Rescue workers get better collective agreement

A collective agreement restoring the fully paid 24-hour on-call shift for rescue workers in Estonia was concluded in December 2010, after a heated dispute in which unions picketed government offices. The agreement also means the minimum monthly salary rate for police officers, border guards and rescue workers nationally will remain unchanged. This has been one of the first collective agreements, after the recession, which has introduced changes in work organisation.

Background

Due to the economic crisis, the government had to make major cutbacks in the state budget in 2009, forcing the Estonian Rescue Board (Päästeamet) in turn to cut its budget. This led to an 8% cut in salary for rescue workers, border guards and police officers as of 1 July 2009. The collective agreement for 2010 also stipulated that the salaries would stay at the same level in 2009 with only 22 hours in any 24-hour on-call shift being paid for (the remaining two hours being classed as breaks). Rescue workers were also given an extra seven days’ holiday in 2010, but despite these changes, 38 workers were still made redundant in March 2010 (EE1002019I).

Negotiations for a new collective agreement

In November 2010, the Confederation of Trade Unions of State and Local Government Employees (ROTAL) and the Ministry of the Interior (Siseministeerium) started negotiations for the 2011 collective agreement. ROTAL stated that, due to the crisis, they agreed with the exceptional terms of work organisation for 2010, but demanded that all of the 24-hour on-call shift would be paid in 2011. However, when the Ministry of the Interior said it could not afford to restore the 24-hour system rescue workers decided to organise a picket in front of the headquarters of the Estonian Rescue Board.

Around 250 rescue workers attended the picket on 9 December to protest against the continuation of the work organisation terms concluded in the 2010 collective agreement. In addition, they also demanded the right to strike which is forbidden by law for civil servants. The Estonian Medical Association (EAL) supported the demands of rescue workers and said that the government was risking people’s safety with its attempts to save money.

A week after the picket, the Ministry of the Interior proposed that the two-hour ‘breaks’ would be considered as overtime and count towards days off for the workers. However, rescue workers rejected this, persisting with their demand to get paid for the whole 24-hour on-call shift.

New collective agreement reached

A collective agreement for 2011 was finally concluded on 22 December 2010 by ROTAL and the Ministry of the Interior. The parties agreed that salaries would remain at the same level as that in 2009–2010. The minimum rank-based monthly salary for a 40-hour working week will be €529.19 for police officers and between €440.99 and €587.99 for rescue workers depending on their ranking. However, all working hours of the 24-hour on-call shift for rescue workers will be paid. It has also been agreed that all rescue workers will have to work six to seven fewer shifts per year.

The ministry stressed that the collective agreement means the Estonian Rescue Board does not have to make any job cuts and that the rescuers will still be able to respond to calls within a minute.

Commentary

This has been one of the first collective agreements since the recession began to introduce changes in work organisation. Minister of the Interior Marko Pomerants stated that while police and rescue workers deserve higher salaries, there is no money to pay for this. He added that it would be unreasonable to increase salaries by laying off staff and reducing the quality of the rescue service.

Liina Osila and Kirsti Nurmela, PRAXIS Centre for Policy Studies