Solidarity, Staffing levels, Europe

(August 2016) The IPSO trade union that organises workers at the European Central Bank (ECB) organised a demonstration on 14 July in support of negotiations over the status of 200-250 temporary staff currently worked for the ECB. The union is calling for temporary staff, many of whom have worked for the Bank for several years, to be offered permament contracts. The fear is that changes to German law on temporary agency work will lead to the ECB dismissing many agency staff. EPSU sent a solidarity message that was read out to the 120 workers who joined the demonstration. Read more at IPSO (EN)

A new study of the impact of the pandemic in social care in eight countries reveals the problems faced by social care workers and the extent to which trade union action has helped to address issues around personal protective equipment (PPE), sick pay, working time and understaffing. There has been a shortage of PPE in all countries, but it was only in Sweden that a trade union had to take legal action for its members' right to use personal protective equipment. Increased overtime was a challenge in all countries but with split shifts being a particular problem in Sweden. The pandemic exposed

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

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

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 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