Publications

A systematic "gender balancing" of the internal organisation of the Services,
Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) - Ireland's largest
trade union - including targets for the appointment of women to senior
industrial posts, has been recommended by a recent report from a "gender
equity committee" set up to look at equality within the union.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) held a special conference on 4
November 1999 to discuss a successor to the current three-year national
agreement, Partnership 2000 [1] (P2000) (IE9702103F [2]). Delegates met in
the immediate aftermath of a nine-day national strike by 27,000 nurses in
Ireland's state-funded hospital service (IE9910297N [3]). The nurses had been
on strike from 19-27 October in a bid to wrest substantial pay increases from
the government, despite being constrained from doing so by successive
national agreements.

[1] http://www.irlgov.ie/taoiseach/publication/p2000/default.htm
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/social-partners-agree-three-year-national-programme
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/irelands-first-national-nursing-strike-is-a-test-of-strength

In late 1999, it is apparent that peat-burning power stations operated by the
state-run electricity company, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), in
Ireland's midland counties could close if the European Commission decides
that they cannot be governed by "public service obligation" (PSO) rules,
which allow some exemption from EU competition rules limiting state aid. If
the Commission rules that investment in these plants must be treated as state
aid, rendering planned investment and refurbishment redundant, this would
make them totally uneconomic. It would be cheaper for the company to shut
down the plants and pay expensive redundancy lump sums to the employees
rather than absorb the cost of maintaining them. For example, the company has
confirmed that if the IEP 17 million needed to refurbish the outdated Ferbane
plant in County Offaly, was invested in modernisation, the total cost to ESB
could be of the order of IEP 90 million over the expected 15-year lifespan of
such a remodeled plant. This would be multiplied if planned investment in
other uneconomic stations in the midlands were to proceed.

The Irish economy continues to perform exceptionally by EU standards. GDP
grew by 8.9% in 1998 and 8.4% in 1999 and GNP grew by 8.1% in 1998 and 7.4%
in 1999. The general government balance in 1999 was a surplus of 1.5% of GDP.
In 1999, the exchequer surplus stood at IEP 1,192 million compared with IEP
747 million in 1998. Public debt as a percentage of GDP was 47% in 1999,
compared with 49% in 1998. Inflation stood at 3.0% as of November 1999.

During 1999, moves towards convergence between the Greek economy and the rest
of the EU continued – the GDP growth rate in Greece stood at 3.5% compared
with a rate of approximately 2.1% in the EU as a whole. According to all
forecasts, this development is expected to continue. Inflation fell
dramatically during the 1990s period as the result of an exchange policy
aimed at reducing inflationary pressures – the rate fell from 20.4% in 1990
to 2.5% in 1999.

In November 1999, the Institute for Health, Safety and Working Conditions
(IYASE) presented the results of a study on developments in health, safety
and working conditions in Greece over the past 20 years. It finds that there
is a considerable shortage of data on workplace-level developments, and that
- while there have been improvements, especially in larger firms - new
legislation and institutions have not solved the problems.

Athens is to stage the Olympic Games in 2004. In November 1999, Greece's
Olympic Games Organising Committee appealed to the country's trade unions for
"industrial peace" between employers and workers before and during the Games.

GDP growth in 1999 stood at 2.8%, according to the latest estimates from the
National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies, (Institut national de
la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE), compared with 3.2% in
1998 and 2.0% in 1997. Inflation was estimated at 0.9% in 1999 by INSEE, a
slight rise after the rate had fallen from 2.0% in 1996 to 0.7% in 1998.
Forecasts put the 1999 budget deficit at 2.7% of GDP, down from 3% in 1998.
They also estimate that the overall central and local government deficit was
brought down from 2.7% of GDP in 1998 to 2.2% in 1999 (continuing the decline
since the 6.0% recorded in 1993), putting it below the ceiling imposed by the
Maastricht Treaty.

December 1999 saw the final adoption of France's second law on the 35-hour
week. The debate over the legislation and its implementation, along with
concerns over employment, have prompted a major wave of industrial action
affecting many areas of both the private and public sectors.

November 1999 saw strikes in a number of French public broadcasting
companies. The immediate issue behind the action was the implementation of
the 35-hour working week in the sector.