European Police Union - EPU
 


On Wednesday, March 17, Border police union SIPA (affiliated within the EPU) and the trade union of the directorate for coordination of police bodies, affiliated within the Trade Union Police in BiH, demonstrated in Sarajevo against the current working conditions for state police officers in Bosnia in Herzegovina.

Police personnel in BiH have been placed under an unacceptable amount of pressure because more and more austerity measures are being implemented in the security sector. There is insufficient personal protection equipment (PPE) and besides that officers are not being given the training or retraining required to deal with new security challenges we are now facing. There is a serious shortage of adequately qualified personnel. Also the terms of employment, including wage agreements, pensions, allowances and conducting a social dialogue are also below average.

This is also confirmed in our analysis of our research “Minimum Standards for Maximum Security for police officers in Europe when it comes to their uniforms, equipment, training and socio-economic status. The results of this study also shows that border police officers in BiH have the longest working shifts in Europe, ranging from 12-16 hours a day; are not provided with vaccinations against infectious diseases and proper medical care. There is no agreement on terms of employment for police personnel (bargaining consultation between the employer (Government) and the employee (police unions) hardly take place).

European Police Union (EPU) believes that police officers in BiH require personal protection equipment and good working conditions (including a representative income) if they are to work in a safe and healthy manner. We find it necessary that the Government of BiH should take immediate actions to develop certain minimum standards that provide police officers and their professional organization guaranty in several directions (PPE and socio-economic status). 

EPU-Letter to Ursula von der Leyen
2021_03_12 - EPU letter to Ursula von der Leyen - EN.pdf (132.72KB)
EPU-Letter to Ursula von der Leyen
2021_03_12 - EPU letter to Ursula von der Leyen - EN.pdf (132.72KB)

Congratulations Rainer Wendt on your reappointment as DPOLG’s federal chairman. We are looking forward to a continued fruitful cooperation with you, as we face new challenges together.

Gerrit van de Kamp

Chairman of EPU

Letter to the European heads of government - police and corona
Gerrit van de Kamp, President of the European Police Union
2020 19.03 European heads of government police and corona.pdf (74.61KB)
Letter to the European heads of government - police and corona
Gerrit van de Kamp, President of the European Police Union
2020 19.03 European heads of government police and corona.pdf (74.61KB)
COVID-19, Support Letter
Dubravko Jagić, President, Police Union of Croatia
145_19-03-2020 EPU - COVID-19 - Support Letter.pdf (730.24KB)
COVID-19, Support Letter
Dubravko Jagić, President, Police Union of Croatia
145_19-03-2020 EPU - COVID-19 - Support Letter.pdf (730.24KB)

 

ROMANIA - STREET PROTESTS OF POLICE OFFICERS AND CONTRACTUEL PERSONNEL FROM THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

As a consequence of the unsuccessful negotiations unwound over many months, regarding their professional and socio-economic rights, on the 3rd of March 2020, The National Trade Union Of Police And Contractual Personnel, SNPPC, - member of EPU, organized a public demonstration, in the Revolution Square of Bucharest, in front of the Ministry Of Internal Affairs headquarters, in whose subordination they find the National Police, the Border Police and other law enforcement institutions. 

The demonstration coincided with The Ministry of Internal Affair’s audit for 2019 which benefitted from presence of the President of Romania, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, various personalities and individuals in charge of the Justice and Internal Affairs System, ambassadors, journalists, etc. The main requests SNPPC addressed the Minister of Internal Affairs were: - Immediately bringing into effect of some judicial decisions issued by the Constitutional Court, by the High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania, by the Courts of Appeal and by the Courts of Law, which refer to salary adjustments for the police personnel, beginning with 2016, in the sense that the basic salary must be equalized for those who take up the same positions and perform the same activities listed in the job description (the salary differences will be given only by the accumulated service, by the specific allowances, by the overtime or by the working weekends, etc.); more specifically, SNPPC asked for a future recalculation of salaries and the payment of the back wages for the last 3 years (including the recalculation of pensions for those who benefitted from this right); - The cancellation of some professional incompatibilities (the interdiction of running some other activities) recently issued for the criminal police officers, those who work under the direct subordination of the prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice, incompatibilities even tougher than those stipulated by the Law regarding the Status of Law Enforcement Personnel. More specifically, those interdictions affect functions such as that of a trade union leader, of a member in a professional association or in a humanitarian foundation, etc.; - The adoption of the necessary measures for minimizing the personnel deficit especially in the rural area, which leads to overburdening the police personnel, to working overtime, and, implicitly, to providing ineffectual public services for both the citizens and the state. - developing of some programs in the Police logistics, considering the poor condition of the headquarters of many operative police units, especially those in the rural area, which need immediate investments in order to comply with the necessary working conditions and the required health and work safety standards. - modernizing the car fleet of the Romanian Police and ensuring its maintenance, considering the wearing out of the logistics, which endangers the police officers’ lives and even the general traffic safety. - ensuring the necessary safety equipment for the police officers and the equipment needed for neutralizing the violent perpetrators. 

European Police Union (EPU) and Eurofedop are gravely disturbed by the information we received about the situation in the Polish police forces and for firefighters. It concerns failed agreements regarding the social economic situation of police-officers; their working conditions and collective rights (including pensions, etc.) under the responsibility of the Polish Government.

The European Police Union is following the situation with the social dialogue in Poland with serious concern, having in mind that these problems have been placed since years and the Polish politicians have not undertaken any development of this important issue. It is not only seen as a very serious and dangerous situation for the (social) safety of the Polish police officers but also for its citizens that must be avoided at all costs.

