A series of pay freezes have seen civil servants' salaries eroded by inflation since 2010. Pay is based on an index figure which was frozen between 2010 and 2016 and increased by only 0.6% in both 2016 and 2017 but frozen again this year. This means a loss of purchasing power of 6.79%. This translates into a monthly loss of pay of anything between EUR 117 and EUR 404 a month depending on the job. Increases in pensions contributions have meant a further cut in take-home pay. This is a longer term problem for civil servants as increases in the index point fell behind inflation in the period 2000 to 2010, meaning that the total loss of purchasing power over the past 18 years is 16.5%.
Impact of pay freezes on public sector pay
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Unions react angrily to another pay freeze for public sector workers
Public service federations are highlighting the sustained loss of purchasing power suffered by public sector workers as the government has again decided to freeze the index point on which salary calculations are based. There will be a small increase for the lowest paid workers but this is only to ensure that the lowest pay rates do not fall below the national minimum wage. The loss of purchasing power is estimated at over 20% over the course of the past 20 years, with the index frozen since for 10 years apart from a small increase in 2016-17.
Conference will focus on impact of pay cuts and freezes
EPSU’s collective bargaining and social dialogue conference will this year focus on the impact of pay cuts and pay freezes across the public services and union strategies to resist and reverse them. A research project looking at eight countries in particular will provide useful background information for conference participants. A draft agenda for the conference is available in 10 languages Read more at > EPSU
No pay freeze for public sector workers
At a meeting with the three main public service unions – CCOO, UGT and CSI-CSIF – the government has confirmed that pay developments in the public sector over the next three years will maintain the purchasing power of the 2.5 million workers covered by the central negotiations. Unions had been concerned about the possibility of the government imposing a pay freeze and are still worried about job cuts, urging the government to maintain staffing levels in order to ensure quality services. [Read more at > FSC-CCOO (ES)-> http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/menu.do?Inicio:64013] [Read more at FSP-UGT