epsucob@NEWS December 2011 - update local govt and electricity - Europe

Spain - The FSC-CCOO services federation has attacked the planned cuts announced by the Catalonian regional government on 30 November, saying that the cuts to pay, employment and working conditions will mean undoing 30 years of progress. Cuts in staff could mean the termination of contracts of temporary workers who make up 25%-30% of all regional government employees. The union also points out that this means an attack on collective bargaining and the collective agreements that have been signed in recent years. Meanwhile in Castilla La Mancha the regional government plans to increase weekly working hours for its 70,000 public sector employees from 35 to 37.5 while reducing pay by 3%.
Finland -  The new collective agreement for some 350,000 municipal employees has been endorsed, following the cross-sectoral framework agreement signed in October. The agreement takes effect on 1 January 2012 and expires on 28 February 2014. The increase in the first 13 months will be 2.4%. This includes 1.7% from 1 January 2012 with the remaining 0.7% of the pay increase used for financing qualitative changes in the agreement such as six days of paid paternity leave and the scrapping of regulations that have discriminated against temporary employees with regard to their annual leave rights. A €150 lump sum will be paid in January 2012. There will be a 1.46% increase as from 1 February 2013, with a further 0.6% negotiated at the local level. According to Eurostat the latest figure for inflation in Finland is 3.2%.
Sweden -  The Kommunal local government union has published a report exposing the poor performance of employers in the sector when it comes to rehabilitation. According to the survey only one in 10 workers return to work after injury thanks to rehabilitation services provided by employers and only 15% of employers adapt work for workers. Kommunal believes that there should be sanctions applied against employers who fail to provide adequate rehabilitation services. It also argues that there should be changes to health and unemployment insurance to support workers while off sick.
France -  As part of a broader campaign on pay, the FNME-CGT energy federation organised strike action on 17 November to put pressure on employers to increase basic salaries across the energy sector. Pay increases over the last few years have not kept pace with inflation. The increase in 2011 was imposed by employers after all unions failed to agree and the latest deal was not signed by the main unions in the sector. The 2012 increase on basic salaries will be 1.3%,although the overall increase will be 2.51%, to take account of various other elements including adjustments for pensions contributions.
Ireland - The IMPACT public services trade union reports that negotiations have resulted in limits to annual leave but unions have managed to protect the entitlement of public sector workers. Local authority employers had drawn up plans to make drastic cuts in leave but the latest proposal means that workers with between 23 and 32 days’ leave should be protected. New entrants will have a 30-day maximum. It will be mainly senior staff who are affected with some seeing entitlement of 40 days cut back to 32. 
Advice - EPSU bulletin epsucob@NEWS December 2011 - www.epsu.org