Publications

A strike in the mining companies, Hunosa and Minas de Figaredo, escalated
into a well-supported general strike in the whole Spanish mining industry in
January 1998.

There has, in recent years, been an increasing focus on corporate conduct in
terms of social, ethical and environmental performance. The experience of
large multinational corporations such as Nike and Shell, which have been
faced with protest campaigns against their social and environmental policies,
has galvanised actors in this area. Many organisations are beginning to
recognise that their profitability in the long term depends as much on on
their performance in satisfying the aspirations of their "stakeholders" -
including customers, suppliers, employees, local communities, investors,
governments, and interest groups - in terms of their social and environmental
record, as it does on price and quality.

Joining the European Union in 1995 made it necessary for Austria to improve
the regulations on employee protection against hazards. This included
particularly the appointment of safety officers in enterprises, the
documentation of hazards, and the availability and job descriptions of
occupational medical practitioners. A plan was drawn up to implement better
protection in stages, starting in 1997 with firms employing more than 100
workers. On 1 January 1998, firms with between 51 and 100 employees became
subject to the new regulations, and on 1 January 1999 those with 11 to 50
employees will follow. Finally in 2000, the remaining companies with 10 or
fewer employees will also be covered.

An unusual collective agreement has been concluded between the Swedish Energy
Employers' Association (Energiföretagens Arbetsgivareförening, EFA) on the
one hand, and the Association of Graduate Engineers
(Civilingenjörsförbundet, CF), the Swedish Union for Technical and Clerical
Employees in Industry and Services (Svenska Industritjänstemannaförbundet
SIF), the Association of Management and Professional Staff (Ledarna) and the
Union of Service and Communication (SEKO) on the other. The agreement, which
came into force on 1 January 1998, regulates general terms of employment for
around 15,000 workers in private energy enterprises and in the state-owned
Vattenfall group. The agreement fulfils many of the current requirements put
forward by employers, and the managing director of EFA, Björn Tibell, calls
it "pioneering".

/The December 1995 framework agreement on parental leave was the first such
accord between the EU-level social partners, and was given legal force by a
Council Directive in June 1996. This comparative study: outlines current
parental leave provisions in the Member States (plus Norway); examines the
perceptions of the framework agreement/Directive and the changes it requires
in national provisions; and assesses the practical impact of current parental
leave provisions and the likely effect of the agreement/Directive./

Taking a detailed look at the available data on labour turnover in the UK,
the independent employment researchers, Industrial Relations Services, argued
in 1997 that the economic recovery in the UK is leading to increasing numbers
of resignations and skill shortages, which in turn are leading to substantial
resourcing problems for employers ("Benchmarking labour turnover: an update",
Employee Development Bulletin 87, IRS, March 1997). At the same time, labour
turnover is being adopted by many organisations as a "benchmark" indicator of
performance and business efficiency. Furthermore, a survey by the
Confederation of British Industry (reported in "Employers can influence
labour turnover, say CBI", Employee Development Bulletin 93, IRS, September
1997) argues that management intervention in employee relations can make a
large difference to labour turnover rates and improve the performance of the
organisation.

In December 1997, Luxembourg's Employment Administration and the Union of
Temporary Employment Agencies signed an agreement, aimed at better using
temporary work top help unemployed people return to the labour market.

In December 1997, the Federal Government agreed on a bill which includes a
variety of measures to improve the social security provisions for flexible
working time arrangements and to allow for easier application of the Partial
Retirement Law (DE9710133F [1]). The new law came into effect on 1 January
1998.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-policies-undefined/pilot-agreement-on-partial-retirement-in-south-west-german-metalworking

Between 20 December 1997 and 4 January 1998, the opinion poll institute,
Gallup Instituttet conducted a membership survey for the Confederation of
Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) on members'
priorities for the trade union movement's work in 1998. The ranking of
priorities given by the members surveyed was as follows:

In January 1998, the European Commission launched a "high-level expert group"
to analyse industrial change in the European Union. The group was formed in
response to one of the European Council's conclusions [1] at the Employment
Summit [2] held in Luxembourg in November 1997 (EU9711168F [3]). The European
Council considered that "particular attention should be given to sectors
undergoing major industrial change". More specifically, it called for the
setting up of a high-level expert group to analyse likely industrial changes
in the Community and to look into ways of anticipating them better, so as to
ensure a positive and coordinated approach to their economic and social
consequences.

[1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/papers/concl.htm
[2] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/employment-summit-agrees-limited-package-of-measures-to-combat-unemployment