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Agreements

Agreements are the outcome of collective bargaining and social dialogue processes. Social partners are encouraged to negotiate and conclude collective agreements  that can then be implemented at European, national, regional, sectoral or company level.  Increasingly Union labour laws are shaped by agreements that the parties voluntarily enter into and by soft law mechanisms. 

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In this pilot project, Eurofound successfully established the feasibility of, and piloted, an EU-wide database of minimum pay rates contained in collective agreements related to low-paid workers. A conceptual and...

26 tammikuu 2024
Publication
Research report

Eurofound expert(s)

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Christine Aumayr-Pintar is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. Her current research topics include minimum wages, collectively agreed wages and gender...

Senior research manager,
Working life research unit
Publications results (40)

This article discusses developments in collectively agreed wages in the European Union in 2016, putting them into the perspective of developments over the past 15 years. The tendency for growth in both nominal and real collectively agreed wages from 2015 continued. In two countries (Belgium and

25 July 2017

This report describes the developments in collectively agreed pay in the EU Member States in 2014 and compares them to developments in previous years. While growth in collectively agreed pay in nominal terms declined, the declining growth of prices resulted in real collectively agreed pay increasing

05 August 2015

The average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union of 38.1 hours did not change between 2013 and 2014. In both years, the working week also remained, on average, 30 minutes shorter than the EU28 average in the EU15 Member States, and more than 90 minutes longer in the more

16 July 2015

In 2013, the average collective agreed weekly working time in the European Union was 38.1 hours, the same as in 2012. However, the working week was, on average, 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 Member States, and more than 90 minutes longer in the more recent Member States. If the

23 June 2014

The available national data reveal that average nominal collectively agreed pay increases in 2013 were roughly the same as or lower than those in 2012 in all the countries examined. However, because of lower inflation rates, employees in a number of countries saw the purchasing power of their wages

12 June 2014

EIRO’s annual analysis of collectively agreed pay for 2012 finds that although average nominal agreed increases were slightly greater than in 2011 in many countries, the rise in prices diminished people’s purchasing power. In real terms, only a handful of countries had positive collective pay

09 July 2013

In 2012, average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union, including Croatia, stood at 38.1 hours, the same as for the EU27 in 2011. The working week was on average 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 countries and over 1 hour and 30 minutes longer in the new Member States

25 June 2013

According to EIRO’s annual analysis of pay trends, average collective agreed nominal pay increases in 2011 did not differ greatly from 2010 in most of the 13 countries with available data. Most variations ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 percentage points, except for Belgium with the highest growth in

08 October 2012

In 2011, average collective agreed weekly working time in the European Union stood at 38.1 hours. The working week was on average 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 countries and over 1 hour and 30 minutes longer in the new Member States. Agreed normal annual working time averages nearly 1,720

15 August 2012

EIRO’s annual analysis of pay trends for 2010 finds that average collectively agreed nominal wage increases were lower than in 2009 in almost all 13 countries with available data, with Malta being the exception. The highest reductions in nominal pay increases were in Slovakia (5.5% in 2009 to 2.2%

16 October 2011

Online resources results (321)

Amalgamation creates largest education and sectoral union

Traditionally, Lithuania’s trade unions in the education sector have been among the strongest in the country. Unions have staged a number of strikes and protest campaigns over the past decade, and have managed to negotiate better wages for Lithuanian teachers compared to other public sector

Restructuring plan agreed for electronics giant

On 4 June 2013, the Italian company Indesit [1] told unions that it would be introducing an industrial restructuring [2] plan to reorganise three Italian plants between 2013 and 2015. The plan includes a €70 billion investment plan to cover product and process innovation to reduce water and energy

Striking public transport workers reach agreement

In September 2012, an agreement (in Italian) [1] was signed between the managers of the public transport company in the Italian city of Genoa, Amt [2], and unions. It sets out a recovery plan for the company which was threatened with closure because of significant financial losses. [1] http://www

New industrial relations protocol for gas sector group

During the last five years, the Snam [1] group of companies has been restructuring with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development. The goal was to find structural synergies, achieve efficiency gains in the gas supply chain, and improve work organisation and human resources, both

Collective bargaining developments marked by stability

At the end of 2013, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands (SZW [1]) published its annual report [2] on collective agreements in the country. The report covers developments in collective agreements in the Netherlands in 2012 and, where information is available, in 2013. [1]

Unions upbeat about post-crisis wage bargaining

On 7 January 2014, a new round of collective bargaining started in Denmark in the private sector, under the auspices of the Danish Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (LO [1]) and the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA [2]). The negotiations covers almost 600,000 employees. [1] http://www.lo.dk

General approach on posted workers agreed

The European Commission (EC [1]) has been looking at the issue of posted workers for some time. In March 2012, the Commission issued a proposal for a new Directive on the enforcement of the posted workers Directive 96/71/EC (240 KB PDF) [2]. [1] http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm [2] http://ec.europa

Above-inflation wage increase for metalworking sector

Austria’s annual main bargaining round takes place in the autumn and traditionally starts with the strong and influential metalworking industry. For the second time in a row, the Federal Economic Chamber’s (WKO [1]) six subsectoral employer organisations conducted separate negotiations, having, in

Rise in real wages in retail sector

In Austria’s retail sector, more than half a million white-collar employees, mostly women, will be covered by a new, innovative two-year collective agreement concluded between the social partners on 13 November 2013.

Strike action averted in mining industry

The mining company OKD [1], which has around 13,000 staff, faces economic difficulties (CZ1307029I [2]). In May 2013, it announced job and wage cuts the sale of part of its property. [1] http://www.okd.cz/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/mining-company-okd


Blogs results (2)
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Minimum wages have risen significantly in 2022, as the EU Member States leave behind the cautious mood of the pandemic. However, rising inflation is eating up these wage increases, and only flexibility in the regular minimum wage setting processes may avoid generalised losses in purchasing power

15 kesäkuu 2022
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Whatever the benefits of telework – and there are many, including more flexible working time, increased productivity and less commuting – there are drawbacks, as many of the one-third of Europeans who were exclusively working from home during the pandemic will attest. Primary among these is the ‘alw

3 joulukuu 2020

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