August 2002
- 30 Aug 2002
Finland: Pensions proposal falls in face of AKAVA and STTK opposition<#PDF_LINK>In August 2002, a Finnish working group on pensions reform made a proposal for a new method of calculating pensions. However, the proposal fell because of opposition from the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees (STTK) and the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals (AKAVA), despite support from the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) and the Employers’ Confederation of Service Industries (PT). The social partners have been given an extension for their negotiations, but the final decision will probably be referred to the government.
- 29 Aug 2002
Hungary: Agreements signed on implementation of public service pay rises<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, a national agreement was signed in Hungary's National Labour Council for Public Employees (KOMT) on the implementation of a 50% average pay increase for public service employees introduced by the new Socialist-led government. Following the KOMT recommendations, eight ministries had signed agreements with trade unions on the distribution of the available extra pay resources by late August. Although these sectoral and subsectoral agreements cannot be deemed as collective agreements with legally enforceable status, acting rather as recommendations for local governments running public service institutions, they should make a major contribution to a fair and negotiated distribution of the available funds for pay increases.
- 28 Aug 2002
Germany: Political parties' manifesto proposals on employment and industrial relations<#PDF_LINK>A general election will be held in Germany in September 2002 and, as the campaign gets under way, all the major political parties have issued their election manifestos. This feature examines the parties’ proposals in the area of industrial relations, the labour market, employment policy, and gender policy.
- 28 Aug 2002
Finland: Social partners propose measures to combat unemployment<#PDF_LINK>In August 2002, the Finnish social partners issued their proposals for tackling unemployment, in connection with the government’s 2003 budget preparations. Various organisations have proposed, among other measures, a decrease in taxation for low wage earners. Looming in the background of the debate are the forthcoming parliamentary elections in spring 2003 and negotiations over a new incomes policy agreement in autumn 2002.
- 27 Aug 2002
Slovenia: New law regulates public employment and labour relations<#PDF_LINK>In June 2002, the Slovene parliament adopted a new Law on Public Employees (LPE), which will come into operation in June 2003. The legislation represent an important step in the reform of the public administration in Slovenia. The first, smaller part of the LPE concerns the whole public sector and covers all public employees, setting out common principles governing collective and individual labour relations. The second, larger part of the LPE governs the specific employment system for public employees and public servants in state bodies and in the administration of local communities, and regulates the particularities of labour relations in this part of the public sector.
- 27 Aug 2002
Poland: Non-union forms of employee representation<#PDF_LINK>Trade unions are the main channel of representation of workers' interests in Polish companies. However, the unions' increasing marginalisation and declining membership tends to hamper such representation. This feature examines the non-union forms of company-level employee representation in place in some types of enterprises in 2002, concluding that such channels - mainly workers' councils and employee representation on supervisory boards - are limited in scope and largely ineffective. Meanwhile, Poland has recently adopted legislation to implement the EU Directive on European Works Councils.
- 22 Aug 2002
Denmark: Meat industry employers to join Confederation of Danish Industries<#PDF_LINK>In August 2002, the Danish Employers' Association of the Meat Industry (SA) applied for membership of the Confederation of Danish Industries (DI) - and thus of the Danish Employers' Confederation (DA) - having resigned from the Confederation of Employers' Associations in Agriculture (SALA) in March 2002 due to disagreement concerning future strategy. Acceptance of SA's membership application should be a formality. This move will strengthen both the position of SA in its next collective bargaining round in 2003, and DI's position as DA's largest member organisation.
- 22 Aug 2002
France: SMIC debate gathers momentum<#PDF_LINK>Since the implementation of the legislation introducing the 35-hour working week, France's SMIC national minimum wage has had a number of different rates. The debate over how a single SMIC rate is again to be achieved continued throughout summer 2002, with the Economic and Social Council issuing its opinion on the matter in July. The Minister of Social Affairs, Labour and Solidarity, François Fillon, then outlined his proposals for resolving the SMIC issue, as well as for lowering employers' social security contributions, which will be officially presented in the autumn.