The EPU thus firmly request the Polish Government to:
• Increase the salaries by January 1, 2019  up to 650 PLN for each police-officer;
• Reinstating the retirement pension system which was in force until 31 December 2012;
• Stop the freezing of police-officers payments;
• Full payment for the time spent on duty exceeding the norms determined for each uniformed service, overtime and duty on public holidays;
• Levelling the status of police-officers recruited to service after 1 January 1999 with the status of police-officer recruited before this date in respect of article 15a of the police-officers retirement pension act;
Restoring full payment for the sick leave no longer than 30 days per year.

The European Police Union (EPU) officially calls on the Polish Government and the European Institutions to take immediate corrective actions to prevent the serious consequences of security breaches on national and European level. And strongly demands to bring the level of salaries and working conditions (including pensions) of the Polish police-officers to a fair level and to European standards.

Always remember that brave people deserve respect and dignity!

 

 

On 22 May 2017 EPU's member organization  started a trial against Ministry of Interior.
TUFEMI pleaded that the non-provision of uniform clothing or the payment of its money equivalent is discrimination from the Minister of Interior against all uniformed workers, obliged to perform their duties

This month the decision of the Commission for Protection against Discrimination was published and it is as follows: 

ESTABLISHES that the Minister of the Interior has committed direct discrimination based on a "personal status" against all uniformed officers of the Ministry of the Interior who were obliged to perform their duties in uniforms for the period 2014-2017, but did not receive such or theirs money equivalent.

REQUIRES, on the base of Art. 76, of the Act for protection against discrimination, imposed administrative measures to the Minister of Interior to be taken and is prescribing measures under Articles 10 and 11 to be taken and a mechanism for sustainable settlement of the issue with workers’ uniforms at Ministry of Interior to be provided.

DEFINES on the base of Art.67 of the Act for protection against discrimination, within three months from the entry into force of the present decision, the addressee of the enforcement measures of this decision, the Minister of Interior, to take measures for its enforcement and to notify the Commission for protection against discriminations about them.

 

 Media Publication - Press Conference Berlin

https://charismatismus.wordpress.com/2017/10/30/europaeische-polizei-union-aufklaerung-ueber-islam-terror-asylkrise-und-kriminalitaet/

http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/polizei-europa-101.html

http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/maengel-bei-der-bewaeltigung-der-fluechtlingskrise-europaeische-polizeigewerkschaft-fordert-mindeststandards-bei-der-ausruestung_id_7797557.html

http://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/politik/inland/polizeigewerkschaft-fordert-bessere-ausruestung-100.html

https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article170254331/Polizisten-fuehlen-sich-schlecht-vorbereitet-auf-Fluechtlinge.html?wtrid=socialmedia.email.sharebutton

 

On behalf of more than 15 police unions throughout Europe, I would like to welcome you to the website of the European Police Union (EPU). The EPU is an independent police union in Europe serving the interests of in excess of 800,000 police officers each and every day. Police officers who practice their risky profession on a daily basis so as to ensure safety and security for all of the citizens of Europe. Order, peace and security are essential for living and working in Europe. The police unions affiliated with the EPU are dedicated to both the intrinsic policing profession and the employment conditions and relations. We do this by working together at local, national and European level. The EPU is characterized by amicable cooperation on the basis of equality. In addition to influencing European Parliament, the European Commission and European government, our trade union work entails supporting our colleagues, e.g. educating and training executives from the affiliated trade unions and fostering Social Dialogue. In this regard, national culture and customs are primary. Thus in recent years we have achieved plenty of engaging results, more on which can be found on this website or on the sites of the affiliated police unions. To date, this has given more and more police unions in Europe cause to join forces with us. Thus the strength of the EPU lies in performing trade union work for and with one another with the aim of striving towards a high-quality, social living environment for our members and a safe and secure Europe for the citizens. On behalf of the affiliated police unions I would like to invite you to join us in striving towards this goal or to support us in doing so.

 Yours fraternally

Gerrit van de Kamp

Shortcomings in European admission policy for refugees 

There are serious shortcomings in European admission policy for refugees. Police forces in the Netherlands, Germany and the Balkan countries are under-staffed and under-equipped to process and screen large flows of refugees

The collective of police trade unions united within the European Police Union (EPU) calls upon the European institutions (the European Parliament and the European Commission) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fulfil their responsibility to scale up the work quality (job content, employment conditions, terms of employment, employment relationships) of police officers in Europe to an acceptable Level. Attached you will find the full EPU statement on Police protection in a century of radical changes.

Answer from the European Commission
Letter from the Office of the President Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker
renditionDownload.pdf (30.41KB)
Answer from the European Commission
Letter from the Office of the President Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker
renditionDownload.pdf (30.41KB)

Gerrit van de Kamp, President of EPU writes a letter to Valdis Dombrovkis, Vice-president of the European Commission

EPU supports Serbian Police and Army for protection of the social dialogue

EPU wishes Police and Army success in the protest for better working conditions. Please read the Support letter below

 

 

 

EPU Facebook-Page

NEWS

European Police Union's (EPU) proposed minimum standards for all (!) police officers in patrol Equipment

EPU supports Bulgarian Police Trade Union TUFEMI

Letter of Support - TUFEMI
04.07.17 letter of support TUFEMI 5 July 2017.pdf (512.67KB)
Letter of Support - TUFEMI
04.07.17 letter of support TUFEMI 5 July 2017.pdf (512.67KB)

European’s Police Union’s (EPU) proposed minimumstandards and the equipment for the police patrol & traffic control cars for all (!) police organizations across Europe.

Minimum Standards for Maximal Security
minimum_standards.pdf (95.13KB)
Minimum Standards for Maximal Security
minimum_standards.pdf (95.13KB)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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