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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 Eanáir 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)

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 measurement framework was devised, a total of 692 collective agreements – related to 24

26 January 2024

This report explores EU Member States’ legislation around the right to disconnect and assesses the impact of company policies in this area on employees’ hours of connection, working time, work–life balance, health and well-being, and overall workplace satisfaction.

30 November 2023

This report examines the average weekly working hours across Europe in 2021 and 2022. It covers important developments resulting from legislative reforms in collective bargaining at national or sectoral level, drawing on debates about the reduction of working time and the four-day working week.

24 October 2023

Automation and digitisation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly powerful and pervasive. The full range of their effects in the workplace is yet to be seen. It is, however, important not only to explore the ethical implications of digital te

12 September 2023

After a long period of price stability, inflation has made a remarkable comeback in the EU. While nominal wages picked up in 2021 and 2022, real wage growth has remained below inflation, affecting mainly low-income groups.

06 September 2023

This report investigates the involvement of social partners in the just transition to a climate-neutral economy, with a particular focus on the territorial just transition plans. These plans aim to support the regions most negatively affected by the just transition by assisting workers to retrain

19 July 2023

This report is carried out in the context of the three-year pilot project (2021–2023), ‘Role of the minimum wage in establishing the Universal Labour Guarantee’, mandated to Eurofound by the European Commission. Its focus is module 3 of the project, investigating minimum wages and other forms of pay

30 November 2022

This working paper investigates the practical implementation of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive at company level. It explores the challenges faced by existing EWCs and provides examples of solutions identified and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. In

25 October 2022

This report sets out to map and analyse legislation and collective bargaining on telework in the 27 Member States and Norway. It highlights the main cross-country differences and similarities regarding telework legislation and recent changes to these regulations. It also examines the current situati

01 September 2022

This report analyses recent developments and emerging practices in collective bargaining processes and outcomes, mainly in the private sector. The report covers collective bargaining systems in 10 EU Member States and is based on cases identified through interviews with key stakeholders and

31 August 2022

Online resources results (321)

Intersectoral agreement on representation and representativeness

There have been deep divisions between Italy’s three main trade union confederations over the past decade. Since the early 2000s, united union action has been jeopardised by differences of opinion and actual splits between the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Cgil [1]), the Italian

Unions reject plan to cut public pay bill by €1 billion

The first Croke Park Agreement, known formally as the Public Service Agreement 2010–2014, ensured there would be no compulsory redundancies among public servants in return for trade union cooperation with an average 7.5% wage cut and a four-year wage freeze (*IE1007039I* [1]). The agreement was set

Social partners agree to postpone cost-cutting

Unions, employers and the cabinet in the Netherlands have reached agreement on a package of measures which they hope will improve conditions in the labour market. The coalition Dutch Government [1] says postponing planned austerity measures will also increase optimism among the general population

Supreme Court rules in favour of equal treatment for foreign workers in shipyards

The Norwegian mechanism for making collective agreements generally applicable was set out in The General Application Act (169Kb PDF) [1] of 4 June 1993and came into effect in 1994, around the same time that Norway became a member of the EU’s internal market. It was introduced to ensure foreign

New collective agreement for construction industry

/On 12 February 2013, the social partners in the construction industry agreed terms on renewing the collective agreement, following lengthy consultations both at the direct bargaining stage and at the mediation stage. The agreement was approved by the congresses of three federations: the/ Democratic

€12 million plan to rescue Lufthansa pensions

A proposal to solve a company pension crisis has been concluded between management and trade unions at the wholly owned Irish-based subsidiary of the German company Lufthansa Technik. It will involve a change from the current defined benefit scheme to a new defined contribution plan. Management and

Role for unions in new agreement at Finmeccanica

Finmeccanica [1] is one of the biggest industrial groups in Italy and the Ministry of the Economy controls 30.2% of its shares. [1] http://www.finmeccanica.com/Corporate/EN/index.sdo

New national agreement talks collapse

The national framework agreement covering around 94% of Finland’s employees will terminate at the end of October 2013. Exploratory negotiations for a new centralised agreement were kick-started by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK [1]) but the positions and preconditions of it and the

Pay to rise in electronics industry after strike action

More than 14,000 Slovenian steel and electronics workers at 102 companies took part in a strike on 23 January 2013 in support of their wage demands (*SI1301041I* [1]). The strike was organised by the Steel and Electronics Industries Union of Slovenia (SKEI [2]), which is a member of the Union of

Job cuts at restructuring flag carrier airline

Iberia, the Spanish flag carrier airline, currently employs nearly 20,000 people. In 2010, it became part of the holding company International Airlines Group (IAG [1]), the third largest worldwide commercial airline by revenue. [1] http://www.iairgroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=240949&p=index


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 Meitheamh 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 Nollaig 2020

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