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December 1997 and January 1998 have seen industrial action in public
transport and refuse collection, called by the Dutch civil service trade
union, AbvaKabo, in support of wage claims by workers recruited on several
job-creation schemes. Amsterdam city council will meet the demands, while the
city of Leiden has also taken a positive stance.

Since Denmark's industry sector concluded a three-year collective agreement
in 1995, while the rest of the private sector bargaining units concluded
two-year agreements which were renewed in 1997 by one-year agreements
(DK9705110F [1]), industry is faced with two main issues in the 1998
bargaining round, which began in January. On the one hand, the industry
bargaining parties - the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri,
DI) and the Central Organisation of Industrial Employees in Denmark
(Centralorganisationen af Industriansatte i Danmark, CO-industri) - will have
to catch up with the results achieved in the other bargaining units
(transport, building and construction, hotel and restaurants, and services)
in 1995 and 1997. On the other hand, the parties will aim to set a norm by
finalising their bargaining prior to these other areas, whose collective
agreements also expire on 1 March 1998.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/the-1997-danish-collective-bargaining-round-completed

According to a report on collective bargaining in Spain in 1997, conducted by
the CEOE employers' confederation, changes have taken place in pay structure,
involving an increase in the number of productivity bonuses and a reduction
in the incidence of length-of-service payments. Clauses transforming
temporary into secure jobs have had little effect despite the April 1997
intersectoral agreement for secure employment.

On 20 October 1997 wage and salary collective agreements for industrial
enterprises in the metalworking sector were concluded, which became effective
from 1 November 1997 (AT9710138N [1]). They were negotiated by the Industry
Federal Section of the Austrian Chamber of the Economy (Wirtschaftskammer
Österreich, WKÖ), the Union of Metals, Mining and Energy Workers
(Gewerkschaft Metall Bergbau Energie, GMBE) and the Industry Section of the
Union of Salaried Employees (Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten, GPA).

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/pay-round-off-to-a-good-start

The first collective agreement in each bargaining round in Sweden usually
sets the standard for others that follow. It is significant that the first
agreement in the 1998 bargaining round has occurred in an export industry -
the paper and pulp sector.

In December 1997, Greece's GSEE trade union confederation invited employers'
organisations to open negotiations for a new National General Collective
Agreement for 1998, and set out its demands.

The Association of Finnish Lawyers has rejected the new national incomes
policy agreement, which was approved by AKAVA, the confederation to which it
belongs, on 12 December 1997. The Association believes that pay for state
lawyers is well below that for equal work in the private sector

A December 1997 ruling by the European Court of Justice has declared that the
Italian state's monopoly of job placement services is contrary to the
principles of free competition, and is therefore illegitimate. The judgment
comes at a time when the job placement system is being reformed in Italy, and
is therefore likely to accelerate the move towards the greater liberalisation
of labour market mediation in the country.

Employers and trade unions in the Netherlands cannot seem to agree on
subjects relating to "employability" during the 1998 collective bargaining
round.

Luxembourg's two public transport trade unions called a 48-hour strike in
January 1998 in protest against the Government's intention to reduce their
members' pensions.