Publications

The general strike was called by the ‘most representative’ trade unions,
the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO [1]) and the
General Workers’ Confederation (UGT [2]), after parliament passed the Royal
Decree Law 10/2010, of 16 June, on urgent measures for the labour market
reform (*ES1007011I* [3]). The government announced that the decree would be
processed as a project law, coming into force on 9 September, allowing
different parliamentary groups to include amendments. However, this did not
appease the trade unions, who suspected that the general opposition of the
left-wing parties to the reform would force the government to negotiate the
formulation of the law with centre-right nationalist parties, namely the
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV [4]) and the Catalan Political Coalition
(CiU [5]).

[1] http://www.ccoo.es/csccoo/menu.do
[2] http://www.ugt.es/
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations/government-approves-law-proposing-urgent-labour-market-reform
[4] http://www.eaj-pnv.eu/eusk
[5] http://www.ciu.cat/

On 29 September, in solidarity with European trade unions, the country’s
trade unions – the Lithuania Trade Union Confederation (LPSK [1]), the
Lithuanian Labour Federation (LDF [2]) and the Lithuanian Trade Union
‘Solidarumas’ (LPS ‘Solidarumas’ [3]), together with the Lithuanian
Journalists’ Union (LŽS [4]) and the Lithuanian Association for the
Elderly (LPZA (74Kb PDF) [5]) – planned to hold a meeting near the
headquarters of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (LRV [6]) in
Vilnius.

[1] http://www.lpsk.lt/
[2] http://www.ldf.lt/index.php?cid=26
[3] http://www.lps.lt/
[4] http://www.lzs.lt/
[5] http://www.monitoringris.org/documents/ngos_nat/Bociai-LPZA-EN.pdf
[6] http://www.lrv.lt

A new mechanism for the extension of multi-employer collective agreements in
Slovakia came into force from 1 January, 2010. The need for the consent of
the employer was abolished by the Act No. 564/2009 on collective bargaining
(646Kb PDF) [1], which amended Act No. 2/1991. Proposals for the new
extension mechanism were made after consultation with International Labour
Organisation (ILO [2]) expert Niklas Bruun (*SK0906019I* [3], *SK0708019I*
[4], *SK0809019I* [5]). According to the new legislation:

[1] http://www.cechova.sk/en/Documents/FLN/AJ/2009/FLN_december_09.pdf
[2] http://www.ilo.org
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/further-changes-to-extension-of-collective-agreements
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/legislation-amended-to-extend-collective-agreements
[5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/employers-oppose-new-collective-agreement-extension-rules

A recent survey (in German) [1] by the Institute of Economic and Social
Research (WSI [2]) of the Hans Böckler Foundation (HBS [3]) shows that 10
out of the 16 German states (/Länder/) could soon have laws,
/Tariftreuegesetze/, linking public procurement to the observance of certain
collectively agreed minimum standards. As of October 2010, these laws exist
in five German states (see table below). Another four states have announced
such legislation for 2010 and the new ‘red-green’ coalition government of
North Rhine-Westphalia committed itself in its manifesto to developing
similar legislation.

[1] http://www.boeckler.de/275_107824.html
[2] http://www.wsi.de/
[3] http://www.boeckler.de/

The government order (in French) [1] issued on 23 July extends the national
interprofessional agreement (ANI) on harassment and violence at work (in
French, 161Kb PDF) [2] signed by the French trade unions in March. The
agreement transposes the European framework agreement on harassment and
violence at work (4.78Mb PDF) [3]. The objective of the new agreement is to
educate employers, workers and their representatives on the problems of
harassment and violence at work [4] by defining these issues and proposing
measures with which to identify, prevent and manage them. The agreement also
includes measures to support affected employees.

[1] http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000022630774
[2] http://www.medef.com/fileadmin/www.medef.fr/documents/Harcelement/Accord_harcelement.pdf
[3] http://www.tradeunionpress.eu/Agreement%20violence/Framework%20Agreement%20Harassment%20and%20Violence%20at%20Work2.pdf
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/harassment-and-violence-at-work

The report, Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on
the social determinants of health (7.29Mb PDF) [1], issued by the Commission
on Social Determinants of Health in 2008, states that:

[1] http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241563703_eng.pdf

Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.

Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.

Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.

Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.