During May-June 1997, Portuguese trade unions took part in the rallies and
days of action organised throughout the countries of the European Union in
order to emphasise work and employment as prime concerns for future European
policies
On 28 May 1997, the Labour Court ruled that the municipality of Mjölby in
southern Sweden did not discriminate against two women teachers by paying
them SEK 1,119 less per month than their male colleague was paid for the same
job (AD 1997:68). The judgment is the latest of several setbacks for women
invoking the Act on Equality between Men and Women by claiming sex
discrimination in relation to pay.
On 8 April 1997 negotiations over this year's national collective agreement
covering all wage workers in hotels and restaurants ended without agreement,
and the negotiators have not met formally since. The Hotel, Restaurant,
Personal Services Workers Trade Union (Gewerkschaft Hotel Gastgewerbe
Persönlicher Dienst, HGPD) staged some protests in May, but essentially
focused on a province-by-province strategy of securing collective agreements.
On 3 June 1997 the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) representing
9,000 British Airways ground staff and BASSA, the cabin crew union (linked to
the TGWU) representing a further 9,000 employees, began balloting members
over whether to take industrial action. On 9 June, they were joined by 4,500
members of the GMB general union. If the ballots support strike action, it is
likely to take place in mid-July.
The 1997 collective bargaining round for the 1.3 million employees in the
German construction industry started on 27 February. In contrast to most
branch-level bargaining, which takes place at regional level, negotiations in
the construction industry are traditionally held at national level. The
collective bargaining parties - the construction union IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt
(IG BAU) and the two employers' associations, Hauptverband der Deutschen
Bauindustrie (HDB) and Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes (ZDB) - had
to find new agreements on at least four main issues:
In June 1997, the Norwegian Parliament turned down a legislative proposal
which would provide employees with a right both to choose their own
organisation or not to be organised. The aim of the proposal was primarily to
prohibit collective agreements with closed shop clauses. This would have had
a particular impact on employees in enterprises affiliated to the labour
movement.
An agreement concluded in the Italian banking sector in June 1997, with
government mediation, provides for the creation of an employer-financed fund
to support redundant workers, and for negotiations on cost reductions.
Immediately following the Left's victory in France's May/June parliamentary
elections, Peugeot's management announced a new mass redundancy programme,
cutting 2,816 jobs, to the company-wide works council.
The Luxembourg Government has recently announced plans to legislate to reform
the civil service pension scheme, following inconclusive negotiations with
the civil servants' trade union. The aims are to cut costs and bring about a
degree of convergence between private and public sector pensions - an issue
which has been politically controversial for some years.
The renewal of the Spanish system of occupational classification is marked by
the change from the old system of "Labour Ordinances", which were established
by law, to a new classification system based on occupational groupings, which
is the result of collective bargaining. This process has been accelerated by
the labour reforms of the 1990s: the 1994 reform established a deadline for
the replacement of the Ordinances, and the 1997 reform established an
agreement on occupational classification for those sectors in which one had
not yet been established.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.
This series brings together publications and other outputs of the European Jobs Monitor (EJM), which tracks structural change in European labour markets. The EJM analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU in terms of occupation and sector and gives a qualitative assessment of these shifts using various proxies of job quality – wages, skill-levels, etc.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2016, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2015, the sixth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 1996, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2001, which was an extension of the EWCS 2000 to cover the then 12 acceding and candidate countries. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2000, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the first edition of the survey carried out in 2004–2005 under the name European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2009, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2013, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Given that compliance with lockdown measures is a first line of defence against COVID-19, maintaining trust in institutions is vital to ensure a coordinated, comprehensive and effective response to the pandemic. This report investigates developments in institutional and interpersonal trust across time, with a particular emphasis on the COVID-19 pandemic period and its impact. It examines the link between trust and discontent and investigates the effect of multidimensional inequalities as a driver of distrust.
This paper provides an analytical summary of state of the art academic and policy literature on the impact of climate change and policies to manage transitions to a carbon neutral economy on employment, working conditions, social dialogue and living conditions. It maps the key empirical findings around the impact of climate change and the green transitions on jobs, sectors, regions and countries in Europe, identifying the opportunities and risks that climate change policies bring to European labour markets.
Between 2021 and 2023 Eurofound is carrying out a pilot project on minimum wage on behalf of the European Commission. The question of how minimum wages and other forms of pay can be fixed for the self-employed is investigated as a part of this project through mapping national and sectoral approaches. Out of concern for the challenging conditions that the self-employed face, some Member States have established or are discussing establishing statutory forms of minimum pay for certain categories of self-employed.
The civil aviation sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the most severe crises the sector has ever experienced, giving rise to a number of significant challenges for companies and workers alike. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
Lockdown measures and the economic shift following the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widening of the gender divide between men and women, putting at risk some of the gender equality gains that had been made in previous years. This report analyses changes in the distribution of paid and unpaid work, along with care and domestic responsibilities, among men and women during the crisis. It also explores the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of women and men.
The report provides an overview of the scale of teleworking before and during the COVID-19 crisis and gives an indication of ‘teleworkability’ across sectors and occupations. Building on previous Eurofound research on remote work, the report investigates the way businesses introduced and supported teleworking during the pandemic, as well as the experience of workers who were working from home during the crisis. The report also looks at developments in regulations related to telework in Member States and provides a review of stakeholders’ positions.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across sectors, occupations and categories of worker (for instance, according to gender, age or employment status). Hours worked have declined the most in sectors such as accommodation services and food and beverage services, and in occupations heavily reliant on in-person interaction, such as sales work. At the same time, it’s in these sectors that labour shortages have become increasingly evident as labour markets have begun to normalise.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
This report analyses how working conditions, job quality and working life outcomes – such as work–life balance, health and well-being, and sustainability of work – changed between February 2020 and spring 2021. Following up on responses to the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2020, it explores the differences between three distinct groups of workers: those teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic, those who continued to work on their employers' premises as frontline staff, and those who were furloughed or worked reduced hours.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in European sectoral social dialogue taking place at cross-sectoral level. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations at cross-sectoral level in the EU Member States.