21 epsucob@NEWS October 2009
Union calls for public-sector wide strike action
Members of the IMPACT public services union have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in response to the government’s latest proposals for cuts in public sector workers’ pay. The union will call on other public sector unions to join a 24-hour stoppage on 24 November. Six unions have joined together in an alliance of public sector workers delivering frontline services. The general union SIPTU along with unions representing nurses, firefighters, police (Garda) officers and prison officer have set up the 24/7 Frontline Service Alliance and they will all be balloting their members on
Unions call strike in waste sector
The three main unions – CGIL, CISL and UIL – have called for strike action in the waste sector on 20 November in response to government plans for the sector which will lead to privatisation or some form of public private partnership with at least a 40% share going to the private sector. The implications are that there will be very few services that will continue to be run by in-house providers. Apart from the likely impact on pay and conditions, the unions are worried about the effect of the reforms on environmental policies and the quality of service. [Read more at > FP CGIL (IT)->http://www
State sector union protests over threat to jobs
The state sector union Pardia interrupted its general assembly meeting on 21 October to protest outside parliament over planned government budget cuts, which the union believes may lead to temporary lay-offs and job losses. Pardia is concerned about the implications of the cuts for the development of the state sector and the quality of services. In a survey of members, the union found nearly one in three thinks that their job is under threat. [Read more at > Pardia (EN)-> http://www.pardia.fi/in_english/?x126=1133193] [And about the survey at > Pardia (EN)->http://www.pardia.fi/in_english/
Annual collective bargaining conference 3-4 December
EPSU’s seventh annual collective bargaining conference takes place in Brussels on 3-4 December. Key debates will cover the economic crisis, decent work, precarious employment, lifelong learning and women and the crisis. The conference is organised with financial support from the European Commission which will help contribute towards the travel and accommodation costs of some participants. Interpretation will be provided to and from English, French, German, Czech, Swedish, Italian, Romanian and Russian. It will also be possible to speak (but not listen to) Danish, Norwegian, Spanish and
Unions highlight benefits of collective bargaining
Several EPSU affiliates - SKTF (local government), ST (civil servants) Vårdförbundet (health), Försvarsförbundet (defence staff) – are joining with other unions in the TCO white-collar confederation to highlight the benefits to workers of collective agreements. The unions believe that while many young people understand the need for strong trade unions they are not fully aware of the role unions play in delivering collective agreements that provide decent pay and pensions as well as other benefits like good maternity leave. The unions are running information campaigns on their websites as well
Union launches consultation in lead up to public sector negotiations
The energy section of the ver.di services union has begun consulting members over forthcoming pay negotiations over the public sector agreement covering municipal utility companies (TV-V). The union warns that bargaining is likely to be tough in the current economic climate with local authorities pleading poverty. However, the union believes that it is important to secure real increases in pay to help maintain consumer spending in response to the crisis and it lists recent bargaining results in the energy sector and wider economy to support its argument. [Read more at > ver.di (DE)->https:/
Waste contractor sacks striking employees
The waste contractor HCS has sacked 50 refuse collectors after losing a number of its municipal contracts in the Copenhagen area. The workers had been on strike for three weeks over their working conditions. Despite being sacked they have been continuing their action against the company, picketing the HCS waste disposal units in Glostrup and on the island of Amager. Union activist Ronni Larsen was arrested on one of the latest demonstrations. The refuse collectors had discovered that they were working under much worse conditions than employees working on other contracts in the area. The Health
Crucial meeting over collective agreement for ambulance workers
Tuesday 27 October is a key day for the future of the ambulance service with the final negotiating round over the collective agreement to cover the reorganised service. The unions have been talking with employers for some time over the agreement and assurances that workers will not lose out in the reorganisation. They will be mobilising members to demonstrate outside the meeting. There is now a prospect that employers will not sign up to the new agreement as they are unhappy about the costs involved and the unions are also concerned that there is an increased prospect of privatision. [Read
Call for better pay and conditions for childcare workers
The VIDA and GPA-DJP trade unions have called for private childcare providers to be covered by the BAGS health and social service sectoral agreement. At the moment employees are not covered by a collective agreement and the unions argue that they have faced a significant increase in the demands made upon them but there has been no attempt to re-evaluate their jobs and negotiate an appropriate increase in pay levels. The unions also want to see a federal law to regulate conditions and minimum standards for childcare provision. [Read more at > VIDA (DE)->http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer
Power station workers take strike action
Workers at the Lucy power station in the Bourgogne region began strike action on 21 October in protest at company plans for closure of part of the site and further restructuring. The coal-fired plant is owned by the SNET company which was recently taken over by German energy multinational EON. The CGT union argues that the company has failed to abide by agreements about maintaining the site, has plans for further jobs cuts after closing one part of the site in 2013 and has failed to negotiate a proper mobility agreement. Read more at > CGT SNET (FR)
Unions aim to secure best deal for redundant National Grid workers
The three main unions in the National Grid energy company – Unite, UNISON and GMB – have conceded that the planned closure of the company’s Newcastle site will go ahead in 2010 with many of the jobs being moved to India. The unions ran a joint campaign focusing on the massive profits being made by the company but they are now shifting their focus to negotiating the best severance packages for their members. Read more at > GMB (EN)
Union proposes co-ordinated approach to tackle gender pay gap
The Fagforbundet municipal union is calling for public sector unions to co-ordinate their pay claims next year with special negotiations over how to deal with pay inequality. Average pay in the public sector, where 70% of workers are women, is lower than in the private sector where 70% of the workers are men. The specially convened pay commission argued that around 3 billion kronor was needed to close the gender pay gap and Fagforbundet wants to see the unions get together following the main public sector negotiations next spring to work out how to deal with the issue. The union refers to the
Co-ordinated action helps reduce gender pay gap
The latest wage report from the LO confederation concludes that a co-ordination of policies by its affiliates has delivered higher pay increases for women workers and a closing of the gender pay gap. However, on average among blue-collar workers men earn SEK 2,900 (€285) a month more than women. The report also notes that the average pay of blue-collar workers has increased at a much lower rate than white-collar workers over the last 10 years which means that the gap between the two has risen from 36% to 44%. [Read more at > LO (EN)->http://www.lo.se/home/lo/home.nsf/unidView
Municipalities face recruitment crisis
Half of all municipal cleaners are due to retire in the next 10 years and local government will face a recruitment crisis across a range of other occupations. Overall around a third of municipal employees are set to retire in the next decade and the JHL union has called on employers to address the issue by making employment in the sector more attractive. However, the union says that employers have failed to act quickly enough and are now talking about restricting spending rather than using the recession to up recruitment. [Read more at > Trade Union News (EN)->http://www.artto.kaapeli.fi
Refuse collectors take strike action
Workers in the waste collection service in Leiden took strike action on 21 October in protest at plans to privatise the service. The workers are hoping that privatisation will be postponed and that the union will be able to negotiate changes and improvements to the service. Further strikes may follow if the municipality goes a head with the privatisation. Read more at > Abvakabo (NL)
Unions submit local government pay claim
The three main local government unions, UNISON, GMB and Unite, have submitted their pay claim for 2010. They are calling for a 2.5% pay increase with a minimum increase of £500. The unions believe that this is modest but realistic claim and that local authority finances can cope with the rise. Read more at > UNISON (EN)