- 22 Aug 2002
France: New government sets out social and employment priorities<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, France's new Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, presented his government's programme to the National Assembly. In addition to a firm statement on the importance of social dialogue and the social partners, the Prime Minister announced action in important social and employment areas, including pensions, social security, youth employment, the fight against exclusion and discrimination, and the reform of the state. While employers' associations were on the whole satisfied, trade union reaction was more circumspect or even hostile.
- 22 Aug 2002
Austria: Austria under fire over discrimination against non-EEA workers<#PDF_LINK>Austrian labour legislation denies foreign national from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) the right to stand in elections to works councils. This arrangement - unique among EEA countries - is perceived as discriminatory, not only by non-EEA citizens working in Austria, but also by some representatives of organised labour and, not least, by the European Commission. In 2002, the issue has been further highlighted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which has condemned the Austrian rules in this area in its views on a case brought by a Turkish national, whose election as a works council member was overturned by the Austrian courts.
- 21 Aug 2002
Portugal: Number of collective agreements falls<#PDF_LINK>Official statistics on collective bargaining and industrial action in Portugal in the first half of 2002, published in August 2002, show that there was a steep fall in the number of agreements concluded, and that the number of strikes rose. The number of company-level agreements declined particularly sharply. Meanwhile, the government has announced changes to the legislation regulating bargaining.
- 21 Aug 2002
Slovakia: The organisation of the social partners<#PDF_LINK>This feature examines the current organisation of the social partners in Slovakia, looking at the development of trade unions and employers' organisations from the fall of the communist regime in 1989 until 2002, and outlining the key features of the main organisations, as well as the changing role of the state. Overall, the organisational structures of both trade unions and employers seem to be relatively well equipped to engage in collective bargaining and in tripartite social dialogue with the government. Nevertheless, some further development is needed.
- 21 Aug 2002
Poland: Declining trade union density examined<#PDF_LINK>Over the past 20 years, trade union density in Poland has dropped from 80% of the workforce to 14% in 2002. This sharp decrease in density has been influenced by a number of economic and political factors. As a result, Poland, whose trade unions played a highly important role in 1980s, now has much weaker unions than most other European countries. This feature examines the development of Polish trade unions, the reasons for their decline and the initiatives taken in recent years by unions in an attempt to reverse their falling membership.
- 21 Aug 2002
Finland: Merit pay spreads rapidly<#PDF_LINK>According to surveys published in summer 2002 by the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) and the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries (PT), merit pay - defined as variable pay linked to criteria such as company profits or results - has become widespread in Finnish companies, which plan to extend it further. Trade unions would like to agree on therules of the gamefor merit pay in the next national incomes policy agreement, while the employers reject this idea.
- 20 Aug 2002
Sweden: Committee recommends 'adjustment agreements' for entire labour market<#PDF_LINK>White-collar workers in the Swedish private sector and central government sector are covered by collectiveadjustment agreements, providing them with support and benefits in the event of redundancy. In July 2002, a government-appointed committee presented a report on adjustment agreements, recommending that similar accords should be established across the whole labour market, as they bring advantages for all parties.
- 20 Aug 2002
EU Level: Commission issues Communication on social dialogue<#PDF_LINK>A new Communication from the European Commission, issued in June 2002, sets out ways in which the EU-level social dialogue process can be strengthened and enhanced over the coming years. One of the main innovations is the proposed creation of a new tripartite social summit, which would replace the Standing Committee on Employment.
- 20 Aug 2002
Netherlands: Job creation project for foreign nationals in SMEs achieves limited success<#PDF_LINK>A Dutch scheme to create jobs for migrant workers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) completed its second year of operation in 2002. The initiative has achieved its targets - one of the few schemes to increase labour market participation among foreign nationals to do so - and the employers and employees concerned appear satisfied with the results. However, a study published in June 2002 found that the results achieved are in fact less notable. It appears that economic upturn of recent years had a far greater impact on reducing unemployment among migrant workers.
