2014 September epsucob@NEWS 15

The FSC-CCOO is highly critical of the government for putting forward amendments to the basic law covering civil servants without taking part in any social dialogue with the trade unions. The union is particularly concerned about the changes that could lead to quality public sector jobs being replaced with precarious agency work, with much more flexibility in terms of function and mobility. It is also worried about the potential change from civilian to military status of jobs in local civil protection services and the police. The Federation is also critical that the 2015 budget has been

Public sector workers across the UK are either preparing for or voting on strike action on pay. Local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland already have date for the second day of strike action on 14 October. Meanwhile, local government workers in Scotland and workers across the health service are being balloted for strike action. Non-teaching staff in academy schools are also being balloted for action. The push for higher pay across all sectors is being supported by the TUC confederation which has called a national demonstration for 18 October. [Read more at > Unison->http

Protests by the the Vpod public services union, along with other staff unions at the Winterthur city council were successful in getting the council to reject a proposal to cut city workers' pay by 2%. Over 300 workers joined the demonstration before the crucial vote. The Vpod welcomed the victory but recognised that it still had work to do to challenge other cuts being proposed by the Council. [Read more at > Vpod (DE)->http://www.vpod.ch/aktuell/nachrichten/ansicht/article/erfolg-in-winterthur-lohnkuerzung-vorerst-vom-tisch.html?tx_ttnews=34&cHash=f0f58451ba17b5e3b55bec149843e55c[

FNV Abvakabo and CNV Publieke Zaak are organising local committees to discuss the next steps in a campaign to negotiate a collective agreement covering civil servants. The previous collective agreement expired more than 1000 days ago (31 December 2010) and the unions are now looking to build up active support for a new agreement at local level to try to change the idea that a collective agreements is simply something delivered by the trade union. [Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)->http://www.abvakabofnv.nl/over-ons/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/2014/09/campagne-voor-een-goede-cao-rijksambtenaren-van

A new report from Duisberg-Essen university provides support for the arguments of ver.di that urgent action is required to deal with an estimated shortage of 162000 full-time workers in healthcare and a legal minimum staffing requirement would be a practical and reasonable way of dealing with this. The report also argues that there is a need to make healthcare jobs more attractive. This is a central concern for ver.di that was calling for an increase in the sector minimum wage for care workers to take it to €12.50 an hour. Unfortunately, the labour ministry only to the following new rates: in

Public service union PASYDY, will take strike action on 19 September in protest at statements from the Minister of Finance about the possibility of further cuts in pay and pensions. The union argues that public sector workers have already seen their pay and pensions cut and that the government should direct its attention at those who caused the crisis. In the meantime the SEK trade union has decided not to take part in the strike following a meeting with the Ministry of Finance where the union was told there were no plans to cut the pay of hourly-paid workers and that any changes would be

The GPA-djp services union has launched a new guide on working time aimed at groups of workers who face particular challenges in dealing with employers pressing for more flexibility. The union says that it will support members in tackling employer breaches of working time rules, with the intervention of labour inspectors where necessary. The GPA-djp underlines the important role works councils and union reps can play in monitoring working time arrangement to ensure they are fair and don't pose a threat to workers' health. [Read more at > GPA-djp (DE)->http://www.gpa-djp.at/cms/A03/A03_0.a

Legislation came into effect on 1 September aimed at tackling stress and burnout. It requires employers to monitor pyschosocial risks and take measures to prevent them. Along with risk analysis, employers will have to provide counselling to employees to help them avoid prolonged exposure to stress. The legislation sets out the responsibilities of the various actors at the workplace and the measures that can be taken to prevent psychosocial risks. [Read more at > euractiv.com (EN)->http://www.euractiv.com/sections/social-europe-jobs/eu-asked-prevent-burnout-among-civil-servants-308437] [And