Ireland
The ICTU confederation has published a report on childcare highlighting low pay in the sector. Unions organising in the sector, including IMPACT and SIPTU, have welcomed the report and the call for a living wage of EUR 11.50 an hour as a starting wage in the sector.
Read more at > IMPACT
And at > IMPACT
And at > SIPTU
Both the SINTAP and STAL unions have expressed discontent with the pay increase on offer for public service workers in 2024. The overall wage bill will rise by over 5% with increases ranging from 3% to over 6% depending on position in the pay scale. The two unions argue that this level of increase will not compensate for the recent loss of purchasing power because of higher inflation. STAL estimates a 5.1% fall in real terms in 2022-23 alone. SINTAP has called for a re-opening of negotiations while STAL has called a national strike for 27 October. The strike, also supported by the Frente Comum
The EIRO industrial relations observatory reports that the LVSADA health union has called on the Latvian government to take action to ensure that salaries in the health sector are increased at least in line with average earnings. It is estimated that healthcare workers do the equivalent of 1.4 jobs and the practice of “thank you” payments is still widespread and seen as a way of supplementing the low pay rates in the sector, which lag behind the public sector as a whole. Read more at > EIRO (EN)
The SIPTU general workers' union has welcomed new government intiatives on funding and regulation of the childcare sector which it believes will help improve children's safety and the quality of care. However, the union argues that urgent action is needed to tackle low pay and precarious employment in the sector. SIPTU says with average pay at only EUR 10.88 an hour, there are significant recruitment and retention problems as reflected in a staff turnover rate of just over 28%.The union wants to see a major overhaul of funding for the sector to provide the basis of decent pay for such