- 20 Aug 2002
Ireland: Workplace partnership 'needs to evolve to next stage'<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, Ireland’s new National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP) issued a report on modernising workplaces through a partnership approach. The NCCP's executive chair stated that a new direction is now needed for workplace partnership, and that it has to move on to the next stage. Although there have been some signs of progress, advanced forms of workplace partnership are still rare in Ireland.
- 19 Aug 2002
Slovenia: Law on European Works Councils adopted<#PDF_LINK>In June 2002, the Slovene parliament passed a Law on European Works Councils (LEWC), aimed at transposing the EU Directive on EWCs into national legislation in advance of EU accession. The LEWC can be seen as a natural extension of existing Slovene legislation on employee information, consultation and co-determination, which does not take into account supranational company decision-making. In practical terms, the impact of EWCs in Slovenia is still at an early stage.
- 19 Aug 2002
United Kingdom: Human resource management in the National Health Service<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) launched anHR in the NHS Plan. The plan sets out the significant contribution that human resource management is expected to make to patient care over the next five years. This feature discusses key elements of the plan in the context of increased health spending, arguments that good human resource management is a crucial element in improving organisational performance, and hospitalleague tables.
- 19 Aug 2002
Germany: Study examines 'mobbing' at the workplace<#PDF_LINK>In a report published in June 2002, the SFS Institute for Social Research analyses the extent, structure and consequences ofmobbingat the workplace - ie bullying and harassment - in Germany. The study indicates that some 2.7% of German workers are currently affected by mobbing. For women, the risk of beingmobbedis 75% higher than it is for men.
- 13 Aug 2002
Norway: Footballers take strike action<#PDF_LINK>On 23 June 2002, some 200 players in the Norwegian football league's two highest divisions took part in Norway's first football strike. The action arose from a dispute over issues including players' contracts and occupational injury insurance.
- 13 Aug 2002
Norway: Sickness absence continues to increase<#PDF_LINK>New figures issued in summer 2002 show that the sickness absence rate continues to rise in Norway, despite an October 2001 agreement between the social partners and government aimed at reducing the rate by 20% by 2005.
- 13 Aug 2002
Portugal: Government proposes Labour Code<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, the Portuguese government issued a draft Labour Code, which would replace most current labour legislation by bringing existing provisions together in a single text. At the same time, current provisions would be amended in a variety of areas, including fixed-term employment contracts, dismissals, collective bargaining, working time and absence from work. While employers welcome the proposal as introducing more flexibility, trade unions are strongly opposed, fearing a full-scale liberalisation of the employment relationship.
- 07 Aug 2002
Netherlands: No support for coalition agreement among social partners<#PDF_LINK>Both trade unions and employers' organisations have reacted negatively to the coalition agreement reached by the new three-party centre-right government formed in June 2002. The most controversial points of the government's plans relate to reform of WAO disability benefits and private pensions, abolition of subsidised employment schemes, and cutbacks in public employment and severance pay.
- 07 Aug 2002
Netherlands: Employees oppose new government's cutbacks in refugee agencies<#PDF_LINK>The new Dutch centre-right government which came to office in June 2002 plans to cut the fixed budget for the Central Body for Asylum Seekers (COA) and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) by 90% over the next four years. The rationale is that the budget should match the volume of refugees and asylum seekers dealt with and cannot be determined in advance. The works councils representing staff at the COA and IND reject these proposals and many staff stopped work on 23 July to take part in a protest meeting organised by trade unions.
- 07 Aug 2002
Belgium: Agreement on outplacement for older workers<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, the Belgian social partners on the National Labour Council concluded a collective agreement laying down the rules for a right to outplacement assistance for workers over the age of 45 who lose their jobs. The agreement, which implements earlier legislation on this issue, comes into force in September 2002.
