2015 May epsucob@NEWS 07

Services union ver.di has welcomed the willingness of the VKA local government employers to resume negotiations over the revaluing of salaries for workers in social services. In the meantime workers in the sector have continued to mobilise with 50000 now on strike across the country and big demonstrations taking place in Frankfurt with 16000 people and Hamburg supported by 15000. [Read more at > ver.di (DE)->https://www.verdi.de/themen/nachrichten/++co++00bbf782-0547-11e5-a7bc-52540059119e] [And at > ver.di (DE)->http://www.verdi.de/themen/nachrichten/++co++7b1f06d6-054c-11e5-b5aa-5254008a33df

The European Commission has launched infringement procedures against the German government on the basis of its application of the new national minimum wage in the transport sector. The Commission claims that the application of German measures to transit and certain international transport operations can't be justified, "as it creates disproportionate administrative barriers which prevent the internal market from functioning properly." The European Transport Workers' Federation has argued that the minimum wage is an important national initiative against social dumping and challenged the

Health sector unions - FSP-UGT, FESS-CCOO and CSIF - have mounted a legal challenge to the Ministry of Health over its failure to engage in collective bargaining over key elements of working conditions. The Supreme Court has now accepted the legitimacy of the unions' appeal against a national court decision on their claim. The unions have questioned clinical management agreements and arrangements governing nursing staff and prescription drugs. The three unions have also been mobilising over the lack of collective bargaining over working conditions and the urgent need for more resources and

Following a mobilisation outside the offices of the Director General of Public Administration, unions have secured an agreement to a meeting before June 15 to discuss a range of issues and prepare to convene negotiations in the General State Administration. The priority for the unions is to stop the destructive cuts in public employment which is leading to a collapse in services to citizens. They also want to recoup the loss of bonuses and the cuts and freezes in salaries over recent years. [Read more at > FES-CCOO (ES)->http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/Inicio:849563--Exito_de_participacion_y

The public sector trade union federations - Fp-Cgil Cisl-Fp Uil-Fpl and Uil-Pa - have called on the government to lift its freeze on collective bargaining in the public sector in advance of a high court ruling expected on 23 June. There has been no collective bargaining for six years and so public sector workers have seen their pay frozen and eroded by inflation over that period which has had major implications for demand in the economy. The unions argue that what was initially presented as an emergency measures threatens to become something more permanent and they will be organising major

Following the protests on 11 April, the three main public service federations - Fp-Cgil, Cisl-Fp and Uil-Fpl - organised another day of action on 27 May in defence of provincial government workers' jobs, pay and conditions and the services they provide. The unions organised rallies, marches and flash mobs across the country raising awareness about the threats posed by the reorganisation of provincial government services and the need for a government commitment to protect services and jobs. [Read more at > Fp-Cgil (IT)->http://www.fpcgil.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/31376] [And

The FOA public services union has just signed a collective agreement with Bruger-Hjælper Formidlingen, the largest private care company in Denmark with 3200 employees. The union sees this as a milestone in the fight to avoid social dumping in welfare areas while the company believes the agreement will help it to bee seen as an attractive employer with proper wage and employment conditions and that provides high quality services. The agreement runs until 2017 and will be renegotiated in the winter of 2016-17. [Read more at > FOA (DK)->http://www.foa.dk/Forbund/Presse?newsid=5CECDF35-7EE7-47F3

Municipal services union, Kommunal, has published a new report that calls for a shift in the way care is provided from one based on an economic rationale to one more focused on care itself. A survey of union members found 61% saying that detailed planning had increased with just under half saying that their influence on planning care had decreased. Kommunal's report argues that a new model is possible that would have a holistic approach to the needs of the elderly and allow staff to make full use of their skills. The elderly should have greater influence over what help is given and how

FPU in constitutional process ENThe government has agreed to the proposal of the FPU trade union confederation to include trade union representatives in the Commission set up to discuss changes to the constitution. This will give unions a say in key elements of the constitution, particularly those based on conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The Ukraine has ratified 62 conventions and another 5-7 are being prepared for further ratification. The unions see this as especially important in the context of the ILO Convention No. 81 on Labour Inspection. Also important is

The vida services union has a negotiated a collective agreement covering doctors employed by Viennese religious, non-profit hospitals. It sees this as a real milestone from the trade union point of view, filling an important gap in the collective bargaining landscape. The agreement provides, for the first time a transparent pay structure and framework of other employment conditions where there had been widely differing pay and conditions across the eight individual hospitals in the organisation. The arrangements are also comparable to those in the public sector. [Read more at > vida (DE)->http

Unions organising in the mental health sector have negotiated a new collective agreement which will be put to a membership vote for approval. There will be pay increases of 1.75% on 1 July 2015 and 1.25% on 1 July 2016. There will also be a 0.5% increase in the annual bonus in December 2016 and a lump sum payment of 0.5% of salary on 1 December 2015, followed by a further payment of 0.3% of salary in December 2016. The agreement includes conversion of temporary and zero-hour contracts to permanent jobs. The agreement will take effect on July 1, 2015 and runs until 1 March 2017. [Read more at >

Thousands of health workers joined the demonstration in Paris on 21 May called by seven unions - CGT, Sud, FO, CFDT, Unsa, CFTC, CGC - that organise workers at the AP-HP public hospitals in the Paris region. They were also joined by a managerial union SMPS. The protesters gathered outside the office of the AP-HP director who received a delegation of union representatives. The director claimed that the 35-hour week was not under threat but the AP-HP plan was to reorganise working time. Trade unionists from outside Paris joined the march as there are concerns that any changes introduced at such

Around 1400 civil servants joined a march over the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam calling on the public service minister Stef Blok to reopen negotiations on a new collective agreement. The protest marks the beginning of what could be several months of action with demonstrations already planned in Amsterdam, Arnhem, The Hague, Leeuwarden and Maastricht. It is four years since the last agreement expired and unions are calling for pay rises to compensate for lost purchasing power as well as action to reduce precarious work. [Read more at > FNV (NL)->http://www.fnv.nl/sector-en-cao/alle-sectoren