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Union
protest leads to change in government plans
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Following their demonstrations on 18 September, unions are
pleased to see some change in government plans to amend employment conditions
but the fight goes on. Unions have joined with employer organisations in
submitting their own plans for improving employment and cost-competitiveness.
The government has reversed its plan to cut overtime and Sunday work
compensation. It is, however, proposing a 30% cut in holiday pay but, in
compensation to this cut, will introduce a statutory right to holiday pay to
cover all employees. The revised proposals still include an unpaid sick leave
waiting day, cuts to annual holiday entitlement and turning some weekday
holidays into days without pay. Compensations include some improvements in
change security for dismissed employees. In addition, the Government offers
for employers a compensation for family leave costs as well as lowering of
the social insurance contributions by 1.72 percentage points (private-sector
employers). Union membership has grown significantly since the government
announced the original plans. Read
more at > JHL (EN)
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Strike
action likely over pay deal
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Three trade unions were set to take 48-hour strike action as
of 15 October in protest at the government’s refusal to ensure a fair pay
deal for all public sector workers. The SFR, SLFĂ and LL trade unions, part
of the BSRB public services federation, have been calling for their members
to get a pay deal comparable to the one already covering other groups of
public sector workers. Nurses, prison staff and other public administration
workers will join the strike while the police are also affected by the
differential treatment. The unions have already set dates for four further
48-hour strikes in October and November with the prospect of all-out action
from 16 November is no deal is reached. Read
more at > BSRB (IS) And
at > Iceland Monitor news website (EN)
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Hospital
staffing petition reaches target three times over
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Services union ver.di achieved a major success with its
hospital staffing petition, securing three times the number of signatures
required to ensure it is considered by the parliamentary petitions committee.
The petition calls for legislation to set staffing levels in hospitals and
ver.di believes that urgent action is needed to tackle the 162000 shortfall
in employment. The union also calls for appropriate funding to accompany any
legislation to increase staffing. Read
more at > ver.di (DE)
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Unions
call for investment in health and social care and decent jobs
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Three CFDT federations came together on 22 September in Paris
to demonstrate and lobby the government over the urgent need to invest in
health and social services. The unions want a clear recognition of the value
of the work done by thousands of workers in the sector both in social as well
as economic terms. They also underlined the need to tackle precarious work in
health and social care, another reflection of the failure to acknowledge the
urgent need to properly fund and invest in the sector. Read
more at > CFDT (FR)
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Confederation
launches 32-hour week campaign
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The CGT confederation has launched a campaign calling for a
32-hour week. It is putting forward five key arguments in support of the
demand. Firstly, it would help save and create jobs and secondly it would
improve productivity, quality of work and health and safety. Thirdly the
reduction in working time would contribute to greater gender equality and a
better work-life balance. The CGT also argues that a reorganisation of
working time, negotiated to benefit workers rather than employers would help
tackle the spread of precarious work and finally it would be important in
taking a step towards a shorter working week in recognition of the reality
that many people work more than 35 hours with additional hours often unpaid.
The campaign will include a range of events and initiatives beginning with a
conference on 26 November that will look at the potential of digitalisation. Read
more at > CGT (FR)
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Federation
calls for urgent action on public sector employment
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The FSP-UGT federation says that 400000 public service jobs
have been cut in the last four years posing a real threat to service quality.