- 07 Aug 2002
Italy: National collective agreement for temporary agency workers renewed<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, employers' organisations and trade unions in the Italian temporary agency work sector signed a new national collective agreement. Alongside provisions on issues such as pay, training and trade union representation, the agreement provides for the creation of a number of joint bodies.
- 07 Aug 2002
Italy: Agreement on economic recovery signed at Fiat<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, trade unions and management at Italy's Fiat industrial group signed an agreement on a plan for the economic recovery of the troubled group. The agreement seeks to improve the competitiveness of Fiat's automobile division, through measures including over 2,400 redundancies. One of the three main metalworkers' trade unions, Fiom-Cgil, did not sign the agreement.
- 07 Aug 2002
Italy: Social partners sign deal on irregular work<#PDF_LINK>In late July 2002, 36 Italian trade union and employers' organisations signed a joint opinion on measures toregulariseirregular work - ie employment which is not declared for tax and social security purposes and does not observe the pay and conditions laid down by sectoral collective agreements - and help firms emerge from the underground economy. The agreement, which will be implemented by the government, provides for important changes to existing procedures. The Cgil trade union confederation did not sign the joint opinion.
- 07 Aug 2002
France: Government unveils new youth employment scheme<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, France's new conservative government unveiled a new scheme to promote employment among unskilled young people, who have been particularly hard hit by unemployment. The new scheme is based on substantial financial incentives for employers to recruit young people under a new type of contract. Trade unions have criticised both the lack of consultation in drawing up the scheme and the absence of any training component .
- 07 Aug 2002
Poland: Dispute over closure of Fabryka Kabli<#PDF_LINK>Workers at the Fabryka Kabli cable and wire plant in O?arów, Poland, have been taking strike and other action since April 2002 in protest at the decision to close the factory taken by its new owner, Tele-Fonika. In early August 2002, the dispute shows no sign of being resolved.
- 06 Aug 2002
Ireland: ICTU settles sex discrimination case<#PDF_LINK>In June 2002, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland welcomed the settlement, for around EUR 39,000 andother terms, of a sex discrimination case brought against the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) by one of its own staff.
- 06 Aug 2002
Ireland: Waterford Crystal agrees 'plan for renewal and future growth'<#PDF_LINK>Waterford Crystal, the Irish glassware manufacturer, concluded a new agreement on aplan for renewal and future growthwith its workforce in April 2002. It covers issues such as voluntary redundancies and new working patterns.
- 06 Aug 2002
Austria: Non-wage labour costs under discussion<#PDF_LINK>In the first half of 2002, Austria's Chamber of the Economy (WKÖ) intensified its long-standing demand for a reduction in companies’ non-wage labour costs, in order to strengthen the performance of the Austrian economy. Since the current government supports this initiative, in April 2002 the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) launched a campaign to maintain the level of non-wage labour costs, because these result from contributions shared by both employers and employees to finance the social security system.
- 06 Aug 2002
Luxembourg: New collective agreement signed in banking<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, a new two-year collective agreement for the Luxembourg banking sector was signed, but by only one of the industry's three representative trade unions, ALEBA. It takes account of a proposal from the chair of the National Conciliation Office, made after initial talks broke down.
- 06 Aug 2002
Germany: Bundesrat rejects law on collectively agreed pay in public procurement<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, the Bundesrat - the second chamber of Germany's parliament, representing the federal states' governments - rejected a government bill which would have obliged companies seeking to obtain public contracts in construction and local public transport to pay their employees collectively agreed wage rates.
- 06 Aug 2002
Poland: 'First Job' programme seeks to prevent youth unemployment<#PDF_LINK>Unemployment among young people in Poland is three times higher than the average rate, which is itself high. In order to address the problem and seek to prevent youth unemployment, in June 2002 the government launched a new programme,First Job, whose aim is to enable young people entering the labour market to acquire their first work experience.
