In February 1998, the sectoral trade unions and Ferrovie dello Stato, the
Italian national railway, signed an agreement aimed at increasing the
company's efficiency, productivity and competitiveness.
The new collective agreement for white-collar workers in Luxembourg's iron
and steel industry, signed in January 1998, includes an overall pay increase
of 1.85% spread over two years and ratifies an existing profit-sharing
scheme.
On 22 February 1998, negotiations between the Confederation of Danish
Industries (Dansk Industri, DI) and the Central Organisation of Industrial
Employees in Denmark (Centralorganisationen af Industriansatte i Danmark,
CO-industri) broke down. The DI/CO-industri bargaining unit covers some
210,000 workers in industry, or some 62% of all the employees whose
collective agreements are due to be renewed by 1 March 1998. The norm-setting
effect of the agreement in industry is estimated to affect agreements
covering an additional 100,000 workers. As other bargaining units in the
private sector await the outcome of the negotiations in the industrial
sector, the breakdown in talks meant that a major conflict across the whole
private sector could have broken out on 2 March 1998, the day after the
current agreements expire.
Trade unions in the state-owned aircraft maintenance company, TEAM Aer
Lingus, are considering a management offer to buy out employment guarantees
made to workers who transferred over from the former maintenance and
engineering division of the parent company in 1990. The guarantees are in the
form of individually signed "letters of comfort" and state that the workers
formally remain as employees of Aer Lingus"as if TEAM did not exist"
(IE9711235F [1]).
In February 1998, the UGT trade union confederation signed the second general
collective agreement for the Spanish construction sector, over three months
after it was signed by the CC.OO union confederation and the CNC employers'
organisation, thus ending the bargaining deadlock in the industry.
On 3 February 1998, the 40-nation Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers
recommended that the German Government change the country's restrictive legal
provisions on industrial action. According to a recommendation (No. RChS(98)2
[1]) agreed by an absolute majority of two-thirds of the Council of Europe's
members, the German legislation on strikes does not conform with the
Council's European Social Charter [2] in which the contracting parties
recognise: "the right of workers and employers to collective action in cases
of conflicts of interest, including the right to strike, subject to
obligations that might arise out of collective agreements previously entered
into" (Article 6, para. 4).
In February 1998, the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) appealed
to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and other international
organisations and national bodies, with a view to repealing a new law which
provides for labour relations in some public corporations to be governed by
law rather than collective bargaining.
According to a large-scale survey conducted by Statistics Sweden (Statistiska
Centralbyrån, SCB) on behalf of the National Board of Occupational Safety
and Health (Arbetarskyddsstyrelsen), stress in working life has increased
during the 1990s. The main findings include the following:
On 22 January 1998, the Guarantee Authority for the enforcement of Italy's
law on strikes in essential public services (law 146/90) issued new
regulations on the right to strike on the railways, which have received
criticism from some quarters.
In January 1998, a two-day strike on Luxembourg Railways, protesting against
proposed pensions reform, was supported by the great majority of employees.
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.
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 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).
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 fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19 was first detected on the European continent. It also explores the reality of living in a new era of uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, inflation, and rising energy prices.
As part of a process to collect information on essential services, the European Commission (DG EMPL) requested Eurofound to provide input on certain aspects of existing and planned measures in the Member States to improve access to essential services, in reference to Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The scope of the exercise included energy services, public transport and digital communications, and the focus was on people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (in practice, people on low incomes in most cases).
This report will map the existing regulations on telework in European Union Member States, including in legislation and collective agreements. It will present the most recent changes to these regulations and shed light on how the future of (tele)work could be regulated at both national and EU level, in order to improve working conditions in telework arrangements and reduce the risks associated with telework and with specific ways of working remotely.
The civil aviation sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the most severe crises the sector has ever experienced, giving rise to a number of significant challenges for companies and workers alike. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
This report explores the association between skills use and skills strategies and establishment performance, and how other workplace practices, in terms of work organisation, human resources management and employee involvement, can impact on this. It looks at how skills shortages can be addressed, at least in part, by creating an environment in which employees are facilitated and motivated to make better use of the skills they already have. This further supports the business case for a more holistic approach to management.
This report focuses on trends and developments in collective bargaining that were evident from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines potential new strategic approaches and priorities incorporated in negotiation agendas, as well as collective bargaining practices and coordination at sector and company levels in the private sector.
This policy brief will provide an update on upward convergence in the economic, social and institutional dimensions of the European Union, as outlined in the European Pillar of Social Rights and its accompanying Social Scoreboard.
Between 2021 and 2023 Eurofound is carrying out a pilot project on minimum wage on behalf of the European Commission. The question of how minimum wages and other forms of pay can be fixed for the self-employed is investigated as a part of this project through mapping national and sectoral approaches. Out of concern for the challenging conditions that the self-employed face, some Member States have established or are discussing establishing statutory forms of minimum pay for certain categories of self-employed.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the electricity 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 study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the electricity sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the gas 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 gas sector in the EU Member States.
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