Procurement, Health
Strike threat blocks backdoor privatisation
A planned three-day strike by UNISON members at the Mid Yorkshire National Health Service (NHS) Hospitals Trust has been called off after the trust’s management lifted the threat of creating a wholly-owned subsidiary. In line with other NHS bodies around the country, the trust had intended to set up the company and transfer the contracts of cleaners, maintenance workers, IT and canteen staff to it. The subsidiary would have made it possible to put staff on non-NHS terms and conditions and to make it easier for it to be sold to a private company. UNISON is campaigning around the country to
EPSU challenges union rights violations by German subsidiary of French multinational ORPEA
The French multinational company ORPEA specialising in elderly care, psychiatry, rehabilitation, home care and other assistance to dependent people is massively violating trade union rights of workers in the clinics of Celenus, one of its subsidiaries in Germany.
Hospitals refuse to negotiate on reducing workloads
Health services union ver.di is considering all-out strike action following the refusal of management at the Düsseldorf and Essen university hospitals to negotiate an agreement to tackle excessive workloads (see two previous editions of epsucob@NEWS). The union had been discussing various measures to tackle staff shortages and overwork and it had welcomed an initiative by the employers to take on 100 extra staff. Further talks were expected but then to ver.di's surprise on 14 August the employers announced that they wouldn't be seeking to negotiate an agreement. Ver.di will continue to press
Spanish auditors are latest to challenge privatisation
The official auditing body, the Cámara de Cuentas, has challenged the privatisation of hospitals in the Madrid region, arguing that there has been no evidence provided for any increase in efficiency or improvements in healthcare arising from the privatisation.
Union confederation raises key issues with finance minister
The ADEDY public service confederation and health workers' union managed to secure a meeting with the Minister of Finance earlier this month and a commitment to further meetings. However, on one of the main issues of the meeting - extending the allowance for dangerous work to all sectors - the Minister didn't agree and suggested that some workers might see cuts in order to make the allowance available to others. In response to calls to increase the number of permanent staff and reduce flexible contracts the Minister acknowledged the problem of underfunding, particular in healthcare, and
Survey contrasts workers' views in care and construction sectors
Municipal workers' union Kommunal is highlighting a new report that contrasts workers' views of pay and conditions in the female-dominated care sector with those of workers in the male-dominated construction sector. In a wide range of assessments the views of care workers are much more negative than their counterparts in construction. While more than half of care workers have thought about changing jobs this applies to only 38% in construction while only 33% think that staffing levels are adequate in the care sector compared to 60% in construction. Half of care workers wouldn't recommend their
Better pay and working conditions for maternity workers
A new collective agreement covering 9000 maternity nurses has been agreed by the FNV and NU'91 unions with a 5.75% pay rise over two years along with 10% increases for those in their first and second years in order to make the sector more attractive to young workers. Pay will be increased in four stages: 1% (backdated to April 2018); 1.5% (October 2018); 1.5% (January 2019) and 1.75% (May 2019). There will also be an end to 24-hour on-call shifts and other measures are foreseen to reduce workloads and improve work-life balance. A committee will be set up to monitor compliance with the
Union sets out priorities in meeting with minister
The FP-CGIL trade union federation has met with public administration minister Giulia Bongiorno to set out four urgent priorities for action. These involve tackling precarious employment, increasing employment, negotiating the next collective agreement that will cover the years 2019-2021 and ensuring increased investment in staff training. The union argues that it is not enough to simply end the freeze on recruitment as more needs to be done to boost employment or run the risk of a further decline in the quality of services. FP-CGIL also wants a limit on health spending lifted to allow for
Strikes resume over workloads
Workers at university hospitals in Düsseldorf and Essen, members of the ver.di services union, have resumed their campaign of strike action over workloads. As reported in last month's epsucob@NEWS the union had decided to suspend strike action to allow further negotiations to take place with the employers. However, after four rounds of negotiations the employers failed to come up with any effective proposals to provide extra staff in wards, operating theatres or intensive care and so ver.di decided to lift the suspension of strike action.
Committee of the Regions stresses role of public procurement in quality administration
In a recent opinion, the Committee of the Regions supports the view that effective governance of public procurement is an integral part of the quality of public administration across the European Union.
Health workers in series of actions over pay and workloads
University Medical Centre (UMC) workers across the country have been taking action to highlight their concerns about workloads and to put pressure on the employers to restart negotiations that have been stalled since the end of May. Members of the FNV and NU'91 trade unions have been involved in short work stoppages, demonstrations and working to rule in Groningen, Utrecht, Maastricht, Leiden and other cities. The unions are calling for a decent pay rise, urgent action to reduce excessive workloads and to recruit more young workers. The UMC collective agreement covers around 60000 workers.
Unions respond to attack on fringe benefits
EPSU has sent a solidarity message to Hungarian affiliates who are fighting against their government's new proposal to reform the taxation of certain fringe benefits. The KKDSZ, BDDSZ and HVDSZ2000 trade unions held a press conference in front of the Parliament earlier this month in protest. The reform of the taxation of fringe benefits such as luncheon vouchers would make it more costly for employers to provide these to their workers. This could result in an effective cut in income for many, with a particular impact on the low paid for whom the vouchers are very important.
Strikers take to the roof to win their dispute
After strike action launched on 18 June, with seven strikers having spent 16 days on the roof, health workers at the Pierre Janet psychiatric hospital in Le Havre in northern France are celebrating victory. The dispute was not just about working conditions but also the state of the facilities for welcoming patients. The agreement negotiated to end the dispute involves a commitment to create 34 new jobs with some allocated to mobile services and others to provide better cover for night shifts as well as psychiatric emergencies. There are improvements to working conditions and works will be
Strike pressure gets employers to negotiating table
Strike action by workers at university hospitals in Essen and Düsseldorf in western Germany has helped push employers to the negotiating table to discuss measures to reduce workloads - a longstanding issue that the trade union ver.di is trying to address across the health and social services sectors. The union and the TdL employer organisation have finally agreed on the key points for the negotiations. These include measures to reduce the pressure on staff, future procedures to address staffing requirements and what to do when there is not enough staff, immediate measures to reduce workloads