Programme Commission discusses CESI work priorities for 2017

On Friday, January 3, CESI’s Programme Commission met to discuss CESI’s work priorities and main activities for the year 2017.

n line with the motions adopted by the last CESI Congress in December 2016, the overarching topics to guide the work of the General Secretariat will be:

• The future of Europe – Investing in people;
• Public services – Delivering results; and
• Digitalisation – Finding the balance.

Action points of the individual Trade Councils and Commissions, CESI’s specialised internal forums of debate for member organisations, include:

• Employment and Social Affairs (SOC) Commission 
Implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights (esp. regarding access to social protection, the implementation and application of the EU working time directive, and the role of public social investment for economic growth nd social cohesion)
Working for higher youth employment rates (esp. in the context of necessary skills and a facilitated voluntary mobility of apprentices) – jointly with the Education Trade Council

• Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) Commission 
Reducing gender pay and pensions gaps
Combating violence against women, including moral abuse (esp. at work)
Working towards better work-life balance for employees, especially in the field of caring responsibilities

• Central Administration and Finances (ACF) Trade Council 
Highlighting the dangers of austerity politics for the functioning of public services
Reducing in-work poverty
Digitalisation (esp. its contribution to quality public services)
Progressing on social dialogue (esp. concerning a follow-up to the agreement on the rights to information and consultation of workers of central administrations signed on 21 December 2015)
Raising awareness about the role of tax administrations in fighting tax fraud and tax evasion
Implementing worker-friendly telework schemes
Working towards fair advancement and promotion schemes in the civil service
Achieving an effective protection of public services in free trade and investment agreements
Highlighting the role of public services in the intetration of migrants of refugees
Combating violence against public service employees

• Local and Regional Administration (LRA) Trade Council 
Integrating migrants (esp. with regards costs and consequences for administrations and challenges faced by employees)
Impacts of digitalisation on local and regional administrations
Equipping local and regional administration workers in terms of impacts of digitalisation on working conditions and employment relationships
Implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights for staff in local and regional administrations
Addressing the phenomenon of freeman (i.e. criminal law responses to people refusing to recognise the state monopoly and structure while benefitting from it)

• Health (SAN) Trade Council
Following-up on the EU Green Paper on Health
Dealing with shortages of human resources in the health sector
Implications of Brexit on health personnel
Collaborating for the benefit of mobile workers in the health care sector
Achieving a sustainable recruitment of carers

• Education, Training, Research (EDUC) Trade Council
Addressing migration-related challenges for public schools
Achieving better professional training and dual education systems
Improving the image of teachers
Achieving more moral and material support for the education system and education staff
Working for higher youth employment rates (esp. in the context of necessary skills and a facilitated voluntary mobility of apprentices) – jointly with the Employment and Social Affairs (SOC) Commission

• Post and Telecoms (P&T) Trade Council
Working towards an operational ‘Committee to assess economic regulation in the telecommunications sector’ (CEREST)
Addressing impacts of digitalisation in the post and telecom sectors
Achieving better flexible working time organisation schemes for workers in the post and telecoms sectors
Creating more age-appropriate working places
Fighting social dumping in the post and telecoms sectors
Raising awareness about problems related to liberalisations in the post and telecoms sectors

• Security (SEC) Trade Council
Improving counter-terrorism systems and external border controls/related data exchanges
Raising awareness about the role and work of employees in the security sector
Coming forward with a proposal on a fund to security sector employees going through a trauma

• Justice Trade Council
Addressing challenges linked to privatisations in the justice sector and especially of prisons
Highlighting the right of association and industrial action for justice sector employees
Working towards a better training and equipment and a better prevention of violence against employees in the justice sector
Assessing the impacts of the migration on the penitentiary system
Preventing violence against justice employees and achieving better work-life balance for them
Addressing challenges linked to data exchange and data surveillance

• Defence (DEF) Trade Council
Pooling and legitimising security measures in Europe (esp. in the context of the European defence union and the EU Defence action plan)
Raising awareness about implications of cuts in the defence budgets
Improving working conditions and rights of civil and military employees of the defence sector

More information about the individual Trade Councils and Commissions can be accessed here. The meeting dates of the individual trade councils and commissions for the year 2017 will be set shortly.