- 06 Aug 2002
Denmark: Employers promote flexible 'buffet' wage system<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, the Danish Commerce and Service (DHS) employers’ organisation launched a document promoting a flexiblebuffetsystem, whereby employees could construct their own package of pay and benefits. An example of this approach is the Oracle software company, where employees can now choose how their package of wages, benefits, holidays and pension contributions should be distributed, trading off some elements for others. Trade unions are sceptical, but believe that in the near future collective agreements will become more and more individualised.
- 06 Aug 2002
Slovakia: Labour Protection Information Centre starts operations<#PDF_LINK>In April 2002, a new Labour Protection Information Centre (ICOP) was launched in Slovakia, based on a decision of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family and as a result of the EU's PHARE project. ICOP specialises in providing information to employers, employees, experts and the public on occupational safety and health, plus employment relations. It is the first body of it type in Slovakia and operates under the aegis of the National Labour Inspectorate.
- 06 Aug 2002
EU Level: Eurostat charts incidence of weekend working<#PDF_LINK>An analysis of the 2000 EU Labour Force Survey, published by Eurostat in July 2002, shows that a significant proportion of the EU workforce works at weekends. However, there are large variations across Member States.
- 06 Aug 2002
EU Level: New campaign to combat work-related stress<#PDF_LINK>A new campaign aimed at fighting work-related stress was launched in July 2002 by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. It is estimated that this problem affects over 40 million employees in the EU.
- 06 Aug 2002
United Kingdom: Government issues discussion paper on employee involvement<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, as a first step towards the UK implementation of the EU employee information and consultation Directive, the government published a discussion paper on employee involvement intended to highlight some of the main issues raised by the Directive. The government will be consulting at a later stage on specific legislative proposals.
- 06 Aug 2002
United Kingdom: Local government workers strike over pay<#PDF_LINK>In July 2002, local government workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland mounted a one-day strike in pursuit of a 6% pay increase. The stoppage was the first national strike in local government since the so-calledwinter of discontentin 1978-9.
- 06 Aug 2002
Poland: New Minister of Finance seeks to protect jobs<#PDF_LINK>Grzegorz Kołodko was appointed as Poland's new Minister of Finance in July 2002. He has decided to cancel a part of the debts of large industrial companies in order to prevent them going into bankruptcy, thus helping to protect jobs in these firms. The Minister's proposals have been welcomed by trade unions, but heavily criticised by the organisations representing private employers.
- 06 Aug 2002
Sweden: EU Directives on part-time and fixed-term work implemented<#PDF_LINK>Legislation implementing the EU Directives on part-time and fixed term work in Sweden came into force on 1 July 2002. The new law forbids discrimination in pay and employment conditions against part-time workers and workers on fixed-term contracts. Sweden has also recently ratified the 1994 ILO Convention on part-time work.
- 02 Aug 2002
Slovakia: New employment framework for public employees<#PDF_LINK>New legislation on employment conditions in the public sector came into force in Slovakia in April 2002, with separate provisions for the civil service and for the public service. While all employees were formerly covered by the same employment law, the new public sector regulations, along with a new Labour Code for the business sector introduced on the same date, mean that separate rules now apply to public and private sector workers. The new public sector legislation seeks to address the growing differences in employment conditions between the public and private sectors, by improving pay and conditions in the public sector.
- 02 Aug 2002
Denmark: Closed-shop agreements to be banned<#PDF_LINK>Denmark's Liberal-Conservative coalition government is due to propose legislation prohibiting closed-shop agreements in autumn 2002. According to a government-commissioned report drawn up by civil servants, published in July 2002, there is nothing to hinder the abolition of closed-shop agreements. However, existing closed shops will still be permitted in the liberal professions, such as those operated by the professional associations for doctors and lawyers. The trade unions see this as victimisation of the trade union movement and oppose the government's plans.