2015 July epsucob@NEWS 10
Strike against bailout agreement
Public sector confederation ADEDY organised a 24-hour strike on 15 July in protest at the bailout deal agreed between the government and the Eurogroup. The deal involves more austerity, the imposition of privatisation and further labour market reforms. Read more at > ADEDY (GR) And at > EPSU (EN)
Urgent action needed on pay and conditions in eldercare
On 1 July, services union ver.di organised a national conference on eldercare in Kassel to discuss the need for urgent action to make the sector more attractive and tackle serious recruitment problems. On average pay in the sector is 21% below that in healthcare and ver.di wants to see a minimum monthly salary of €3000. With growing demand the sector needs an additional 10000 trained staff every year up to 2030 but with heavy workloads and high levels of part-time work, jobs are not being filled. Ver.di also stresses that eldercare is undervalued and that jobs in the sector need to have the
Government launches attack on workers' rights
Trade unions have reacted angrily to new proposals from the Conservative government that, if passed, will seriously undermine workers' rights and restrict the right to strike. For example, the Bill sets out new thresholds for votes for industrial action. Strikes would be unlawful unless 50% of those being asked to take action vote in the ballot and in key public services (education, health, fire, transport, border security and energy), there would have to be a 50% turnout and 40% of all those eligible to vote must back the strike. [Read more at > Unison->http://www.unison.org.uk/at-work/trade
Unions demand to restart collective bargaining
Following their three joint regional assemblies at the beginning of July, the main public service federations - FP CGIL, CISL FP, UIL FPL and UIL Pa - have called a national demonstration for 29 July demanding an immediate restart to collective bargaining in the public sector. This also follows a court ruling that the block on negotiations is illegal. The unions argue that the freeze on bargaining has prevented any negotiations not just to improve workers' pay and conditions but also to tackle the reforms needed in public administration. Further mobilisations will follow in the autumn if the
Consultation response examines all aspects of gender equality
Eurofound - gender equaltiyThe Eurofound research organisation has produced a comprehensive response to the European Commission's consultation on gender equality. The response runs through a very wide range of issues from the gender pay gap to violence against women and from the vital importance to care services to the distribution of domestic responsibilities. For each subject covered the response provides a link to the relevant Eurofound publication(s).
Report analyses challenges of outsourcing for trade unions
A new report from the European Trade Union Institute analyses the impact of outsourcing across a range of sectors including local government. A comparison of experiences in Italy, Denmark and the UK reveals the extent to which pay and employment conditions are affected as well as the impact on working conditions. Read more at > ETUI (EN)
Union continues fight against outsourcing at National Gallery
Members of the PCS public services union are mobilising for a rally outside the National Gallery in central London as the latest step in their campaign to prevent outsourcing of visitor services. The PCS members have taken over 50 days of action during their long-running campaign and have had to defend one of their shop stewards against dismissal for trade union activities. Read more at > PCS
Union underlines importance of new social services agreement
Raúl Olmos Mata of the FSC-CCOO federation reports in more detail on the new agreement covering around 150000 workers in the social services sector that was reported in May. The agreement covers commercial and non-profit providers. The agreement was negotiated by CCOO and UGT federations over a period of five years. It lays down a range of pay and conditions standards including a minimum gross annual salary for the sector of €140000. It also includes provisions on leave, night work and shift work and is aimed at addressing some of the precarious employment trends in the sector. [Read more at >
Unions vote over new public sector deal
Trade unions across the public sector are balloting their members over a new public sector agreement - the Lansdowne Road agreement - that will include the first steps in restoring some of the pay cuts faced by public sector workers over eight years. Members of the IMPACT trade union have voted three-to-one to back the deal which will include increases of around €2000 for most workers. Not all union executives have yet decided whether to recommend a "yes" vote, while the AHCPS leadership is recommending a "no" vote. The results of ballots from all public sector unions won't be known until the
Strike by Social Assistance Agency employees
Members of the PK Admin trade union employed by the Social Assistance Agency took strike action on 9 July in support of demands for a 20% pay increase and improvements to other working conditions. The union argues that many workers in the Agency are paid close to the minimum wage and on average much below workers in other government departments. The union will consider further action if the government doesn't come up with an appropriate offer. [Read more at > mediapool news website (BG)->http://www.mediapool.bg/sotsialnite-rabotnitsi-obmislyat-bezsrochna-stachka-ili-masovo-napuskane-ako-ne-im
Unions negotiate better leave and service-related provisions
The vida and GPD-djp trade unions have negotiated new provisions that will increase pay and holiday entitlement for many of the 6000 employees of the Diakonie church welfare organisation. Under new rules all of the maximum 22-month parental leave will be taken into account in any service-related pay and conditions calculations. Also 50% of any previous service in unrelated occupations or sectors will be taken into account up to a maximum of eight years. The unions believe that these provisions will particularly benefit women workers. [Read more at > vida (DE)->http://www.vida.at/servlet
Federations criticise draft mobility decree for provinces
The main public service federations - Fp-Cgil Cisl-Fp and Uil-Fpl - have issued a joint response to the government plans for rules on worker mobility across provincial government. The unions argue that the proposals threaten salary supplements and take no account either of workers' skills and professionalism. The federations say that they had put forward proposals that would have involved assessing functions and mapping skills across the sector but the government ignored them and come up with more cumbersome proposals instead. The unions will be campaigning for Parliament to amend the
Energy companies become living wage employers
The British Gas and Centrica energy employers have agreed to become living wage employers. This will mean that they will guarantee that not only their directly employed workers but also all workers employed by contractors will get the living wage. The living wage is a cost-of-living calculation which is currently £7.85 (€11.10) an hour outside London and £9.15 (€13.00) in London. This compares to the current national minimum wage of £6.50 (€9.20) an hour for workers aged 22 and over. [Read more at > Unison->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/british-gas-and-centrica-receive-living-wage
Municipal and state sector agreements follow cross-sector deal
Following on from the negotiations on the one-year extension to the cross-sector collective agreement, unions in the state and municipal sectors have agreed similar arrangements. Local government salaries will be go up by €16 from February 2016 where basic pay is no more than €3,404.26. Higher salaries will rise by 0.47%. The collective agreement for central government follows along the same lines. Basic salaries will see a rise from the beginning of February 2106 by €13, but in real terms this will mean an increase in salaries of €16 euro a month. There will be a 0.43% increase for those with
MPs back union calls for negotiations
The FNV union is pleased that a vote in Parliament provides it with support for renewed negotiations covering civil servants. Union negotiator Marco Ouwehand says the unions are ready to negotiate to provide a collective agreement for the 120000 civil servants after 1700 days without an agreement but they want to see a serious offer on the table from Minister Stef Blok. Read more at > FNV (NL)
Federation demands real negotiations over working time
The FSP-UGT has criticised the government for failing to undertake serious negotiations in the state administration sector. A series of meetings were due this month to tackle a range of issues in the lead up to general negotiations covering state administration. The FSP-UGT says that government has simply been issuing statements about working conditions rather than indicating its intention to negotiate over the issues. The union has set out a number of key issues on working time that is argues need to be resolved to reverse changes imposed unilaterally by the government. These relate to the 35
Collective bargaining news from around Europe
The latest edition of the collective bargaining newsletter from the European Trade Union Institute includes over 75 articles covering news from 34 countries. There are several articles featuring developments in the public services, covering among others Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands and Portugal. Read more at > ETUI (EN)