Remunicipalisation, COVID-19
Bringing services back in-house
EPSU has consistently argued in favour of direct provision of public services to guarantee the quality of services and the quality of employment for workers delivering those services. Under the heading of remunicipalisation EPSU supports and promotes any initiatives to bring services back in-house where they have been privatised along with moves to have new services run by municipalities and other public authorities. EPSU is part of a network, coordinated by the Transnational Institute that has published research highlighting recent trends in remunicipalisation and insourcing.
Unions secures reversal of plan to suspend allowances
The SSM trade union federation has successfully negotiated a reversal of government plans to suspend the payment of allowances to public service workers during April and May. The plan was part of COVID-19 emergency measures and would have applied to a wide range of payments related to length of service, night work, annual and other leave, retirement and severance. The federation welcomed the change, underlining how social dialogue can work even in emergency situations.
Unions criticise two decrees on health workers
Trade unions have strongly criticised the health minister for publishing two Royal decrees affecting health workers. The first would allow non-nursing staff to carry out some nursing duties. Unions say there are no details on how this would work in practice. The second provides powers to requisition health staff to work. The unions argue that this comes at a time when the infection rate is beginning to fall but more importantly was not even needed at the height of the crisis when health workers were doing all they could do fight the pandemic. The unions say that the decrees have been imposed
Care workers to get £500 bonus
The Welsh government has said that all care workers will get a £500 (EUR 570) bonus in recognition of the work they have been doing during the COVID-19 crisis. Trade unions have welcomed the payment which will go to all carers whether employed by local authorities, non-profit providers or private companies. Meanwhile, local government employers have said that a 2.75% pay rise is their final offer but that they will approach central government for more funding for next year. The largest local government union, UNISON, wants a joint approach to central government and will only consult members on
Unions call for wider payment of COVID-19 bonuses
The OSZSP health union and doctors' union have called on the minister of health to ensure that bonus payments for working with COVID-19 patients are paid to all relevant staff across the health and social care sectors. The payments were agreed and confirmed by the minister of labour but the health minister has only contacted directly-managed teaching hospitals and a small number of other facilities to pay the allowance which ranges from 100 (3,70 EUR) to 500 (18,50 EUR) and up to 1500 CZK (EUR 55,30) an hour. The unions underline that all staff on the frontline should benefit whether
Unions call for national rules for childcare
The vida and GPA-djp private services unions have called on the government to take a national approach to regulations on childcare as institutions try to get to grips with rules on safety that vary across the country. The unions are concerned that proper measures are in place to protect workers and children but they have had reports of regional authorities applying different rules on face masks as well as recommending different staff:children ratios. In the meantime, the two unions are also pushing for a new collective agreement covering around 15000 health and care staff at the non-profit
Confederations criticise failure to support health staff
The three main trade union confederations - CGIL, CSIL and UIL - have criticised the government for failing to deliver on the additional resources and support needed for health workers as the country prepares to ease lockdown measures. The unions argue that key provisions in the "Care Italy" act have not been implemented leaving health workers still working long shifts, trying to cope with inadequate hospital capacity and all of this without adequate equipment or proper safety protocols - problems that have persisted for three months. The confederations also raise concerns about the pay and
Union refers agency to ombudsman over COVID-19 failures
Kommunal, the municipal workers' union, has referred the Work Environment Authority to the parliamentary ombudsman over failures in the way it has dealt with COVID-19. The union considers that the Authority which is responsible for reducing workplace risks and improving the work environment, has failed to properly address issues concerning recommendations on the level provision of personal protective equipment, consulting only with the SKR municipal employers' organisation and not listening to the views of Kommunal or other trade unions. Kommunal also believes that the Authority breached its
Federations call for action on staffing and pay in the elder care sector
The Sanidad-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations have called for a range of actions in the elder care sector in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Both federations were already campaigning to secure better pay and conditions for the workforce, 90% of which are women. They both argue that the impact of the pandemic has further exposed the fundamental problems of low pay, inadequate staffing, stress, excessive workloads. These have been compounded by the lack of personal protective equipment and inadequate testing which have exposed both workers and service users to the virus. Key union
EPSU represents social service workers in a high level exchange on the impacts of COVID-19
On Wednesday, 29 April, Jan-Willem Goudriaan was invited to represent EPSU in a high level exchange with European Commissioners Nicolas Schmit, Stella Kyriakides, Dubravka Šuica and Helena Dalli.