2011 June epsucob@NEWS 09
Thousands demonstrate over labour reforms and cuts to pensions
Around 50,000 people joined a demonstration in Prague on 21 May organized by the CMKOS confederation in protest at government changes to the labour code and reforms to pensions and the health system. The protest also focused on the government’s failure to participate in a proper process of social dialogue over the reform plans. Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Confederations maintain protests
A national demonstration on 4 June will be the latest step in the continuing trade union protests against austerity measures. The GSEE private sector and ADEDY public sector confederations have called the protest highlighting the impact of the attacks on pay and pensions across the economy and the undermining of collective bargaining. Read more at > ADEDY (GR)
Strike action continues in protest at pay cuts
The Unite and Unison municipal unions have stepped up their industrial action at Southampton City Council in the South East England. The council wants to impose pay cuts and a pay freeze and its threatening to sack over 4,000 employees and re-employ them on contracts with poorer pay and conditions. Read more at > Unite And at > UNISON
Unions to mobilise on 9 June over new health and care sector agreement
Public service trade unions are building for a national demonstration on 9 June to support their demands for a new agreement on pay and conditions in health and social services in the public and non-profit sectors. [Read more at > CSC (FR)->http://csc-services-publics.csc-en-ligne.be/Images/11%2006%2009%20manif%20nationale_tcm90-248550.pdf] [And in Dutch at > LBC-NVK->http://lbc-nvk.acv-online.be/sectoren/non_profit/actueel/2011/Waar_blijft_ons_nieuw_akkoord.asp] [And at > SETCA (FR)->http://www.setca.org/News/Pages/actionnonmarchand9juin2011.aspx] [And in Dutch at > BBTK->http://www.bbtk.org
Public sector workers protest against pay freeze
Thousands of civil servants and public sector workers joined demonstrations around the country in protest at the three-year pay freeze that has been imposed by the French government as well as the long-term reduction in purchasing power suffered since 2000. Further actions are likely as part of the unions’ joint campaigning. Read more at > FO (FR) And at > CGT (FR)
Civil service union ballots on industrial action
The PCS public services union is balloting its 250,000 civil service members over industrial action in protest at changes to pensions, redundancy arrangements, pay freezes and job cuts. The union has also signed an agreement with the Unite trade union to work together in their anti-cuts campaigning. Read more at > PCS And at > PCS
PAY IN ENERGY, WASTE AND WATER – SURVEY AND CONFERENCE
Hundreds of workers across Europe have already taken part in the WISUTIL survey of pay in the energy, waste and water sectors. The main deadline for responses has now been extended from 30 June to 31 JULY. A conference to discuss the findings will take place in Vienna on 26-27 September. Read more at > EPSU (20 languages) And at > EPSU (EN)
Union signs whistleblowing agreement with private health company
The SKTF white-collar union has signed an agreement with the Capio healthcare company giving employees the right to speak out about abuses within the company without fear of being exposed or intimidated. Public sector employees already have this right but with the spread of outsourcing SKTF sees it as very important to secure the same rights for private sector employees and hopes that other companies will follow suit. Read more at > SKTF (SV)
City council takes action to regulate contractors
The municipality of Espoo, the second largest city in the country, is trying to clamp down on contractors and sub-contractors that fail to comply with tax and employment rules. This applies particularly to companies providing cleaning services in schools and day-care centres that will face fines if they are found to infringe legal and contractual requirements. Read more at > JHL (EN)
Need for greater role for social dialogue in response to crisis
A new policy brief from the ETUI trade union research organisation argues that social dialogue should have a bigger role to play in the response to the crisis. The brief examines recent contributions to the debate about solutions to the crisis at inter-sectoral and sectoral levels as well as at company level in terms of transnational consultations and negotiations linked to the crisis. It notes that there have been some initiatives taken – suc h as joint statements in local and regional government – but overall the potential of the European social dialogue at different levels has not been
Campaign to support musicians' pay and conditions
The GDG-KMSFB municipal and arts trade union is backing a campaign to defend the pay and working conditions of members of the orchestra in Baden. Cuts to the budget mean the orchestra’s annual performances are being reduced by 50%. Orchestra members will only get a 10-month, instead of an annual contract and could see their pay cut by 20%. An online petition has been launched calling for the orchestra’s performances to be maintained and the workers’ conditions to be protected. [Read more at > GDG-KMSFB (DE)->http://www.gdg-kmsfb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=C01B/Page/Index&n=C01_80.1.a
Waste company accused of excessive working time
The municipal union Fagforbundet reports that the Ragn-Sells waste company is again in the news for poor working conditions. The company was at the centre of a scandal involving the Adecco employment agency and sacked migrant workers from Poland (see [epsucobanews 02 January 2011->http://www.epsu.org/cob/398]. Now the company has been investigated by the Labour Inspection service and found to be infringing working time legislation with employees working 11-14 hours a day. The inspectors also discovered that the company had not dealt properly with the hiring of workers by a sub-contractor and
Industrial action in public transport in three major cities
Public transport workers will be involved in three days of industrial action on 7-9 June in Amsterdam, the Hague and Rotterdam. The action is over cuts to jobs and services and the threat of compulsory tendering of services. Unions fear that as many as 3,000 jobs could be cut across the three cities with major reductions to bus, tram and metro services. Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
Transport workers win concessions after industrial action
Bus and tram workers in Zürich have taken industrial action to try to secure a collective agreement and protect paid breaks. The workers, members of the VPÖD/SSP public service union, took the action in order to get a canton-wide (regional) collective agreement that would provide better for protection for workers in the face of future liberalization of the sector. Following a commitment from the employers to negotiate an agreement and improve industrial relations, the union has suspended the action but a strike committee will closely monitor progress with the negotiations. [Read more at > VPÖD
Federations criticize employment plans
Both the FSC-CCOO and FSP-UGT public service federations have attacked the latest plans for recruitment and promotion to the general state administration. The unions argue that the numbers taken on are inadequate and taken with low levels of recruitment last year will pose a threat to services. The government has a policy of filling only one in 10 posts that become vacant and the unions argue that this is nonsense in a country where unemployment is approaching five million. [Read more at > FSC-CCOO (ES)->http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/menu.do?Sectores:Administracion_General_del_Estado
Union decides to withdraw support from initiative on single union bargaining
The ver.di services union has decided that it will no longer support the initiative on collective bargaining being promoted by both the DGB trade union confederation and the BDA employers’ organisation. The DGB and BDA have been calling for an amendment to the law on collective bargaining that would effectively mean the largest trade union at the workplace would negotiate the collective agreement. The DGB has been arguing for the change on the basis that it prevents different groups of workers being played off against each other by the employer. There have been concerns, however, now reflected
Government, employers and unions tackle involuntary part-time work in health sector
The government is providing funding for a project aiming to reduce the amount of involuntary part-time worker in the health sector. Unions and employers have signed an agreement to investigate the extent of part-time employment and ways of reorganizing work to allow more part timers to switch to full-time contracts. Read more at > EIRO (EN)
Call for more paid leave
The GPA-DJP services union is campaigning for more paid leave. It is now 25 years since a legal right to 25 days’ paid leave was established and the union argues it is now time to look at increasing holiday entitlement. With greater pressure at work and later retirement, GPA-DJP says that there are convincing arguments for more holidays. It points out that workers can get extra leave on the basis of long service with the same employer. However, with more precarious employment conditions and more workers changing jobs more often, fewer people will get this extra leave. [Read more at > GPA-DJP