Publications

The Norwegian Labour Party (Det norske Arbeiderparti, DnA) held its 59th
national conference in November 2002, and one of the items on the agenda was
the close relationship between the party and the Norwegian Confederation of
Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO). The formal ties between the
two organisations (NO9709122F [1]) are becoming increasingly controversial,
and have been a source of significant criticism both within and outside the
labour movement. Recent developments in terms of declining electoral support
for DnA and declining membership for LO, as well as increasing internal
tension within both organisations, have added to these controversies. In
response to these developments the president of LO, Gerd-Liv Valla, decided
not to join the national executive committee of DnA. However, the delegates
at the conference stressed the need to continue and indeed strengthen
cooperation between the two organisations, but to deliberate and develop less
formal channels of communication and cooperation.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/social-partners-support-for-political-parties-in-the-election-campaign

Following a decision in October to phase out the early retirement scheme for
civil servants, in late 2002 the French government set out its schedule for
pension reform and issued various statements on the issue. It has developed
two priority areas - 'equal treatment for all' and 'freedom of choice'. Trade
unions are challenging the process and fear that the government has already
decided how pensions are to be reformed.

On 25-26 November 2002, over 400 trade union representatives and
employee-side members of European Works Councils (EWCs) took part in a major
conference, entitled /Towards more influence/, which aimed to discuss
improvements in EWC practice and highlight the trade union case for
amendments to the EWCs Directive (94/45/EC) [1]. The conference, organised
jointly by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the main Danish
national trade union organisations, with the support of the European
Commission, was held in the Danish city of Aarhus as part of the programme of
activities associated with Denmark’s Presidency of the EU during the second
half of 2002. This feature reports on the main strands of the discussion.

[1] http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=31994L0045&model=guichett

2002 has seen the creation of a new nationwide trade union organisation in
Poland, alongside the two main existing centres, NSZZ Solidarność and OPZZ.
The Trade Unions Forum (FZZ) has its roots in a number of organisations which
split from OPZZ, and now has 36 affiliates. The new body's membership exceeds
300,000, the threshold for representation on the national Tripartite
Commission, and it is thus seeking a Commission seat alongside NSZZ
Solidarność and OPZZ.

Polish trade unions have problems in articulating the relations between
different levels of their organisation (workplace, regional/branch and
national), exacerbated by the political rift between the two major union
organisations, NSZZ Solidarność and OPZZ. In 2002, there have been a number
of attempts by unions to formulate joint positions and pursue mutual
interests, but these generally continue to be of a half-hearted and strictly
ad hoc nature. However, the increasing presence of multinational companies in
Poland has raised a need for closer cooperation between local union bodies in
these multinationals' Polish operations, especially where there is a European
Works Council in place. This article examines the state of inter-union
cooperation and examines the case of an innovative joint trade union
representation body at the Żywiec brewery group, owned by Heineken.

Although the Hungarian industrial relations system which took shape in the
1990s formally includes three layers of national, sectoral and company-level
institutions, the sector level is widely known to be the weakest of them -
social dialogue and bargaining practices at sector level are fairly
underdeveloped. In 2001, only 6% of employees were covered by voluntary
sectoral collective agreements, and extension procedures (applying sectoral
agreements to employers and employees not belonging to signatory
organisations) increased coverage by only 2.1 percentage points (TN0212102S
[1]). Moreover, the contents of sectoral agreements are rather poor and the
guarantees of implementation are doubtful (TN0207102F [2]). Previous
governments have established various sectoral consultation fora, which
formally work with the sectoral Ministries, but neither employers nor trade
unions have been satisfied with the contents and results of these
negotiations.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/erm/comparative-information/collective-bargaining-coverage-and-extension-procedures
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-in-the-candidate-countries

In late 2002, the Spanish social partners are seeking to negotiate a central
agreement to provide a framework for lower-level collective bargaining in
2003, as they did for 2002. The two main trade union confederations, CC.OO
and UGT, presented their proposals for a new agreement in December. It
appears that a major issue in 2003's collective bargaining will be wage
revision clauses, which link pay increases to inflation. The government
(supported by the Bank of Spain and the IMF) wants to abolish these clauses,
on the grounds that they cause inflation, but the unions see them as
essential for maintaining workers' purchasing power and domestic consumption.

In November 2002, the Spanish government and three trade unions (CC.OO, UGT
and CSI-CSIF) signed an agreement on 'the modernisation and improvement of
the public administration'. The two-year deal will introduce changes aimed at
improving the services provided by the public administration and
rationalising the structure of the workforce. It provides for above-inflation
pay increases and the introduction of a 35-hour week, along with measures to
promote employment stability.

On 6 December 2002, the blue-collar Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions
(Landsorganisationen, LO) presented a report [1] on its members' wages and
their development from 1994 to 2002. The data is based on structural wage
statistics from Sweden Statistics (Statistiska Centralbyrån), divided into
five main sectors. LO has also examined the extent of the 'wage spread' and
its development over 1994-2001.

[1] http://www.lo.se/raw/documents/39511_loner_2002.pdf

New pay agreements for the Swedish information and communications technology
(ICT) sector were concluded on 3 December 2002. The negotiations, which
started earlier in the autumn, were followed with great interest as the
employers had announced publicly that their first offer to the trade unions
was a zero wage increase (SE0211105F [1]). Throughout 2002, there had been a
discussion among ICT companies about even lowering current wages, as the
economic situation in the sector is so poor (SE0202107F [2]).

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/wage-decreases-very-rare
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/ict-companies-seeking-pay-cuts