Communiqué, issue 1, 2004
Articles
- Similar perceptions of quality of life across Europe
- Higher collective bargaining levels in EU than Japan and USA
- Migration levels likely to be small, survey reveals
- Sharpening Europe's competitive edge
- Spotlight on working conditions in two sectors
- A road map for conflict resolution
- Working conditions: an international comparison
- Europe's small economies worst hit by industrial restructuring cases
- Part-time workers still experience adverse working conditions
Previous issues of Communiqué
Collective bargaining coverage is on average almost four times higher in the European Union than in the USA and three times higher than in Japan, according to the recent annual industrial relations overview released by the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO).
The annual overview Industrial relations in the EU, Japan and USA shows that some two-thirds of the workforce in the new enlarged European Union is covered by collective bargaining. Although collective bargaining coverage is lower in the acceding countries than in the current EU Member States, workers' pay and working conditions across Europe of 25 are agreed collectively to a much greater extent than in Japan and USA. This reflects the sharp differences in the industrial relations systems between the three economies.
'This is the single most striking difference between industrial relations in the EU on the one hand, and in the USA and Japan on the other,' says Willy Buschak, the Foundation’s Acting Director.
Europe leads the way in employee involvement
Research shows that 13 of the current 15 EU Member States have widespread statutory or agreed systems of indirect or direct employee representation at company or workplace levels, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland - and a 2002 EU Directive on national information and consultation rules is likely to spread such arrangements even to these two countries. Across the EU, some 700 European works councils have been established in multinational companies, following the 1994 European Commission’s directive on the issue. Also, a majority of current EU countries have a statutory system of employee representation on company boards.
The new EU Member States will also be required to transpose the information and consultation directive into their own legislation.
In contrast, neither Japan nor USA has any legislation providing for work councils-type structures or board-level employee representation, although forms of own-initiatives do exist, especially in Japan.
Steady decline in union membership
A common feature of Europe, Japan and the USA is that union membership has generally been falling in recent decades. However, average trade union membership levels in the EU are still significantly higher than those in Japan and USA. It is predicted that the EU 25 will have average levels of trade union density of 29%, while Japan stands at 20% and USA at 13%.
In terms of union density, this is generally lower in the acceding countries than in the current EU Member States.