supported by the European Trade Union Institute will focus on the impact of labour

Factsheets on the right to strike in public services in 48 countries are available on the EPSU website, with most updated during 2021. The initiative began in 2019 with the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) coordinating the research and writing of 35 factsheets, all of which have now been updated. EPSU has separately commissioned a further 13 factsheets on countries outside the ETUI’s remit. Each factsheet sets out the main rules on who has the right to call a strike; the definition of a strike; who may participate in a strike; procedural requirements and the legal consequences of

EPSU, along with the trade union federations representing police and military personnel – EuroCOP and EUROMIL, is organising a conference on trade union rights in Skopje in North Macedonia on 22 September. The conference is the final event of a two-year, European Commission funded project that has been investigating the challenges facing public service unions in defending and strengthening their rights to organise, negotiate and take collective action. The conference will include speakers from the ETUC, Council of Europe and European Commission and the presentation of research carried out

Members of the SUEPO trade union at the European Patent Office (EPO) have voted for industrial action, including a “work to rule”, “go slow” and a strike on 22 March. The union is calling for the restoration of fundamental rights at the EPO and the suspension or reversal of major reforms that have been detrimental to working conditions and wellbeing of staff. There have been longstanding problems with asserting trade union rights at the EPO with a former director intervening in the trade union’s internal affairs and blocking the right to strike. The International Labour Organisation has ruled

The latest edition of the ETUCLEX newsletter has just been published with news on labour reforms in Spain and a key legal case about trade union representation on company supervisory boards among others. ETUCLEX is the human rights, legal and strategic litigation network of the European Trade Union Confederation and its affiliates and last year established a website and database that provides information on legal developments at European and national level. By signing up affiliates can benefit from and contribute to the early identification of and communication on important pending cases

On 14-15 September the first regional seminar of a two-year project on trade union rights took place with participants from across the Mediterranean region. The project is being run jointly by EPSU and the European federations representing police (EuroCOP) and military personnel (EUROMIL). There were contributions from experts from the ETUC and International Labour Organisation and an exchange on the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive which includes an article providing member states with the possibility of excluding a large group of public service workers from its

The 2019 Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive introduces a range of new or enhanced rights for millions of workers across Europe. Member States have until August 2022 to transpose the Directive into national legislation and the European Commission has just published its expert group report. This is not binding but covers the points raised in the group by representatives of national governments and other experts. The main issue for EPSU is the provision that gives member states the possibility to exclude certain public service workers from Chapter III of the directive which

Forty-eight countries are now covered in EPSU’s library of factsheets on the right to strike. Information on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was recently added to the EPSU website. Each factsheet sets out the main legal provisions covering strike action, including who can call a strike, procedural requirements and any limitations on the right to take action. There is also a section on international case law. The factsheets were launched jointly with the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) in 2019 with the ETUI coordinating production of factsheets on 34

A new report from the Eurofound research agency analyses the extent of labour shortages across Europe and some of the measures being taken to address them. One of the main sectors of interest is health and social care and the report highlights the risks posed by such shortages to the viability of high-quality care provision. These were seen as particularly acute in Germany and in the Nordic countries, where shortages of skilled staff have led to long waiting times for patients. They also mean high workloads for professionals, ultimately contributing to higher turnover rates and reducing the

On 25-26 May EPSU, along with the European trade union federations for police (EuroCOP) and military personnel (EUROMIL), organised a conference to launch a new project on trade union rights. The project will explore the extent to which public service trade unions face limitations or bans on their rights to organise, negotiate and take industrial action. The project will also focus on transposition of the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive which includes an article allowing governments to exclude certain groups of public service workers from parts of the directive. Over