April 1997 was a very good month for securing the future of British car
plants. The Ford Halewood plant on Merseyside and the Peugeot Ryton plant in
Coventry have both secured the production of new vehicles into the next
century. The future of Rover's Longbridge plant is in the balance while an
announcement is delayed over whether a new model /Mini/ will be produced.
Following negotiations which have been held in a cooperative atmosphere,
Belgacom, the partially privatised, but still largely government-owned
Belgian telephone company, has announced plans to reduce rather drastically
its number of employees. The current workforce of about 26,000 will have to
be reduced by about 5,000 by the end of 1998.
In April 1997, the Confindustria employers' confederation organised a
"virtual demonstration "of around 14,000 employers against a government
exercise to raise public revenue and reduce spending by a total of ITL 15,500
billion, deemed necessary to keep Italy's 1997 budget within the parameters
set by the Maastricht Treaty on European Union.
The law on social welfare, adopted in November 1995, included provisions on a
range of matters, such as: the submission of the social security budget to
parliamentary vote; the setting up of a new tax known as "social security
deficit clearance" (Remboursement de la dette sociale); the abolition of
pension funds relating to specific sectors, which sparked off the rail strike
in November and December 1995 and was finally withdrawn; and the setting up
of personal health record books. One of the provisions related to the
reduction of health expenditure and a reorganisation of the healthcare
system. Two types of redistribution in particular were provided for:
The German chemical industry enjoys a long tradition of successful
consensus-based industrial relations. In spring 1996, the bargaining partners
concluded a "solidarity pact" in the form of a package of regional and
national collective agreements. The agreements ran for 12 months and covered
590,000 employees in western Germany. The aim of the deal was to meet the
challenges of globalisation and structural change, as well as to extend the
competences of the social partners at enterprise and company level. The
implementation of the two most important elements of the solidarity pact -
the employment alliance and the collective agreement on part-time work for
older workers - has recently been reviewed.
HK, the largest affiliated trade union of the Danish Confederation of Trade
Unions (LO), with 357,000 members, has launched a two-month image and
recruitment campaign. DKK 4 million will be spent on newspaper advertisements
and bill boards, which will be followed up by local initiatives. The campaign
will aim to improve recruitment and visibility, initiate debates on
objectives, and explain the utility value of being a member.
The Standing Committee for Social Dialogue (the Economic and Social Council's
tripartite committee) has approved new rules relating to family credits in
Portugal.
An arbitration award delivered on 11 April 1997 has decided that blue-collar
employees who are members of trade unions affiliated to the largest union
confederation, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) will face a
reduction in sick pay entitlement.
The annual report of the Labour Inspectorate (Arbeitsinspektion) for 1995,
has now become available to the public after debate in parliament. The
Arbeitsinspektion's activities are regulated by the 1993 Labour Inspection
Act (Arbeitsinspektionsgesetz, ArbIG). This stipulates that the Labour
Inspectorate has to contribute through its activities to an effective
protection of employees, and especially has to watch over compliance with
protective legal regulations and to inform and support employers and
employees accordingly. The Labour Inspectorate has free access to all places
of employment as well as housing and accommodation and welfare institutions.
Exceptions are places of employment covered by other organisations - as in
agriculture and forestry, mining, areas of the transport sector and public
education - as well as religious buildings, private households, and offices
of the territorial administration.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has published more information
about the activities to be launched as part of its "European Day of Action
for Employment", to take place all across the EU as well as in some Central
and Eastern European countries on 28 May 1997.
This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.
The European Company Survey (ECS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2004–2005, with the latest edition in 2019. The survey is designed to provide information on workplace practices to develop and evaluate socioeconomic policy in the EU. It covers issues around work organisation, working time arrangements and work–life balance, flexibility, workplace innovation, employee involvement, human resource management, social dialogue, and most recently also skills use, skills strategies and digitalisation.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.
This series brings together publications and other outputs of the European Jobs Monitor (EJM), which tracks structural change in European labour markets. The EJM analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU in terms of occupation and sector and gives a qualitative assessment of these shifts using various proxies of job quality – wages, skill-levels, etc.
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 2016, the fourth 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 2015, the sixth 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 1996, the second 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 2001, which was an extension of the EWCS 2000 to cover the then 12 acceding and candidate countries. 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 2000, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
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 first edition of the survey carried out in 2004–2005 under the name European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This policy brief provides facts and figures on the working life and job quality of so-called ‘essential workers’ and is based on data from the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) extraordinary edition 2021. It will define various subgroups of essential workers, describe the challenges they face and outline the type of responses provided, or being developed, to address those challenges.
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.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the professional football sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the furniture sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the furniture sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the extractive industries sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the extractive industries sector in the EU Member States.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly evolving, and becoming increasingly powerful and pervasive. While the implications of digital technologies on ethics and working conditions should be explored as they emerge, it is also important to anticipate any unintended effects that raise new ethical challenges. Drawing on different research methods and building on previous research, this report examines the effects of digital technologies on fundamental rights, ethical principles and working conditions.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the woodworking sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the woodworking sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the construction sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the construction sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in European sectoral social dialogue taking place at cross-sectoral level. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations at cross-sectoral level in the EU Member States.
This report maps and analyses key dimensions and indicators of industrial relations in the EU. It expands on the four key indicators identified in Eurofound’s 2016 study: industry democracy, industrial competitiveness, job and employment equality, and social justice. With a key focus on industrial democracy, the report provides an in-depth analysis of divergence and convergence patterns across countries. The analysis also includes the development of a composite indicator and an integrated indicator for all four industrial relations dimensions.
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