20 epsucob@NEWS October 2009
Massive support for public sector strike
Reports indicate that over 750,000 workers took part in the national public sector strike on 5 October in protest at government plans to cut pay and jobs. The government proposals are in response to a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund and European Union. The government wanted to implement a new public sector pay structure without negotiating with the trade unions. Read more at > EIRO (EN) And at > news website (EN)
Union ballots members for strike action
The IMPACT public services union is balloting all its 55,000 members to secure backing for industrial action in response to continuing threats to cut pay and jobs. The union says it will only use a strike mandate if public service employers move to impose compulsory redundancies, unilateral cuts in working hours, further pay cuts or reductions in pension entitlements. Meanwhile the ICTU trade union confederation has called a national demonstration against government policies on 6 November and the SIPTU general union will be seeking further support from its members for industrial action in
Unions organise demonstrations over plans to raise retirement age
Public services union Abvakabo estimates that between 25,000 and 30,000 workers from FNV confederation trade unions joined a series of 65-minute demonstrations on 7 October. The unions were protesting about the failure to find an agreement in the Social and Economic Council on an alternative to the plans to increase the retirement age. FNV union leaders were due to meet to discuss what further action to take. Read more at > Abvakabo (NL)
Meter readers strike over temporary contracts
Employees of the Metrix meter reading company, a subsidiary of Sibelga, the company that manages the gas and electricity networks in Brussels, have gone on strike in protest at the high level of temporary contracts in the company. Only one in four workers are on permanent contracts compared with 75% in comparable companies in Flanders and Wallonia. The company has refused to increase the number of permanent contracts. The union also expects that the introduction of smart meters in 2015 will lead to a loss of 250 direct and 400 indirect jobs in the Belgian electricity and gas sector. [Read more
Decent work, negotiating in the crisis and implementing the collective bargaining resolution
This year’s collective bargaining conference will take place in Brussels on 3 and 4 December and will feature two key debates on the first day. ETUC expert Ronald Janssen will kick off a discussion on the economic crisis in the morning while in the afternoon there will be a debate about decent work with contributions from EPSU affiliates and other speakers. On the second day participants will have an opportunity to discuss the work plan for the next five years and how to implement the collective bargaining resolution passed at Congress in June. [Read more at > EPSU (10 languages)->http://www
Dismissed municipal workers continue march from Izmir to Ankara
The workers of the municipal company have been dismissed, all 276. In protest and to draw attention to the unacceptable behavior of the mayor they are walking all the way from Izmir to Ankara, a march of close to 30 days. They are supported by GENEL-Is. PSI and EPSU have intervened and sent messages of support. [Read more at > GENEL-IS (TK)->http://www.genel-is.org.tr/diger_incele.php?id=NDYx] [Or at > Google translation (EN)->http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=tr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.genel-is.org.tr%2Fdiger_incele.php%3Fid%3DNDYx] [And at > EPSU (EN)->http://www.epsu.org/a
Health employers pull out of pay agreement
Municipal and healthcare union Kommunal is very concerned that some 4,000 personal healthcare assistants won’t get a pay increase next year. This is as a result of the decision by the Vårdföretagarna health employers’ organisation to terminate a pay agreement with the union. Kommunal says it will continue to negotiate on the workers’ behalf to see if an increase can be achieved. It is highly critical of the employers’ organisation and says this is a blow to any further progress towards equal pay. Read more at > Kommunal (SV)
Local union negotiates "living wage"
UNISON members at Oxford City Council have voted in favour of a new pay structure that includes a minimum pay rate of £7 (€7.55) an hour. The UNISON branch is happy with a the new simpler pay structure in the council and the setting of a “living wage” well ahead of the national minimum wage that rises to £5.80 (€6.25) an hour this month. Read more at > UNISON Bargaining Update October 2009 (EN)
Unions demonstrate over threatened job cuts
EPSU vice-president and JHL general secretary Tuire Santamäki-Vuori joined demonstrators outside parliament on 8 October in protest at the threat of 110 redundancies at the THL health institute. THL employees staged a walkout to join the demonstration which was also supported by the JUKO and Pardia trade unions. Read more at > YLE news website (EN)
2009-2010 agreement covering federal civil servants concluded
Unions have signed a new two-year agreement covering the 80,000 civil servants employed at federal level. Bearing in mind the difficult negotiating conditions, they are positive about the agreement that covers improvements in a broad range of employment conditions, including increases to the year-end bonus marking further progress towards a 13th month salary. Read more at > ACOD (NL) And at > CGSP (FR)
Hospital workers mobilise over pay and conditions
Over 300 health workers took to the streets of Fribourg in a campaign to secure an increase in shift premia for night work. The SSP public service union wants to see hospitals honour the minimum legal requirements of a 10% addition for night work and full compensation for on-call duties but also is claiming a 20% allowance for night work in line with practice in most other cantons (regions). Read more at > SSP (FR)
Unions organise fundraiser for striking refuse workers
Public service unions GMB and UNISON have organised a fundraising event for refuse workers in Leeds in North East England. The workers have been on strike for six weeks in a dispute over pay cuts that could cost some of them up to £6,000 (€6,500) a year. The local authority is trying to impose the pay cuts as part of a strategy to prepare the cleansing services department for privatisation. Read more at > GMB (EN)
Unions submit main demands in non-profit sector
The unions that organise around 50,000 workers in the non-profit sector in Wallonia and the French community have submitted (CNE- CG- CSC/BI – FGTB/HORVAL- SETCa) have submitted a number of demands to employers covering pay and employment conditions. The unions point out that their members deliver a range of vital health and social services, demand for which is increasing as a result of the current crisis. Among the main demands are harmonisation of pay with health workers at federal level, granting of a 13th month salary and extra leave. The unions also want money allocated to employment