Publications

At present, Sweden has no legislation expressly forbidding discrimination in
working life on grounds of sexual orientation. At the beginning of 1997 the
Government appointed a committee with the task of investigating if there was
a need for such legislation.

In June 1997, the Swedish Employers' Confederation (Svenska
Arbetsgivareföreningen, SAF) gave the trade union negotiating cartel, the
Federation of Salaried Employees in Industry and Services
(Privattjänstemannakartellen, PTK) notice of termination of the so-called
adjustment agreement (omställningsavtalet), the purpose of which is to
facilitate the adjustment for workers and employers in the event of
collective redundancies (SE9709137F [1]). SAF argued that the agreement was
too costly for the employers and wanted /inter alia/ to convert the Council
for Redundancy Support and Advice (Trygghetsrådet) - which is based on the
agreement - from a foundation to a private company, subject to open
competition.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/working-conditions-undefined/council-for-redundancy-support-and-advice-under-debate

Sweden's present act against ethnic discrimination in working life is
ineffective and should be replaced by a new act as from 1 January 1999. This
is the conclusion of a committee appointed by the Government to review the
legislation, which issued its proposals on 1 December 1997.

The year 1997 saw: an increase in GDP of 3.5% (according to Eurostat
figures); an inflation rate of 1.9%, which was lower than the previous year;
and a low government deficit of 0.8% of GDP (according to national figures).
The unemployment rate for the year was 6.7% (down from 7.3% in 1996). Low
skill levels and inadequate management strategies have been identified as
being among the key causes of high unemployment.

Meaningful pay negotiations at the Portuguese operations of Rhode, a
prominent German transnational footwear company, have been delayed, prompting
strike action in November-December 1997. Management is waiting for the
conclusion of the sectoral agreement before opening the process of
bargaining.

The Government has recently presented a bill aimed at completing the
introduction into Portuguese law of the amendments introduced by Directive
92/56/EC into the system of regulation of collective redundancies established
by Directive 75/129/EEC.

Disagreements over the interpretation of key terms relating to the regulation
of working time have delayed the tripartite consultation process for the
transposition of the 1993 EC Directive on certain aspects of the organisation
of working time into Portuguese law. The Directive has still not been
transposed at the end of 1997.

In late 1997, the CGTP trade union confederation has amplified its criticisms
of Portugal's system of tripartite social concertation, pointing out
anomalies, claiming that it is manipulated, and raising the issue of the
social partners' representativeness.

The 40-hour statutory working week finally came into force in Portugal on 1
December 1997. This feature discusses the implementation phase, over the
first year of the 40-hour week law. The simultaneous introduction of a
reduction in working time and new forms of flexibility have led to conflict
in a number of sectors.

In 1997, GDP growth stood at 3.9%, or 3.5% for mainland Norway (offshore
sector excluded). The consumer prices index rose by 2.5%, compared with 1.3%
in 1996. The 1997 unemployment rate was 4.2%, against 4.9% for 1996. In 1997,
Norway had a central government surplus of NOK 65.8 billion (ECU 8.2
billion). However, if revenues from the petroleum sector are excluded, Norway
had a public budget deficit of NOK 20.2 billion (ECU 2.5 billion). The
surplus will be transferred to the Government Petroleum Fund.