Strikes in the Port of Rotterdam in the early months of 1997 demonstrate once
again its distinctive position in the Dutch system of industrial relations.
The ongoing process of reorganisation in the mixed-cargo sector, which has a
long tradition of trade unionism, is responsible for regular labour disputes
in the form of court action and both organised and wildcat strikes .
A two-year collective agreement was approved by the 225,000 employees in the
government sector (DK9702103N [1]) and the 662,000 employees in the county
and municipal bargaining area, offering a 4.25% pay increase, wage adjustment
schemes, and improved pension and maternity leave provisions. However the
1997 collective bargaining rounds represented more than adjustments of pay,
pensions and maternity leave; it was, as the Minister of Finance, Mogens
Lykketoft said, "a peaceful wage revolution", introducing a more flexible and
decentralised salary-scale system.
On 28 April 1997, the German Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union
(Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV) and the
German White-Collar Workers' Union (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft, DAG)
announced the foundation of a new joint subsidiary union for the employees of
international and European organisations which are located in Germany.
Through the newly established "International Public Servants Organisation"
(IPSO), both unions want to create an effective interest representation for
the employees working in organisations like the European Monetary Institute
in Frankfurt or the European Patent Office in Munich. The foundation of IPSO
should also avoid competition between ÖTV and DAG in the recruitment of
members in international and European organisations, and should lead to a
closer cooperation between the unions. The latter is particularly important
because of the fact that the DAG is the only significant German trade union
which is not a member of the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher
Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB).
In Greece, temporary work, especially in the form of fixed-term contracts,
constitutes a policy widespread amongst enterprises in both private and
public sectors. Although the phenomenon of temporary work has decreased
considerably in comparison with the early 1990s, when its incidence was twice
that of the EU average (18% and 9% respectively), it is still quite high
(10.5% and 11% respectively). A factor contributing to this decrease was the
decision of the Government in the course of 1990 to dismiss 50,000 temporary
public employees as part of its attempt to rationalise the functioning of the
public sector.
One of Ireland's smallest banks, the Ulster Bank, is seeking to replace its
incremental-based pay system with a new performance-related reward scheme for
most of its 1,000 staff in the Republic of Ireland. The bank's proposals have
been resisted by members of the banking union, the Irish Bank Officials
Association (IBOA). They have, however, been accepted by its staff in
Northern Ireland who are part of the British industrial relations system.
Total Quality Management (TQM) has been a leading development of the 1990s in
Britain. Surveys find that almost three-quarters of organisations claim to
have formal quality programmes, which are believed to work by increasing
employees' interest in their jobs and their understanding of how their work
contributes to organisational goals. Many of these programmes have been
introduced in the past five years. Definitions of TQM vary but its core
comprises: a focus on the customer; the improvement and inter-linking of
business processes; and continuous improvement ("Making quality critical", A
Wilkinson and H Willmott, eds, London, Routledge, 1995.).
On 7 May, the Dutch Government withdrew a bill that would have allowed
employers exemptions from paying the statutory national minimum wage [1]
(NL9702103F [2]). Discussions in Parliament had arrived at a political
impasse.
In November 1996, the brewing group Interbrew, the still-expanding leader in
the market, announced the ending of bottling activities at its Belle Vue
Brewery in Molenbeek, an industrial district of Brussels. It meant the loss
of 103 jobs out of 167 in the company's bottling section. Since then,
management had been negotiating a company plan with the unions to avoid
redundancies, and an original solution was eventually found and approved in a
company referendum on 18 April 1997. This solution is based on the terms of a
legislative measure that had been ratified on 13 March 1997, called the
Vandelanotte order after the Flemish Socialist minister: it allows companies
facing difficulties or restructuring to preserve jobs through a reduction of
working time linked to the reduction of social security contributions over
two years.
During the 1990s, the tendencies within Italian enterprises towards a greater
participation of workers and their representatives have become more
pronounced. This has applied to direct, economic/financial and institutional
participation, and here we review recent developments, focusing on the second
and third types of participation.
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.
The report maps trends in income inequality and examines the situation of the middle classes in the EU during 2020, the year most associated with the COVID-19 lockdowns. It charts developments in the size and composition of middle-class households across countries, identifies those that suffered disproportionately in 2020. Taking a longer lens, the report describes the evolution of income inequalities over the last 15 years, comparing the Great Recession (2007–2009) with the COVID-19 pandemic, and outlines the trends both between and within Member States.
This report explores the implications of the right of all EU citizens to live independently. It investigates the barriers faced by people who wish to live independently, and the situation of people at risk of living in institutional settings. It maps the various measures taken by EU Member States to foster independent living and autonomy. The report also includes policy pointers to support future decision-makers and provides a review of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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