The OGBL’s Health, Social Services and Education Syndicate wishes to respond to the comments made recently in the press by representatives of COPAS, and to make some important clarifications.

While the OGBL fully agrees with COPAS that the number of staff in the care sector is currently far too low to meet the growing needs of the population and the demands of the sector, the solutions proposed by the employers’ federation are nevertheless seriously flawed.

First, it is important to emphasize that the creation of a new healthcare profession, somewhere between that of the care assistant and that of the nurse, would inevitably introduce several classes of carer in Luxembourg, while it is high time to upgrade the already existing professions.

With the new Bachelor’s-level training for nurses, it is now crucial to offer attractive career prospects to care assistants at the same time.

In order to attract and retain the best talent in the care assistant profession, the OGBL insists that it is vital to upgrade training to precisely the level of a technician’s diploma, rather than creating an additional profession to match.

In this way, the high-quality work carried out in pairs by nurses and care assistants could not only continue to exist in the care sector, but the care assistant would also be given a new role in the hospital environment. In this way, the care assistant profession as a whole, which is vital to Luxembourg’s healthcare system, would be made more attractive to many young people looking for a profession.

Secondly, with regard to the salary conditions of healthcare professionals, the OGBL’s Health, Social Services and Education Syndicate is just as concerned as COPAS about the existing pay gaps in the sector, and welcomes the fact that COPAS has taken up the OGBL’s demand for a single collective bargaining agreement in the sector.

However, the OGBL would like to point out that harmonizing work conditions cannot be financially neutral, as the COPAS president suggests. Indeed, there is only one solution to salary discrepancies in the sector, and that is a net increase in the current lower salaries.

When COPAS suggests that one of the collective bargaining agreements could be upgraded with funding from the budget envelope dedicated to the other collective bargaining agreement, this means that the employers’ federation wishes either to lower, or to slow down, the well-deserved salaries of professionals in the hospital sector. An approach that the OGBL will obviously prevent with all its might.

Press release by the OGBL Health, Social and Educational Services syndicate, April 28, 2023

This is a historic moment for the 250 employees of the Laboratoire National de Santé (LNS) with private-law statute. On April 21, 2023, LNS management and the only trade union represented within the laboratory, the OGBL, signed the first collective bargaining agreement in the company’s history. The agreement is retroactive to January 1, 2023, and is valid for 3 years, i.e. until December 31, 2025.

Discussions on the introduction of a collective bargaining agreement at LNS date back to 2020 – the date of the OGBL’s official request to this effect. Unfortunately, discussions were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the negotiating partners have always been committed to substantially improving staff salaries and working conditions through a collective bargaining agreement.

The health crisis has clearly demonstrated the importance of coordination and collaboration between all players in the healthcare system. As an essential part of Luxembourg’s healthcare system, LNS staff has always demonstrated an exemplary commitment that has gone far beyond simple operational management.

It was in this context that the first collective bargaining agreement was signed at LNS, bringing significant benefits for employees.

Not only were salaries increased by an average of 4.5%, but the value of the index point was brought into line with that of the public sector and the collective bargaining agreement of the Federation of Hospitals (CBA FHL). The employees concerned also benefit from a end-of-year allowance equivalent to a 13th month’s pay. The collective bargaining agreement also provides for a vacation allowance of 512 euros gross per year, plus a one-time bonus of 500 euros gross on signing the collective agreement.

It is also important to note that the permanence allowances are increased and meal vouchers are introduced for all employees.

The collective bargaining agreement also provides for an increase in the number of days of annual leave, from 28 to 32, plus two extra days for employees aged 50 and over, and another two days for employees aged 55 and over. Social leave of 40 hours a year and the introduction of progressive early retirement are also part of the agreement.

Last but not least, the OGBL and LNS management have also included in the agreement the principle of a financial development equivalent to that of the public sector, as is the case for the sector’s two major collective bargaining agreements (SAS and FHL).

Both parties see this agreement as a major step towards greater recognition of LNS staff and their role in the Luxembourg healthcare system. Now, more than ever, it is a question of strengthening our healthcare system through uniform working conditions, and preparing it as well as possible for the challenges of the future.

The management of the LNS and the OGBL would like to thank all employees for their tireless commitment over the last few years.

Communicated by the OGBL and the Management of the Laboratoire National de Santé,
April 24, 2023

After the OGBL’s Health, Social and Educational Services Syndicate drew attention to the unfair hiring policy faced by support staff in the childcare sector, an agreement was reached on February 9 with the employers’ federations that are signatories to the SAS collective agreement.

As a reminder, already in October 2022, the OGBL had denounced this practice of classifying support staff, in direct contact with the beneficiaries, in the lowest career bracket of the SAS collective agreement, i.e. the C1 career. And this without any agreement on this point between the social partners.

After several trade union actions in the last months, the social dialogue between OGBL and FEDAS could finally be resumed. Several meetings took place during which the OGBL was able to successfully defend the interests of the employees concerned. Finally, the SAS Joint Committee succeeded in agreeing on 9 February on the correct interpretation of the application of the SAS collective bargaining agreement to this point.

The result is that from now on employees without socio-educational qualifications who are employed for supervisory tasks or to support socio-educational supervision will be reclassified in the C2 career bracket. During the first three years, they will receive a basic salary and will then progress normally in this career.

For employees without a school diploma, there will be a transition period, mainly to allow them to take the mandatory 118-hour training course entitled “Bases de l’éducation et de l’accompagnement”, at the end of which they will be able to move into the C2 career.

Press release by the OGBL Health, Social and Educational Services Syndicate
February 9, 2023