In relation to population size Spain has fewer public service workers than
France, Ireland or the UK and has even cut 30000 jobs from health services, a
sector that has grown in most other countries despite austerity. The
federation is also concerned about the high level of temporary work in public
services (20%) and it wants to see moves to consolidate these workers into
permanent jobs. Privatisation and outsourcing are also taking their toll and
the FDP-UGT wants to see clearer guidelines on what services should not be
privatised and much better regulation and monitoring of outsourcing. Read
more at > FSP-UGT (ES)
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Care
sector minimum wage extended to cover more workers
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The minimum wage for the care sector, a sector minimum wage
that was established before the implementation of the national minimum wage,
has been extended to cover a wider range of workers. The group of workers now
covered are those who provide home care and help for those with dementia. As
of 1 October their minimum hourly rate in the former west Germany is €9.40,
rising to €9.75 on 1 January 2016 and then €10.20 from 1 January 2017. For
those in the former east Germany the current rate is €8.65 rising to €9.00 on
1 January 2016 and then €9.50 in 2017. Services union ver.di welcomes the
extension but will continue to campaign for a higher minimum wage in the
sector and aims to negotiate a collective agreement with welfare
organisations that it will then aim to get declared generally binding. The
union wants to see a minimum wage in the sector of €12.50 Read
more at > ver.di (DE)
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Union
signs agreement with private childcare company
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After a year of campaigning and in following the threat of
industrial action and a boycott, the FOA public services union has signed a
collective agreement with the Tinytots private childcare company. The union
was very concerned about low pay rates at the company which operates four
sites in Copenhagen. There was also evidence of lack of pensions, poor sick
leave provision and working time rules. The FOA is now very pleased to be
able to negotiate with the company and deal with what would have been a
worrying case of social dumping. Read
more at > FOA (DK) And
on the earlier dispute at > FOA (DK)
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Survey
reveals mainly positive views on working time
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A recent survey of over 2500 workers in social services,
particularly in eldercare and care for the disabled, found that 78% were
satisfied with their work-life balance. The survey, carried out by the vida
and GPA-djp services unions identified standby time, night work and split
shifts as the main concerns raised by the more than one in five who were less
positive about their working arrangements. The unions said that they would
look to address these issues. The survey also found that just over a fifth
(22%) of the full-time workers in the survey would prefer to work part time
while among the part timers more than a quarter (28%) would actually prefer
to work full time. Read
more at > vida (DE)
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Ambulance
workers take action to secure new collective agreement
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After 10 months without a new collective agreement, ambulance
workers, members of FNV Zorg and Welzijun took their first national
industrial action on 7 October. They followed this up with further action in
different regions on Monday 12 and Wednesday 14 October. The four-hour strike
action has also been preceded by several months of working to rule, with
employees making sure they take their breaks and not doing overtime. Read
more at > FNV (NL)
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Most
unions back Lansdowne Road agreement
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Members of the ICTU confederation’s public service committee
voted to accept the Lansdowne Road agreement - the pay and conditions
agreement that covers the public sector. The agreement runs until September
2018 and will begin to restore some of the pay cuts that public service
workers have faced since 2009. Most workers will get around €2,000 in three
phases between January 2016 and September 2017 in a combination of adjustments
to the public service pension levy and a partial reversal of the 2010 public
service pay cuts. Read
more at > ICTU
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Round-up
of collective bargaining news
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The September issue of the ETUI’s collective bargaining
newsletter includes a wide range of news from across all sectors of the
economy from 34 countries. Articles include news of developments affecting
health workers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Poland and Slovakia
as well as on public sector pay and other issues in Ireland, Italy, the
Netherlands and Serbia. Read
more at > ETUI
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National
Gallery workers secure agreement and return to work
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After more than 100 days of strike action this year, members
of the PCS civil service union at the National Gallery in central London
voted to return to work. The dispute was in protest at privatisation of
visitor services but in the end PCS reached an agreement with the gallery and
the new contractor, Securitas, that would mean protection of terms and
conditions. A return to work for the senior rep Candy Udwin, suspended during
the strike, was also agreed. Meanwhile PCS members at the National Museum
Wales will take further strike action on 20 October in protest at plans to
cut additional payments for weekend working. Read
more on National Gallery at > PCS And
more on National Museum Wales at > PCS
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Federations
coordinate action to defend research and training centre
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The four trade union federations - FP CGIL, CISL FP, UIL Pa
and Fialp Cisal, reported very good support for the their joint demonstration
on 12 October outside the office of the Minister for the Simplification of
Public Administration. The unions are campaigning against planned cuts to the
Formez public administration research and training centre and the closure of
its Neapolitan headquarters. The federations want to see a genuine plan to
relaunch the Centre’s services, including assistance, studies and training on
the modernization of public administration. The unions will be keeping up the
pressure to protect jobs and working conditions at the centre. Read
more at > FP-CGIL (IT)
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Union
calls for go-slow by immigration officers
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The GWU declared a dispute with the government last month over
grading of immigration officers. From 5 October the union organised a go-slow
of immigration officers to put pressure on the government to resolve the
dispute after “the government failed to honour its commitment to discuss
their work structure”. The GWU said that there was a dire need for a grade
structure to be put in place since those involved were facing difficulties.
The go-slow was set to involve immigration booths opening half an hour late
while immigration officers have been ordered not to wear their uniform, not
to answer phone calls but to scrutinise passports all the same. Read
more at Time of Malta (EN) And
at > GWU (MT)
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