Publications

At their June 2007 summit, the Dutch cabinet and the social partners decided
to establish a taskforce to raise the level of labour market participation,
particularly among women and older people (*NL0704059I* [1], *NL0707069I*
[2]). In the autumn of 2007, the Central Bureau of Statistics (Centraal
Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS [3]) published figures showing that labour
market participation has indeed risen for these target groups. The desire of
women and older people to seek paid employment has also increased.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/labour-force-participation-top-of-agenda-in-unions-talks-with-new-cabinet
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-agree-measures-to-increase-labour-market-participation
[3] http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/default.htm?Languageswitch=on

On 2 October 2007, Austria’s main social partner organisations presented a
joint employment programme which is designed to substantially reform the
country’s vocational training [1] and qualification system. This programme
ensued from intense and long-lasting negotiations between the Austrian Trade
Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [2]) and the
Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer, AK [3]) on the employees’ side and the
Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ [4])
and the Standing Committee of the Presidents of the Chambers of Agriculture
(Präsidentenkonferenz der Landwirtschaftskammern, PKLWK [5]) on the
employers’ side. The employment programme, entitled ‘Labour market –
Future 2010 (in German, 171Kb PDF) [6], contains a variety of proposals for
meeting the business demand for skilled labour on the one hand and securing a
high level of youth employment on the other hand.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/vocational-training
[2] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0
[3] http://www.arbeiterkammer.at/www-18.html
[4] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk
[5] http://www.landwirtschaftskammer.at/netautor/napro4/appl/na_professional/parse.php?mlay_id=20000&xmlval_ID_KEY[0]=2000
[6] http://www.sozialpartner.at/sozialpartner/20071001_Sozialpartner MaßnahmenpaketArbeitsmarkt_vorläufigeEndversion.pdf

On 30 October 2007, the two sectoral trade unions and the branch subunits of
the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKO
[1]) signed a follow-up collective agreement covering about 164,000
metalworking employees. The two trade unions involved were the Union of
Salaried Employees, Printing Workers and Journalists (Gewerkschaft der
Privatangestellten, Druck, Journalismus, Papier, GPA-DJP [2]) and the
Metalworking, Textiles and Food-Processing Union (Gewerkschaft Metall,
Textil, Nahrung, GMTN [3]). The compromise reached between the social
partners was a result of three intensive negotiation rounds, the last of
which continued for 17 hours.

[1] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk
[2] http://www.gpa-djp.at/
[3] http://www.gmtn.at/

In July 2007, the national-level social partner organisations – that is,
the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund,
ÖGB [1]) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer
Österreich, WKO [2]) – agreed on the introduction of a gross monthly
minimum pay rate of €1,000. This agreement is to be implemented by the
sectoral bargaining parties by 1 January 2009 at the latest (*AT0707019I*
[3]).

[1] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0
[2] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-agree-to-minimum-wage-increase

As a result of high cost increases and in order to safeguard long-term
profitability, the Finnish pulp and paper company Stora Enso [1] announced on
25 October 2007 its intention to permanently close the Summa paper mill on
the south coast of Finland near the Port of Hamina and one magazine paper
machine at the Anjala mill in the southern town of Anjalankoski. The company
also plans to shut down its pulp mills in the northern-most city of
Kemijärvi in Finland and in the eastcentral region of Norrsundet in Sweden.
In Finland, about 1,100 jobs will be lost due to the planned mill closures.

[1] http://www.storaenso.com/

Unemployment insurance in Estonia is regulated by the Unemployment Insurance
Act [1] (/Töötuskindlustusseadus/). It is financed through the unemployment
insurance premiums paid by both employers and employees, which are calculated
on the basis of employees’ wages; the level of insurance premiums may vary
between 0.5% and 2% for employees and between 0.25% and 1% for employers. The
government establishes the exact rate of the insurance premium based on a
proposal from the supervisory board of the Unemployment Insurance Fund
(Töötukassa [2]). In 2007, insurance premiums amounted to 0.6% of
employees’ gross monthly salaries and to 0.3% of employers’ payroll.

[1] http://www.legaltext.ee/text/en/X50053K5.htm
[2] http://www.tootukassa.ee/index.php?lang=eng

The automotive industry, which employs more than two million Europeans
directly and supports an additional 10 million jobs indirectly, is currently
facing a number of different challenges. On the one hand, while global demand
is growing strongly, the main economic growth is taking place outside of the
EU, in countries like Russia, India and China. On the other hand, car
manufacturers are struggling with flat demand in the western European market,
new competitors from outside Europe and unfavourable currency exchange rates.
The future of the industry is also challenged by environmental issues such as
the necessity to comply with carbon dioxide (CO2) emission quotas.

In August 2007, the Polish Labour Code was amended in order to introduce
telework into the Polish legal framework by adding a new chapter entitled
‘Employment in the form of telework’. Article 67/5 Paragraph 1 of the
Labour Code defines telework as follows:

On 31 October 2007, the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas,
Telecommunications, Post and Railways (Bundesnetzagentur [1]) issued a press
release (in German) [2] providing information on the number of employees in
the postal sector. The preliminary results of its survey show that the former
monopoly holder, Deutsche Post AG, employs 162,938 persons. Of these workers,
122,437 work as drivers, delivery personnel or sorters. Deutsche Post’s
competitors employ around 40,000 workers. This latter figure is expected to
rise, since 200 questionnaires have yet to be returned.

[1] http://www.bundesnetzagentur.de
[2] http://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/enid/ba1557d86b8ebf7076f953155c73dd41,0/Presse/Pressemitteilungen_d2.html#12697

The new Labour Code took effect on 1 January 2007. Unlike the previous piece
of legislation, it does not contain the term ‘work on standby’, meaning
the period spent by the employee waiting for work at the place of the
employer; such work is no longer added to the overtime work limit but counted
as regular working hours (CZ0702079I [1]). Due to the fact that doctors
covering night shifts – in particular at hospitals and medical emergency
services – work hundreds of hours of overtime, the problem arose that the
reduced overtime limit was used up relatively quickly.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/shortage-of-hospital-doctors-due-to-new-labour-code-provisions