Publications

Attempts at mediation in bargaining over a new collective agreement in the
transport sector broke down in May 1998, and 5,700 workers had gone on strike
by 22 May. The strikes involve those covered by the collective agreements for
scheduled bus transport, long-distance freight transport by road, and bus
drivers employed by Norwegian Railways (NSB). The conflict will be stepped up
incrementally until 6 June 1998 unless a new agreement is reached.

Personnel leasing/secondment (personaluthyrning) is the Swedish term for the
situation whereby persons under an employment contract with one firm are
leased to work in another firm. It covers arrangements known variously as
hiring-out of labour or temporary agency work in other countries. The
practice was deregulated in Sweden in 1991. In 1993, the
conservative-liberal-centre Government of the day repealed the requirement
that such firms had to have a licence in order to operate.

The Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister), unveiled Ireland's National Action Plan
[1] on employment on 20 April 1998. All the EU Member States have drawn up
such National Action Plans (NAP s) in line with the Employment Guidelines [2]
which arose from the special Employment Summit [3] in Luxembourg in November
1997 (EU9711168F [4]). The Guidelines set out a a framework for national
action under the four "pillars" of employability, adaptability,
entrepreneurship and equal opportunities. The NAPs were to be considered at
the Cardiff European Council meeting in June 1998.

[1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/empl&esf/naps/irl_en.pdf
[2] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/empl&esf/docs/guideen.htm
[3] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/employment-summit-agrees-limited-package-of-measures-to-combat-unemployment

In a speech delivered to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in April
1998, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, cited latest figures
showing that the UK has a "productivity gap" of 20%-30% with France and
Germany and of 40% with the USA. Although there are British "success stories"
(such as chemicals and paper/printing) and although the productivity gap has
been steadily reduced, it still remains significant and the productivity of
UK manufacturing trails behind that achieved elsewhere, almost regardless of
sector. The Chancellor argued that "it is time to develop a sense of national
purpose, to agree a long-term direction for Britain." He went on to say that
the Government promises to do everything it can to create the conditions in
which business can succeed, including major structural reforms of the UK
product, capital and labour markets. In terms of the labour market, the
Government's reform would include not just employment policy, but also
welfare, education, taxation and social security policy.

In March 1998, the metalworking employers' organisation, CONFEMETAL, and the
metalworking federations of the UGT, CC.OO and CIGA trade unions signed an
/Agreement on the structure of collective bargaining in the metalworking
industry/, aimed at rationalising bargaining in the sector. This is the first
agreement of this type to be signed following 1997's intersectoral agreement
on collective bargaining.

Finland's mainly state-owned Leonia finance group gave notice in spring 1998
of massive reorganisation involving large-scale redundancies. Employees are
vigorously opposed to the dismissals, which are now under negotiation in the
works council. If a solution cannot be reached, the dispute will escalate
into a widespread boycott.

Elections in Belgian companies for works councils and workplace health and
safety committees are likely to be postponed from 1999 until 2000, at the
employers' request. The elections involve half the workers in the private
sector.

May 1998 saw industrial action on France's railways, as workers demanded job
creation and pay increases, and called for more investment and changes to the
running of the SNCF network.

In April 1991, German employers stated their support for European
integration, the single market, and a reasonable social dimension. Following
the June 1997 Amsterdam summit and the related Treaty changes (EU9707135F
[1]) as well as in face of the coming Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the
Confederation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der
Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, BDA) published its current positions
regarding European social policy in spring 1998 ("EuropäischeSozialpolitik -
Die Perspektive der Arbeitgeber, BDA, Cologne (1998)). This feature
summarises the BDA statement.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/amsterdam-treaty-brings-small-advances-for-employment-and-social-policy

The revised national Budget for 1998 was made public by the Norwegian
Government on 15 May 1998. The Government is concerned about the present
overheating in the economy, and proposes that employers must set aside 2% of
paybill as well as paying a larger share of the cost of sick pay benefits.