Publications

On Wednesday 17 December 1997, negotiations between the Confederation of
Vocational Unions (YS) and the Confederation of Norwegian Business and
Industry (NHO) regarding a new Basic Agreement broke down after only a few
hours of negotiations. In Norway, Basic Agreements between the main social
partner organisations lay down a set of principles and procedures which
regulate their relationship.

During the spring of 1998, Norway's two-year pay agreements will be
renegotiated. A tight labour market, increased public spending and reports of
high wage increases amongst management has led to a certain uneasiness prior
to the 1998 private sector pay settlement. The trade unions' strategy and
claims for the 1998 settlement will not be decided upon before the general
council of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions' (LO) meets in
February 1998. At this meeting, both the type of settlement and the main
claims will be decided upon.

The leaders of the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (LO) and the
Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (AF), Yngve Hågensen (LO)
and Magne Songvoll (AF), made headlines on 1 December 1997 when they called
for their members to boycott Norway's largest commercial bank, Den Norske
Bank (DnB). This followed DnB's decision to introduce new service charges and
to raise existing service charges from 1 November 1997. This is only the
latest of many clashes between the trade unions and the banking sector in
Norway on the issue of service charges. An opinion poll commissioned by LO
and AF revealed that a majority of the people asked expressed dissatisfaction
with existing service charges in the banking sector in general. The proposed
boycott was not directed at the DnB alone, but the bank was made the main
target due to its size and the scale of its service fees. DnB later
reconsidered its original decision, and decided to lower charges on some
services.

An agreement was concluded on 10 October 1997 between Norway Post and the
Joint Federation of Postal Employees.The latter is the cooperation body for
the two unions that organise the majority of employees in the postal service,
the Norwegian Union of Postal Employees (DNP) and the Norwegian Union of
Postal Workers (NPF), both of which are affiliated to the Norwegian
Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). The agreement aims at creating a new
infrastructure for postal operations, which involves a reduction in the
number of sorting offices in operation. Also included in this agreement are
measures to safeguard the jobs of approximately 1,500 employees adversely
affected by this reorganisation.

Traditionally there has not been a great deal of rivalry over members between
the different employers' organisations in Norway, and in most cases the
boundaries between the largest organisations have been clear. Recently,
however, there have been indications that in the future we will see increased
rivalry over members. The two largest employers' organisations, the
Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and the Commercial
Employers' Association (HSH), both have ambitions of continued membership
growth.

The Dutch economy continued to develop favourably in 1997. The level of
economic growth stood at 3.3%, which is higher than the EU average. Although
inflation in the Netherlands, at 2.2%, was considerably higher than the EU
average, it was fairly stable. The General Government Financial Balance for
1997 was -2.0% of GDP (NLG 14.2 billion - ECU 6.4 billion). Eurostat put
public debt at 72.1% of GDP. Unemployment decreased significantly again in
1997, and the number of unemployed persons stood at 336,000 (6.4%) in the
last quarter of 1997.

In December 1997, employees recruited on projects for the long-term
unemployed went on strike in Amsterdam on the grounds that they were owed
shift bonuses by the municipality. An agreement in principle was later
reached on their payment for irregular work.

At the end of 1997, the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament rejected a
proposal to give employees the legal right to work part time. Employers
opposed the bill, while the trade unions were divided on the subject.

Recent research in the Netherlands shows that setting a legal standard for
the manual lifting of loads would lead to considerable improvements in
working conditions for a large group of employees. However, employers'
organisations and unions are divided on this subject.

European and domestic legislation is leading to greater pressure for
competition in Dutch public transport. The resulting measures have led during
the 1990s to practically permanent disputes between trade unions and works
councils on the one hand, and employers and the Ministry of Transport, Public
Works and Water Management on the other. October and November 1997 saw
further industrial action in this area.