Publications

Following a strike call issued by French public service trade unions, a
national day of action comprising strikes and demonstrations took place on 6
March.

Health and safety at work has arisen as a very serious matter of social
concern over recent years and has become a focus of interest for both the
state and the social institutions concerned. The magnitude and complexity of
the problem and the need to find direct and effective solutions have induced
both employers and employees to examine the problem of occupational hazards
and conditions affecting the working environment in general. It is estimated
that in Greece the national economy is burdened by GRD 20 billion a year due
to accidents at work (excluding costs of medical care). The Social Insurance
Foundation (IKA) alone receives 25,000 reports of accidents at work a year.
The problem is even bigger if we add in the cost of occupational illnesses
which remain undiagnosed, since these are ignored by the official statistics.

At the beginning of March the first steps were taken towards the creation of
the first "European super union". One of Britain's biggest trade unions, the
General, Municipal and Boilermakers' Union (GMB), signed a joint membership
agreement with the German chemical workers' union. The deal between the GMB
and IG Chemie-Papier-Keramik means that 1.8 million workers will be entitled
to joint membership. Although the two unions may not provide the same
services, UK workers in Germany can expect legal advice, support from
representatives, and training facilities, while German workers in the UK can
expect legal advice, health and safety information and financial benefits
(Record DE9703206N [1]).

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/joint-union-membership-for-german-and-uk-workers

In a Communication published in March 1997, the European Commission calls for
the modernisation, adaptation and improvement of social protection systems in
the member states. It argues that these systems, most of which were
established decades ago, no longer conform with the changing economic and
social conditions of today's society. The Commission sees a particular need
for social protection systems, which currently account for 28% of total EU
GDP, to be adapted to:

The number of member companies of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and
Industry (NHO) increased by around 2,000 during 1996. NHO aims for a further
growth in membership towards the year 2000.

The cause of the industrial unrest was the announcement by the ruling
Conservative-Liberal coalition Government that it was planning to scale back
annual subsidies for the - basically west - German hard coal (Steinkohle)
industry dramatically. During the ensuing protests, Germany saw a human chain
of more than 90 kilometres straight through the Ruhr coal heartland, and
sympathy demonstrations from east German brown coal miners. Miners in the
Ruhr and the Saar areas went on strike. Tens of thousands of miners took to
the streets, occupied pits and town halls, and blocked roads as well as the
Bonn headquarters of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's ruling Christian Democratic
Party (CDU) and its coalition partner, the Free Democrat Party (FDP). In the
days before the compromise, the protests of the rank and file seemed to get
out of control of the miners' union, IG Bergbau und Energie (IGBE), and its
chair, Hans Berger. For the first time in German post-war history, furious
miners even entered the restricted area surrounding government buildings in
Bonn where no public meetings or marches may be held. As an "act of
solidarity with miners fighting for their existence" the Social Democratic
Party (SPD) temporarily boycotted a meeting in which opposition and coalition
politicians were discussing the reform of the German tax system. When the
miners laid siege to Bonn, Chancellor Kohl temporarily put off talks with the
union leaders to avoid having to negotiate under duress.

The Government has published a working document, entitled "Maritime and ports
policy at the approach of the 21st Century", for public debate. In the
document it proposes a number of measures to deregulate dock work, and the
National Federation of Dockers' Unions has criticised the lack of prior
dialogue and is opposing the new proposals.

Workers in the performing arts have been protesting about threats to their
special unemployment benefit scheme arising from employers' positions in the
recent renewal of the agreement on the general UNEDIC scheme.

The phenomenon of illegal immigration in Greece has taken on an ever more
serious dimension. According to evidence from the Ministry of Public Order
the number of foreign workers without a work permit is now around 400,000,
and is expected to increase still further owing to the recent crises in
Albania and Bulgaria. The main countries of origin are Albania, Poland,
Bulgaria and Romania, as well as countries in Asia and Africa. However, there
are also around 30,000 additional foreign nationals who originate from EU
member states, and obtain a special written permit from the Ministry of
Labour.

One of the keenest debates in industrial relations in Europe is the
relationship between the institutional structure of the labour market and
economic performance and, in particular, the contribution of the wage
determination process to national competitiveness. Considerable attention has
focused on European economies, like Germany and Sweden, whose traditionally
centralised and coordinated bargaining systems have come under significant
pressures in recent years. The case of Ireland has attracted less attention.