As the 1 May election date draws nearer, both the Conservative Government and the main opposition party, Labour, have begun to fight their campaigns by taking opposite stances on the social policy Agreement annexed to the Maastricht Treaty on European Union - the so-called "social chapter", from

In recent years pressure has mounted on all parties involved to rethink and revise the traditional policies and practices of Greek industrial relations as well as to promote social dialogue between employers and employees. As a result of changing conditions, some believe that a new era in industrial

The end of 1996 and the first two months of 1997 were marked by a wave of strikes that began last November and December, upsetting the relative industrial calm that had existed over recent years. The strikes peaked during January but continued throughout February, for at least certain groups of

The second part of the two-year National General Collective Agreement 1996-7 (EGSSE) came into force at the beginning of 1997. The principal purpose of the EGSSE is to set minimum pay levels, which have a two-fold significance: providing a framework for the social protection of unskilled workers and

Late in 1996, Parliament passed legislation providing for changes in the Employment Security Act that aroused the anger of the trade unions. Although most of the new provisions apply from 1 January 1997, the most controversial modification, in Section 2 of the Act, will not come into force until 1

On 19 February, the Government presented a bill to Parliament, proposing modifications in the legislation concerning the granting of workers' claims in case of their employer's insolvency. There is no doubt that it will be passed by Parliament. This will then be the second time the legislation has

On 19 February, Arbio, the employers' association for the forestry industry, sued the Swedish Paper Workers' Union before the Labour Court. Formally, the parties are arguing over a sum of less than SEK 50, though in practice the case concerns an unlimited amount of money. This is a test case, and

On 6 February 1997, theSwedish Paper Workers' Union and the Employers' Federation of Swedish Forest Industries told the conciliators Lars-Gunnar Albåge and Rune Larson that they accepted their proposal for a national collective agreement on wages for 1997. There had been two stumbling blocks in the