2014 May epsucob@NEWS 09
Public sector unions mobilise over jobs and pay
Public sector federations called a national day of action on 15 May including strikes and demonstrations to protest against the government's continuing pay freeze and other austerity measures. The unions continue to call for major reforms of public sector pay and are angry that the government plans to freeze the index on which public sector pay is based until 2017. The unions' demands include better conditions for contractual workers, equal pay for men and women and action on mobility and career development. EPSU sent a solidarity message. [Read more at > EPSU (FR)->http://www.epsu.org/a/10435
Union welcomes homecare report
Public services union UNISON has welcomed the main findings and recommendations of a report on home care commissioned by the Labour Party. The report notes in particular the exploitative pay and conditions faced by many home care workers who have heavy workloads. The report says that many workers are undervalued, underpaid and undertrained and have little time to provide the quality of care they would like to deliver. The reports recommendations are in line with the Ethical Care Charter that UNISON has been promoting and which has already been adopted by several local authorities. [Read more
Gender equality toolkit now available
A new toolkit is now available providing a wide range of practical examples of how trade unions and employers have tried to tackle gender inequality at work. The case studies cover a variety of initiatives from work-life balance, to assessing the gender pay gap and action to increase the recruitment and promotion of women in occupations and sectors dominated by men. [Read more at > ETUC-> http://www.etuc.org/press/toolkit-gender-equality-practice-100-best-practices-gender-equality-work] [And in French at > CES->http://www.etuc.org/fr/presse/bo%C3%AEte-%C3%A0-outils-pour-l%C3%A9galit%C3%A9
Unions break off negotiations in municipal sector
Unions in the municipal sector have broken off negotiations with the employers after there was a failure to make any progress on key demands. The unions argue that the employers' offer is inadequate, fails to address inequalities in pay and that the employers want too much of any pay increase to be awarded at local level. The unions also say there has been no agreement on pensions reform. [Read more at > Fagforbundet (NO)->http://www.fagforbundet.no/tema/Tariffoppgjoret-2014/?article_id=112081] [And at > YS Kommune (NO)->http://www.ys.no/kunder/ys/cms.nsf/%28$All%29
Care workers take protest to London
Social care workers employed by Care UK took their dispute to London this week with a demonstration outside the head office of Bridgepoint Capital, the private equity firm that owns Care UK. The workers have taken more than three week's strike action in protest at the company's decision to make deep cuts to pay and conditions. The company said it would make the cuts after a winning a contract from Doncaster council in north east England to provide care services to people with severe learning difficulties. [Read more at > UNISON->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/care-uk-strikers-lobby-private
Union protests at municipalities' attacks on union rights
The TÜM BEL-SEN municipal union, part of the KESK confederation, launched two fax campaigns on 30 April in protest about attacks by the local authorities in Ankara and İzmir Balçova against the trade union and its members. In Ankara some workers have been dismissed, relocated, or had their public servant status removed following their participation in strike action. In İzmir Balçova, the major has tried to block TÜM BEL SEN from carrying out trade union activity and was abusive towards and refused to meet a union delegation.
Major mobilisation by waste, water and cleaning workers
Thousands of public and private sector waste, water and cleaning workers took part in industrial action and demonstrations on 12 May. The action was called by the public service and transport federations of the CGT confederation and one of the main objectives was to highlight the arduous nature of the work in the sector. The union is arguing for higher pay, reduced working time and options for early retirement in recognition that on average workers in the sector have a life expectancy five and a half years lower than workers in management and administration. [Read more at > CGT (FR)->http:/
ETUC analysis challenges Commission view on wages
On 29 April the ETUC submitted a document to European employment ministers who gathered in Athens for the Employment and Social Policy Council (EPSCO). The report analysed trends in wages, challenging the arguments from the European Commission and European Central Bank that so-called excessive wage increases had contributed to imbalances in the European economy. The ETUC's figures indicate, on the contrary, that over significant periods wages have not kept up with productivity growth. A further briefing, published by EPSU, also shows how wage growth has been outpace by increasing profits - an
Hard bargaining in hospital sector
The three trade unions in the hospital sector - FNV Abvakabo, CNV Publieke Zaak and NU'91 -are finding negotiations hard going. After the fourth round of bargaining the employers are still pushing for a number of changes to employment conditions affecting pay, shifts and working time that could mean a significant deterioration for workers. The unions are calling for more job security, better training and a pay increase of 3% but the employers are looking for more employee flexibility. [Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)->http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/over-ons/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/2014/04/614288/]
Union calls for more staff on international nurses' day
Public services union ver.di organised activities at health and other care institutions around the country to celebrate international nurses' day with a call for more staff and better pay. Ver.di argues that quality care means having the time to care for patients and this can only be done with more staff. The union is also calling for greater recognition of the work of carers and a minimum €3000 a month in pay for qualified nurses and elder care workers. Read more at > ver.di (DE)
Deregulation is still central to IMF policy - ITUC
The global trade union confederation, ITUC, has published a short briefing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that demonstrates how the institution continues to argue for labour market deregulation and to include labour market reform in its loan negotiations. The ITUC says that: "Throughout southern and eastern Europe, the IMF has formulated country-level policy advice or lending conditions that have pushed countries to deregulate labour markets and dismantle or weaken collective bargaining institutions on the pretext that it will make their economies more “competitive” and increase
Government proposes new legislation on equal pay
The government has drafted new legislation to make it compulsory for employers to report on gender pay gaps. This would cover jobs where women and men are performing the same work. Employers with more than 30 employees will have to report to their personnel on the company equality plan. The report will have to include information on classification, salaries and salary differences in respect of female and male jobs. Where there are differences, the employer is obliged to clarify to the employees the reasons for this. Although legislation on this already exists, the new law will make the rules
Federation debates collective bargaining
The FSC-CCOO federation organised a national conference on collective bargaining on 13-14 May to debate strategies and discuss the impact of labour reforms over the past two years. The federation's assessment is that the reforms have only served to increase unemployment, maintain the duality of the labour market, further decrease the use of permanent contracts while encouraging the most precarious forms of temporary and part-time contract. Collective bargaining has been substantially affected in terms of coverage and employers' scope to make unilateral changes to pay and conditions. The FSC
Report reveals poor pay and conditions for temporary workers
Local government union Kommunal has published a new report on the pay and conditions of temporary worker. The report shows that temporary workers tend to be on lower pay, often work part time and split shifts and receive little if any training. In the past five years the number of temporary workers in the municipal sector has increased by five percentage points to 156000. As many as one in five temporary workers have more than one job as they can't survive on the pay from one job alone. For Kommunal these kinds of conditions are very worrying and increase the problems of recruitment into
Unions sign collective agreement for community workers
The SIPTU and IMPACT public service unions have signed a new agreement which secures collective bargaining rights for 2000 workers in the community sector. The agreement was negotiated with the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN), the representative body of Local Development Companies (LDCs). The agreement includes key issues such as future employment, job security and a fair process for redundancies should they arise. It covers workers who deliver local, community and rural development programmes right across the country. [Read more at > SIPTU->http://www.siptu.ie/media/pressreleases2014
Federation calls on government to negotiate
The FSP-UGT public services federation has called on the government to get back to the negotiating table. The union wants to see the reinstatement of the Christmas payment that the government blocked in 2012. However, the government has only said that the payment will be gradually reinstated and that it depended on economic developments and that it may not be until 2016. Read more at > FSP-UGT (ES)