Health
Pay deal will help reduce gender pay gap
(May 2016) Municipal workers' union, Kommunal, has negotiated a new three-year agreement covering the welfare sector that includes a real pay increase for all but a higher pay increase for skilled nurses. This is a key part of the union's strategy to tackle the gender pay gap. In 2016 the basic pay increase will be SEK 520 (EUR 56) while nurses will get SEK 2010 (EUR 110). The agreement also includes provisions to ensure that full-time employment is the norm in the sector. Read more at Kommunal (SV)
Agreement finally ends four-year dispute at hospital
(May 2016) Member of the ver.di union at the Charité hospital group in Berlin have voted overwhelmingly to accept a collective agreement with important provisions on jobs, staff levels and health and safety. A joint committee will monitor implementation of the agreement.The agreement will cover 14000 employees and ver.di hopes it will be a model for the sector where the union is campaigning for legal rules on minimum staffing levels. Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Rehabiliation company pulls out of collective agreement
(June 2016) Members of the services union ver.di working for the Median rehabilitation clinic in Berlin took strike action on 17 June as part of the union's campaign to defend collective bargaining. Median is the largest private provider of rehabilitation services with 13000 employees in 78 facilities across the country. The company announced it would no longer negotiate a collective agreement and would look to local arrangements with works councils or individual employees. Ver.di has strongly attacked the company, owned since 2014 by the Dutch investment fund Waterland, for aiming to maximise
Pay deal for spa and rehabilitation workers
(June 2016) The vida and GPA-djp service unions have negotiated a new collective agreement with private employers in the spa and rehabilitation sector and includes a 1.3% pay increase from 1 July with a backdated lump sum of EUR 220 to cover the period October 2015 to June 2016. The agreement runs until the end of 2017 and includes a further pay increase on 1 January 2017 that will be based on the average inflation rate between October 2015 and November 2016. The trade unions and employers emphasised the importance of an effective social dialogue in delivering results for both employees and
Ambulance staff back industrial action
(July 2016) Ambulance workers, members of the SIPTU union, have overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action. The union reports that its members have been through significant restructuring in recent years, without any recognition of this by management. The large majority in favour of action is in response of the failure of management to engage in negotations over implementation of an intermediate care service and an annualised hours system. Read more at SIPTU.
We reject attempts to organise European standardisation of health and social care
(6 July 2016) EPSU, ETUC and the European organisations of hospital associations (HOPE), doctors (CPME) and dentists (CED) are warning against European initiatives to standardise medical treatments, other healthcare services
Library and clinic staff in massive votes for action
(July 2016) In separate votes, 87% of library staff and 93% of staff at the Centre Remedial Clinic (CRC) in Dublin have voted for industrial action. The CRC dispute is over plans to close the pension scheme while library workers in 13 local authority areas are concerned about the implications of plans to amalgamate services. The library restructuring decision has been taken without proper consultation with the union over the impact on staff. The CRC pension schemes was closed without consultation and with management refusing to provide the union with information. Read more on the library