2013 June epsucob@NEWS 09

Georgia continues to be one of a number of countries highlighted by the ITUC in its annual report on violations of trade union rights. Turkey also features not least for the detention of and false charges against members of the KESK confederation. In releasing the report, the ITUC focuses as well on the situation in several European countries - Portugal, Greece, Romania, Spain and Italy - where collective bargaining has been under attack. [Read more at > ITUC->http://www.ituc-csi.org/new-ituc-report-on-violations-of] [And at > IGB (DE)->http://www.ituc-csi.org/neuer-igb-bericht-uber?lang=de]

The DISK and KESK trade union confederations took strike action on 17 June in protest at the government's violent repression of protests. Medical workers will be among the many groups joining the strike with a number having been attacked by the police for coming to the aid of demonstrators. The confederations are also protesting over continuing restrictions on union activity and collective bargaining along with intimidation of union members. Seventy-two members of the KESK public sector confederation continue to face charges of belonging to a banned organisation. [Read more at > ITUC->http:/

CGSP Admi Press ReleaseThe CGSP/ACOD and SLFP/VSOA public service federations have called a general strike for 24 June in protest against austerity measures that are affecting pay, pensions and jobs. The unions are highlighting the impact of cuts on the quality and quantity of public services and underlining the link between maintaining those services and protecting the pay and conditions of the workers who deliver them. [Read more at > ACOD (NL)->http://www.acodonline.be/Artikels/Nieuws.Aspx?nr=3684] [And at > VSOA (NL)->http://www.vsoa.eu/publicaties/nieuws/vakbonden-openbare-diensten-voeren

The ETUC organised a summer school for its collective bargaining committee in Florence on 10-11 June where participants agreed a statement urging the European Council not to adopt any of the European Commission's country-specific recommendations on wages. The meeting agreed that the Commission's approach continues to be to repress wage developments despite the risk of deflation and continuing recession and with no regard for the impact on living standards and equality. The meeting also discussed proposals for how the ETUC could coordinate around the European Semester. [Read more at > EPSU-

RESPEKT@vpod is a new network for care and domestic workers set up in the VPOD public services union. Following VPOD's support of a Polish migrant worker who successfully secured compensation after being sacked for questioning her pay, the union was approached by many other migrant care workers seeking advice and information. RESPEKT@vpod is a response to these demands in a sector known for exploitative pay and employment conditions. The network is seen as particularly important for workers who live on the premises where they work and can feel very isolated. [Read more at > VPOD (DE)->www.vpod

Six public service federations (CGT, FO, FSU, SOLIDAIRES, CFTC and CFE-CGC) have agreed a joint statement attacking the government for imposing a further year's pay freeze on public sector workers. The government has stated that it will not discuss uprating the index point (the basis on which public sector salaries are calculated) until the middle of next year. The unions argue that this will mean an unprecedented four-year freeze in pay. The federations are also critical of plans for further changes to pensions and to continuing job cuts. The organisations will meet again in September to

The general secretaries of the four main public service federations - Fp-Cgil, Cisl-Fp, Uil-Fpl and Uil-Pa - are calling on members of the parliamentary employment committee to recommend a re-opening of collective bargaining in the public sector. The committee is considering draft legislation from the government that includes a proposal to extend the freeze on bargaining that was introduced in 2011. The unions argue that it is unfair to impose further economic hardship on workers who have already seen their pay eroded by inflation over the last three years. [Read more at > Fp-Cgil (IT)->http:/

The FSC-CCOO and FSP-UGT federations have criticised the failure of the FEMP - the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces - to respond to their call for an agreement to tackle the decline in collective agreement coverage in the sector and prevent that many collective agreements lapse without being renegotiated. In contrast, the unions welcome the agreement signed between the two unions, the CSIF union and the Regional Federation of Municipalities and Provinces in Castile and León. This accord recommends to local authorities in the region to renew collective agreements before 8 July

Workers in the childcare sector have given their backing to a new collective agreement that will run until 31 December 2014. The deal was a long time coming with the employers rejecting the last two agreements leaving the sector with an updated agreement for over 18 months. There will be increases of 1% from August this year and a further 1% from next February, with lump sums of €200 in March 2014 and €150 in September 2014. The end-of-year bonus will be abolished in 2014 replace by a general 2% wage increase. The agreement also covers flexibility of working hours and issues related to the

A report published by the International Labour Organisation provides a highly critical analysis of the reforms to social dialogue and collective bargaining. In relation to the public sector it says that workers there have been especially badly affected in relation to their wages and a wide range of other entitlements. Collective bargaining across all sectors has been seriously undermined. More broadly the report concludes: "Ultimately, the reforms have had detrimental social impacts and not delivered the economic benefits promised." [Read more at > EPSU->www.epsu.org/a/9573] [And at > EIRO-

In this article, Thorsten Schulten from the German WSI trade union research institute, underlines the serious implications of the attacks on sector-level bargaining in Europe. He points out that this is a key characteristic of collective bargaining in Europe where coverage by collective agreement is much higher than in other regions. This system is now under threat from the policy of bargaining decentralisation being advocated by the European Commission and being imposed in several countries by the troika - the Commission along with the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.