The UK Labour Government is committed by its election manifesto to obliging
employers to recognise a trade union where this is supported in a ballot by
employees (UK9704125F [1]). Details of how the Government intends to
implement this proposal are expected in a White Paper on "fairness at work"
to be issued in early 1998, and legislation is planned for the 1998-9
parliamentary session. As part of the policy-making process, government
ministers have encouraged the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the
Trades Union Congress (TUC) to engage in talks to resolve some of the
practical problems raised by recognition legislation, making it clear that an
agreed approach is likely to prove persuasive. The Government also indicated
that if the two sides failed to agree it would proceed to issue its own
proposals. Discussions between the CBI and TUC took place during the autumn
of 1997 and concluded in early December with the publication of a joint
statement identifying not only issues on which the parties could agree but
also significant areas of continuing disagreement.
1997 was a year with few industrial conflicts in Norway, according to
recently published statistics. The six-week strike on mobile oil
installations in the North Sea during the autumn was the only major labour
dispute during 1997.
At the 1995 congress of the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) its member trade unions decided
to reorganise. The goal is to reduce the number of individual trade unions
from 14 to three, covering manufacturing, services, and public service. There
is no clear time-limit for the process. In the first two years little was
achieved by way of obvious results, but 1998 promises to bring the first of
these. On 21 January 1998 two trade unions, the Union of Printing and Paper
Workers (Gewerkschaft Druck und Papier) and the Union of Posts and
Telecommunications Employees (Gewerkschaft der Post- und
Fernmeldebediensteten) concluded a cooperation agreement. They are forming a
jointly and proportionately financed platform to decide policy measures and a
joint steering committee with proportional representation. The rationale is
the unions' shared activity in the media sector. By 2000, they want to unite
their offices in one location. A full merger in the future is not ruled out,
neither is it explicitly planned. According to press reports, the ÖGB's
president commented that a merger might have been the result if the ÖGB
could have taken decisions like a joint stock company.
Following demonstrations and work stoppages in December 1997, employers and
trade unions in Belgium's not-for-profit sector have submitted a joint
declaration to the Government calling for increased financing for employment.
A January 1998 ruling by the Commercial Court in Paris has enabled some of
the former workers of a Bally shoe factory to take it over and restart
production.
An agreement signed in Pistoia, Italy in December 1997 by metalworkers' trade
unions and the Europa Metalli company has created 20 new jobs, manufacturing
the metal to be used in the new Euro coins.
The Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union (FST) and
theEuropean Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) agreed a joint text on
working time and time off aboard ship in December 1997. The approximately
128,000 EU nationals and 26,000 non-EU nationals employed in the maritime
sector are among the workers excluded from the provisions of the EU Directive
(93/104/EC) on certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
In 1997 the average number of unemployed people in Germany was around 4.4
million, which marked a sharp increase of more than 400,000 on the previous
year. The average rate of unemployment was 11.4% in 1997, compared with 10.4%
in 1996. Although the German economy is expected to recover in 1998, most
economic experts in Germany think that this will have only small effects on
the labour market.
At the beginning of January 1998, Jaguar, part of the US-based Ford motor
manufacturing group, announced that it is to produce a new smaller luxury
sports car to compete with the BMW 3 series and the Mercedes class 3.
Jaguar's chair and chief executive, Nick Scheele said that :"our preference,
naturally was to build the car in the UK and I regret that we are not able to
produce an affordable investment proposition to make the new car at our
plants in the West Midlands but I am pleased that we will be going to
Halewood."
The average wage growth in 1997 for Norwegian wage earners is estimated to
have been 4.25%, according to statistics compiled as a basis for the 1998
bargaining round. For the first time, wage growth for top management within
the private sector has also been estimated, and it is indicated that top
managers have had higher than average wage growth.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
The European Restructuring Monitor has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This series includes its restructuring-related databases (events, support instruments and legislation) as well as case studies and publications.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, conducted in two rounds – in April and in July 2020. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound's representativness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.
The European Company Survey (ECS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2004–2005, with the latest edition in 2019. The survey is designed to provide information on workplace practices to develop and evaluate socioeconomic policy in the EU. It covers issues around work organisation, working time arrangements and work–life balance, flexibility, workplace innovation, employee involvement, human resource management, social dialogue, and most recently also skills use, skills strategies and digitalisation.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.
This report examines the contribution of social and employment services in EU Member States to the inclusion of people with disabilities, specifically in relation to the impact these have on labour market integration – in line with the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The report includes a discussion of the costs and benefits of different approaches.
Living and working in Europe, Eurofound’s 2020 yearbook, provides a snapshot of what is happening in the work and lives of Europeans as explored in the Agency’s research activities over the course of 2020. The scope is broad, from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment and on people’s well-being to the inequalities in the working conditions of women and men. It also highlights the connections between Eurofound’s work and EU policy priorities in the coming years.
The third round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded in February and March 2021, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people after nearly a full year of living with COVID-19 restrictions: How are people doing? What is their outlook on life? How has the availability of vaccinations changed their perceptions? This report presents an overview of the main findings and tracks the developments across the 27 EU Member States since the survey was first launched in April 2020.
While the EU is considered to be a global leader in gender equality, it is not yet a reality for millions of Europeans given the different dynamics in the Member States. The EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 acknowledges the slow speed of progress and outlines key actions to promote gender equality. Have all countries improved their performance? Which countries have been able to dramatically reduce gender inequality? Which countries lag behind?
As part of an annual series on minimum wages, this report summarises the key developments during 2020 and early 2021 with an emphasis on social partners’ roles and views. It looks at how minimum wages were set in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and how minimum wages act as a reference for income support measures. Information from interviews with decision-makers on the process of setting the minimum wage in 2020, along with their assessment of impacts of the proposed EU Directive on adequate minimum wages is also included.
This joint publication with the European Environment Agency (EEA) presents the findings from complementary research carried out simultaneously by both agencies on the socioeconomic impacts of climate policies and measures. While Eurofound focuses particularly on the distributional effects of these policies based on the experiences of Member States, the EEA analyses scientific research about the monetary and non-monetary social impacts of climate mitigation policies and its outcome in terms of inequalities.
The European Green Deal features high on Member State agendas. However, there are concerns that the necessary changes to climate policy may have undesirable socioeconomic consequences, such as regressive distributional effects and increased inequality. This report attempts to identify those policies where there is a significant risk involved and aims to provide guidance on how negative distributional risk can be mitigated.
Based on data from the European Company Survey 2019, this policy brief examines the characteristics of innovative companies and explores the types of workplace practices that are significantly associated with establishments' likelihood of introducing innovation. It also investigates differences between workplace practices of innovative and non-innovative companies. Additionally, data gathered through case studies analyse the role of workplace practices in different phases of the innovation process.
This report investigates the convergence of Member States in various dimensions of living conditions. Indicators are drawn from the European Quality of Life Surveys and other surveys. The analysis pays special attention to particular subgroups such as young people and women. The analysis also investigates the key drivers of convergence in living conditions.
As the EU embarks on the transition to a climate-neutral economy, it is crucial to understand the impact of such a transition on production models, employment, work organisation, working conditions, social dialogue and citizens’ lives and living conditions.
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