The Budget [1] presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, to
parliament on 17 March 1997 has been described as the "make work pay" Budget.
The Chancellor said that the tax and benefit system should reflect the value
that are placed upon the responsibilities and rewards of work. Thus, as well
as measures to encourage long-term investment both in jobs and skills, the
Budget contains other measures to encourage employment directly, such as
extending the "New Deal" scheme for unemployed people (UK9710175N [2]) to new
groups, and radical tax and benefit reform measures which, along with the
forthcoming national minimum wage (UK9712190N [3]), should help to make work
pay (ie, more attractive than receipt of social security benefits).
On 24 February 1998 six German service sector trade unions published a common
draft for a "political platform on the restructuring of trade union
representation of interests in the service sector" (Politische Plattform zur
Neustrukturierung der gewerkschaftlichen Interessenvertretung im
Dienstleistungsbereich). The unions concerned are:
On 11 March 1998, the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industries' Association
(TEKOindustrierna, TEKO) and the Industrial Union (Industrifacket) accepted a
draft collective agreement proposed by three impartial chairs who had led the
final phase of negotiations. The agreement, which covers around 7,500
blue-collar workers, will run for an extraordinarily long period of 44
months. The parties can, however, renegotiate it after it has run for two
years.
Each of the EU Member States have been drawing up national employment action
plans based on the EU Guidelines for Member States' employment policies 1998
[1], following the Luxembourg"employment summit" in November 1997 (EU9711168F
[2]). The plans are due to be submitted to the Cardiff European Council in
June 1998. *Equal opportunities* measures are one of four agreed areas
covered by the national action plans, and in the Austrian draft plan
(AT9802164F [3]), as presented on 20 February 1998, four of the 19 measures
cover this area. Three of these refer specifically to women and one to people
with disabilities. The three other areas are *employability* (seven
measures), *entrepreneurship* (five measures) and *adaptability* (three
measures).
The EU Member States have been drawing up national employment action plans
based on the EU Guidelines for Member States' employment policies 1998 [1],
following the Luxembourg"employment summit" in November 1997 (EU9711168F
[2]). The plans are due to be submitted by 15 April 1998 for consideration at
the Cardiff European Council in June 1998. The subsidiarity principle is a
key feature of the guidelines both at European and at national and regional
levels and because of this subsidiary principle the government of Flanders
and the Flemish social partners - like their counterparts in Wallonia
(BE9803135F [3]) and the Brussels-Capital region (BE9803136N [4]) - are
making their own contributions to the Belgian action plan.
Norway's 1998 industry-level wage negotiations commenced on 20 March when the
United Federation of Trade Unions handed over its demands for the agreement
covering the metalworking industry. The negotiations are not expected to be
finalised before around 20 April.
In March 1998, the bill to reduce the statutory working week from 39 to 35
hours is undergoing its second reading in France's National Assembly. The
CNPF employers' organisation is demanding that its implementation be delayed
by two years.
In March 1998, Italy's Confindustria employers' confederation broke off
negotiations with the Government on the reduction of the statutory working
week from 40 to 35 hours, and proposed new social concertation and dialogue
rules.
Part-time work in Portugal is not very common and a 1998 report from the
Ministry of Labour and Solidarity finds that it is not a major topic in
formal sector- and company-level collective bargaining. In general,
bargaining in this area has been concerned with setting limits or making
small advances with regard to the law.
The CC.OO and UGT trade union confederations have severely criticised
proposals for tax reform being prepared in early 1998 by Spain's conservative
Government. In their opinion, the plan benefits only the rich and threatens
levels of social expenditure.
The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This publication series include the ERM reports, as well as blogs, articles and working papers on restructuring-related events in the EU27 and Norway.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) 2021, an extraordinary edition conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series gathers all overview reports on developments in working life, annual reviews in industrial relations and working conditions produced by Eurofound on the basis of national contributions from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (NEC). Since 1997, these reports have provided overviews of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The series may include recent ad hoc articles written by members of the NEC.
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, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. 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 representativeness 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 developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.
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.
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 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.
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).
The use of artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and the Internet of Things technologies in the workplace can bring about fundamental changes in work organisation and working conditions. This report analyses the ethical and human implications of the use of these technologies at work by drawing on qualitative interviews with policy stakeholders, input from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and Delphi expert surveys, and case studies.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the professional football sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in European sectoral social dialogue taking place at cross-sectoral level. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations at cross-sectoral level in the EU Member States.
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