Culture, Early Childhood Education and Care, Spain, Hungary

Members of the CCOO trade union in early years education have taken three days of strike action with a fourth planned for 15 November. They also came from all regions of Spain to join a national demonstration in Madrid on 2 November as part of their campaign to secure improvements to pay and secure real progress after over two years of negotiations with private sector employers. The union wants action to address precarious employment conditions and has had to resort to industrial action to put pressure on the employers to negotiate on the issue. The union argues that pay and working conditions

The FSC-CCOO public services federation organised a protest outside the General Directorate of Public Administration on 15 October in anticipation of a series of one-day strikes by theatre and museum staff. The dispute is over two issues. The first is the demand that museum security staff should be on the E2 pay grade and not the only group of workers stuck on the E1 grade. The second issue relates to access to technical jobs at the INAEM cultural agency and the failure to recognise certain training and qualification. FSC-CCOO argues that the INAEM should be fully integrated into the IV

The FSC-CCOO public services federation is organising a series of two-hour strikes in state museums and theatres in October and November. The union is protesting against the fact that workers in the sector are not properly covered by the collective agreement for the state sector. In particular, the union wants to ensure professional status for these workers and reduce the extent of temporary contracts. The strikes will begin on 25 October and will take place on 10 different dates up to 24 November with specific dates for different institutions.

The BDDSz childcare workers' union has launched a photo campaign to highlight the failure of many workplaces in the sector to provide appropriate workplace clothing for employees. The union points out that this is a legal duty and all the more important during the current COVID-19 pandemic. According to the union some 40% of institutions are failing to abide by the law, rising to 70% of those involved in child protection.

EPSU has sent letters to the prime minister and leaders of political groups in parliament protesting at legislation that will remove public service status from over 20000 workers in libraries, museums, archives, culture centres, theatres and orchestras. This is a group of workers that is mainly low paid and whose pay has been frozen for over 10 years. The additional employment protection of public service status is one of their few main benefits. The government is using its emergency to push through the change at breakneck speed without the usual parliamentary process or consultation with

The KKDSZ culture workers' union has launched a petition highlighting low pay in the sector and plans to hand it to the minister of human resources on 22 January, the national day of culture. The union will highlight the contradiction of government claims that national culture is important while failing to increase pay for museum, library and other culture workers for over 10 years or engage in proper collective bargaining. The union is planning a number of events in Budapest and other cities. EPSU send a message of solidarity.

The KKDSz culture workers' union and BDDSz childcare workers' union have been instrumental in getting the SZEF public sector confederation to launch a campaign on public service pay. The confederation is highlighting low pay and understaffing across the public services and the need for negotiations on long-term pay development in the public sector. It calls for action on corruption and the need for a redistribution of government spending to workers to ensure a fully staffed and professional public service delivering quality services.

(April 2017) The BDDSz childcare workers' trade union is supporting the ETUC's pay rise campaign. The union sees that many of the headline demands of the campaign - tackling low pay and the gender pay gap - fit with the union's priorities and it is encouraging members to show their support.