On 3 March 1997, the Hanover regional branch of the metalworkers' trade union
Industriegewerkschaft Metall (IG Metall) and the management of PPS Personal-,
Produktions- und Servicegesellschaft mbH, Salzgitter, concluded a company
agreement on partial retirement - the first such agreement in the
metalworking industry. Negotiations between IG Metall and the metalworking
employers' association Gesamtverband der metallindustriellen
Arbeitgeberverbände (Gesamtmetall), first about industry-wide and later
about regional collective agreements on partial retirement, reached an
impasse in June 1997. Although the agreement at PPS was signed in March,
reliable information has only recently been publicised.
Trade union unity and greater social dialogue were the key themes at the 13th
national congress of the Cisl union confederation, held in Rome on May 1997.
After the publication of the reports on EMU by the expert working party
commissioned by the Government and by the economists in the incomes policy
assessment committee, the labour market organisations issued a statement on
the impact of EMU on the Finnish labour market on 22 May 1997 (FI9705115N
[1]). The most influential advocate of EMU is the President of Finland,
Martti Ahtisaari who presented his views on the benefits of EMU for Finland
in his speech at the 90th anniversary meeting of the Central Organisation of
Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) on 24 May 1997.
In Austria's "pay-as-you-go" pensions system, 22.75% of an individual's
monthly wage cost goes to pension insurance. There is a cap at a certain
monthly income - currently ATS 41,400 - which is raised annually. The gap
between contributions and benefits is covered from the federal budget. In
1996, ATS 30,000 million had to be covered by the budget in the employees'
scheme, which has 1.5 million pensioners, and ATS 25,500 million in the
self-employment and agricultural schemes, which has 345,000 pensioners. The
overall contribution from the federal budget is forecast to rise from ATS
55,500 million in 1996 to over ATS 80,000 million by the year 2001. In its
recently-announced budget plans, the Government is aiming to save ATS 16,000
million in contributions to the national pension insurance schemes over the
two years 1998 and 1999.
After several months of negotiations involving various local and central
government agencies, a long struggle for jobs at Grundig came to an end in
May 1997. In a region where workers reject job mobility, the only remaining
recourse is the courts and political channels. Dialogue between the board of
directors and workers' representatives has proved unsuccessful.
One of the first acts by the new French Prime Minister following his election
in June 1997 was to consult with employers and unions prior to announcing his
legislative programme. This move was greeted favourably by both employers and
trade unions, though their aims are quite different. A national conference on
pay, employment and working time is to be held in the autumn.
At the end of May 1997, the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, signalled the
Government's intention of supporting new employment provisions in the
revision of the EU Treaty. He argued that initiatives to increase levels of
employment within the EU should have equal weight with the financial criteria
to be decided for Economic and Monetary Union. Believing that tackling
unemployment is a number one priority, Mr Cook also said "that is why we will
support an employment chapter within the treaty of the EU."
New figures presented in the revised national Budget in May 1997 show that
employment in Norway has increased faster than earlier estimates predicted,
and that unemployment is continuously decreasing. Growth in prices and wages
is expected to be moderate for both 1997 and 1998.
In the first ballot for the chair of the federal executive committee of the
teachers' trade union, Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW), held
among congress delegates on 26 May 1997, Dieter Wunder, chair since 1981,
surprisingly and unexpectedly failed to reach the necessary absolute
majority, although no rival candidate had been nominated. Mr Wunder
subsequently stood down as a candidate for the second ballot. It was the
first time that a trade union affiliated to the German Trade Union Federation
(Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) had rejected the re-election of its chair
in such a way. After the results of the first ballot became public, the
congress was interrupted for several hours. During the previous months, there
had been considerable and controversial internal discussions on the
relationship between the federal executive committee and the executive
committees of regional GEW branches, as well as on leadership, trade union
ideologies and GEW strategies. Many delegates asserted that they wanted to
teach Mr Wunder a lesson, though it was not their intention to vote him out.
In May 1997, the Italian Government proposed emergency measures to modify the
pensions system in view of the entry criteria for EU Economic and Monetary
Union (EMU), causing particular problems in the schools sector.
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.
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 2003, the first edition of the survey.
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 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
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 2012, the third 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 2005, the fourth 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 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
In 2022, the European Semester was streamlined to integrate the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) established on 19 February 2021 (Regulation (EU) 2021/241). While facing the geopolitical and economic challenges triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Member States have been implementing the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) for more than one year and around 100 billion euro in RRF funds have already been disbursed.
This report explores the association between skills use and skills strategies and establishment performance, and how other workplace practices, in terms of work organisation, human resources management and employee involvement, can impact on this. It looks at how skills shortages can be addressed, at least in part, by creating an environment in which employees are facilitated and motivated to make better use of the skills they already have. This further supports the business case for a more holistic approach to management.
With the expansion of telework and different forms of hybrid work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for policymakers to consider both the opportunities and the negative consequences that may result. This report will explore potential scenarios for such work. In doing so, it will identify trends and drivers, and predict how they might interact to create particular outcomes and how they are likely to affect workers and businesses. Policy pointers will outline what could be done to facilitate desirable outcomes and to avoid undesirable ones.
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.
This report explores the drivers of economic and social convergence in Europe, using a selected set of economic and social indicators to examine trends in the performance of individual Member States. It also investigates what role the Economic and Monetary Union plays in convergence, particularly in southern and eastern Member States. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on convergence is analysed and initial conclusions are drawn about the impact of EU recovery packages and their ability to prevent divergence.
As economies emerge from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages are becoming increasingly evident. These include shortages exacerbated by the crisis in some sectors and professions where they had been endemic for some time. This report will look at measures implemented at national level to tackle labour shortages in the health, care and information and communications technology sectors, as well as those arising from the twin digital and green transitions.
Adequate, affordable housing has become a matter of great concern, with an alarming number of Europeans with low or lower household incomes unable to access any, especially in capital cities. Housing was a key factor in people’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic: its quality and level of safety significantly affected how lockdowns and social distancing measures were experienced, with those who had no access to quality housing at higher risk of deteriorating living conditions and well-being.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an extraordinary level of provision of social services across the EU. Healthcare and care providers carried much of the burden and, together with essential services, played a crucial role in getting citizens through the crisis. This report explores how public services adapted to the new reality and what role was played by the digital transformation of services. The aim is to contribute to the documentation and analysis of changes in funding, delivery and use of healthcare and social services during the pandemic.
The urban-rural divide in EU countries has grown in recent years, and the depopulation of certain rural areas in favour of cities is a challenge when it comes to promoting economic development and maintaining social cohesion and convergence. Using data from Eurofound and Eurostat, this report will investigate the trends and drivers of the urban-rural divide, in various dimensions: economic and employment opportunities, access to services, living conditions and quality of life.
Building on previous work by Eurofound, this report will investigate intergenerational dynamics over time. During the 2008 double-dip recession, worrying intergenerational divides appeared in many Member States, and while some of the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is universal, early data suggests disparities across demographic cohorts. Eurofound will examine how different age groups may have been affected in terms of their health, labour market participation, quality of life and financial needs, both in the short term and in the long term.
MEMBER OF THE NETWORK OF EU AGENCIES
Eurofound on Euroopan unionin virasto