Publications

On 27 May 1999, negotiators for the Federation of Salaried Employees in
Industry and Services (Privattjänstemannakartellen, PTK) - the bargaining
cartel for white-collar workers' unions in the private sector - announced
that they could not accept a final offer from the Swedish Employers'
Confederation (Svenska arbetsgivareföreningen, SAF) on a new "contribution
pension" agreement. This agreement would have replaced the existing agreement
on the supplementary pension scheme for salaried employees in industry and
services (Industrins och handelns tilläggspensionför tjänstemän,ITP). The
negotiations over a new collective agreement on the ITP had been continuing
on off for almost five years, since 1994, and they failed because the trade
unions could not come to an understanding among themselves. Two of the
leading unions within PTK, representing more than half of the 620,000
employees covered by the ITP scheme, refused to accept. The other 26 unions
within the cartel decided, after long discussions, to follow this refusal,
although they had initially accepted the offer. The dissenting unions were
the Union for Technical and Clerical Employees in Industry (Svenska
Industritjänstemannaförbundet, SIF) and the Association of Management and
Professional Staff (Ledarna).

The dispute between the Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS) and its ground
staff was resolved after a meeting between management and trade union
representatives on 9 August 1999 in Stockholm, Sweden. On 14 July 1999,
Norwegian ground staff who are members of the SAS Personnel Club (SAS
Personalklubb) had resorted to industrial action, and refused to work
overtime, in protest against the airline's possible plans to increase company
earnings by means of outsourcing approximately 7,000 jobs in Norway, Sweden
and Denmark (NO9907143N [1]). More SAS employees joined the strike on 27
July.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/norwegian-sas-employees-refuse-to-work-extra-overtime

On 20 July 1999, the government decided to finance the training of up to
4,000 young people, if they cannot find training places with employers in
1999-2000. This is the same allocation as for 1998-9 (AT9803175N [1]), when
3,600 young people were placed - 2,100 in 10-month training courses and 1,500
in three-year "apprenticeship-foundation" courses. Training course
participants must have a ninth-grade school-leaving diploma (the ninth grade
is around 15 years of age) and receive about half the regular apprentice's
remuneration, while foundation course participants have not usually completed
the ninth grade and receive three-quarters of the normal apprentice's
remuneration.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/youth-employment-measures-agreed

Statistics presented in June 1999 and produced by Statistics Sweden
(Statistiska Centralbyrån) in cooperation with the Swedish National Board
for Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK), show a 9% fall in the
establishment of new companies between 1997 and 1998. In 1998, a total of
33,860 new companies were started, compared with 37,040 in 1997. For the
preceding years, the corresponding figures were: 1996 - 36,010; 1995 -
35,000; and 1994 - 34,670. The new companies created 55,200 new jobs in 1998,
of which 26,000 were full-time jobs, the statistics also show. The equivalent
figures for 1997 were 63,000 new jobs and 32,300 full-time jobs. The
reduction has been most evident in the northern counties of Sweden - 22% in
Gävleborg, 20% in Västernorrland and 16% in Västerbotten. The statistics
are based on genuine new start-ups involving the establishment of new
activities. The statistics do not include changes of ownership or of legal
status, or other restructuring.

A summary of the results of research on the relationship between employment status and health. A bibliographic review was undertaken and data from the 1996 Second European Survey on Working Conditions complemented by Eurostat data was also analysed.

In summer 1999, at the half-way point of the Spanish social partners'
four-year pact for employment stability, later endorsed by parliament, the
parties have evaluated its results. After two years, employment - and
especially stable employment - has increased significantly. However, there
has been no substantial decrease in the level of temporary employment and
contract turnover continues to increase.

/It seems inevitable that increasing economic integration and competition
within Europe will have some influence on national collective bargaining. The
aim of this comparative study is to provide an assessment, as of summer 1999,
of the extent to which the processes and outcomes of bargaining in the 15
Member States of the EU, plus Norway, are developing a cross-border, European
dimension. The study outlines the diverse processes, both implicit and
explicit, which can be said to be leading towards a "Europeanisation" of
collective bargaining. Developments across the 16 countries concerned are
examined at intersectoral, sectoral and enterprise levels, with a special
focus on metalworking and financial services, and the views of the social
partners are summarised./

In July 1999, the joint employer-trade union administrative board of France's
National Sickness Insurance Fund (CNAM) approved, by a large majority, a
strategic reform plan. This package of measures is designed to reduce
spending and improve the quality of healthcare. CNAM hopes that the
government will give legislative effect to the plan.

In June 1999, the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) expressed its
total opposition to proposals from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
reduce the wages of new entrants to the labour market and to cut labour
costs.

The total number of requests to terminate employment contracts declined in
the Netherlands in 1998, according to the Annual Report on termination
statistics, issued in summer 1999. However, the number of requests related to
occupational disability has increased.