Publications

After a 6 months bargaining process, the social partners at Wind reached an
agreement on the renewal of the company agreement. Some interesting elements
concerning women’s needs for work and life balance and stabilization of
temporary workers have been introduced.

At the end of October 2008, the Estonian central employer organisation, the
Estonian Employers’ Confederation (Eesti Tööandjate Keskliit, ETTK [1]),
compiled and issued a list of proposals to the government on how to manage
the implications of the economic downturn. ETTK surveyed its member
organisations and collected opinions on the bottlenecks of the current
economy and on measures for improving the situation. Its proposals to the
government are based on the findings of this initiative.

[1] http://www.ettk.ee/en

Over the past few years, Finland’s national airline Finnair [1] has already
shed 700 jobs (*FI0611019I* [2] and *FI0609029I* [3]). In the summer of 2008,
when the previous mandatory joint consultation was finalised, the airline
started a new round of consultations aiming to cut a further 400 jobs. With
the consultation on the additional job cuts still ongoing, the company is
proposing pay cuts as a new cost-saving measure.

[1] http://www.finnair.com/finnaircom/wps/portal/finnair/jump?locale=en_INT
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/strike-at-finnair-over-restructuring-is-settled-by-conciliation
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/restructuring-dispute-at-finnair

The Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń SA (PZU [1]) group is Poland’s largest
insurer. At present, the main shareholders of PZU SA are the State Treasury,
which holds a 55% stake in the company, and the Netherlands-based bank
insurance consortium Eureko BV. The process of privatising PZU got underway
in 1998. In January 2005, the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament
(/Sejm/), responding to irregularities in PZU’s privatisation process,
appointed an investigative commission to review the case. Relations between
the Polish government and Eureko BV have become strained.

[1] http://www.pzu.pl/

Trade unions in Aer Lingus [1] were locked in negotiations for a number of
weeks in a bid to amend radical company proposals to outsource some 1,500
jobs out of a total of 4,000 posts at the airline. The unions were informed
that agreement on cuts amounting to €50 million in staff costs was required
by the end of November 2008, as part of a wider €74 million cost reduction
programme due to rising fuel costs and the global economic downturn. A
15-month pay freeze was included in the plan.

[1] http://www.aerlingus.com

Nel mese di ottobre è stato approvato dal Parlamento, prima dalla Camera e
poi dal Senato, il decreto legge di riforma del sistema scolastico nazionale.
Il decreto legge è stato presentato dal governo ed è caratterizzato da
interventi significativi nella scuola pubblica italiana, in particolare in
quella elementare. A tale provvedimento si deve aggiungere la legge,
approvata nell’agosto 2008, sulla razionalizzazione della finanza pubblica,
tra i cui punti vi è una parte riguardante l’università. La reazione dei
sindacati, del corpo docenti, degli studenti e di parte dell’opinione
pubblica è stata di rifiuto netto della riforma governativa che nel
complesso – secondo i critici – interviene significativamente nelle
modalità d’istruzione, oltre ad operare pesanti tagli ai fondi destinati
all’università e a limitare in futuro la possibilità di nuove assunzioni.
Per queste ragioni i sindacati, a fine ottobre, hanno organizzato una
giornata di sciopero generale.

On 7 October 2008, in line with the call to mobilise to change the world
economy [1] issued by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC [2]),
its French affiliates participated in this first-ever world day of
mobilisation for decent work [3]. The following trade union confederations
took part in the campaign: the French Democratic Confederation of Labour
(Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT [4]), the French
Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des
travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC [5]), the General Confederation of Labour
(Confédération générale du travail, CGT [6]), the General Confederation
of Labour – /Force ouvrière/ (Confédération générale du travail –
Force ouvrière, CGT-FO [7]) and the National Federation of Independent
Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, UNSA [8]).

[1] http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2428
[2] http://www.ituc-csi.org
[3] http://www.decentwork.org/
[4] http://www.cfdt.fr/
[5] http://www.cftc.fr/
[6] http://www.cgt.fr
[7] http://www.force-ouvriere.fr/
[8] http://www.unsa.org/

A series of mergers, takeovers and rescue packages were required to maintain
the viability of a number of major companies in Germany’s troubled banking
sector. The latest episode followed the collapse of the Lehman Brothers
investment bank in the US. The knock-on effect in Germany was the 70%
collapse in shares at the Hypo Real Estate (HRE) bank.

An expert committee set up by the Norwegian government in November 2007,
under the leadership of Professor Steinar Holden, has explored various issues
relating to equality between shift and rotation work. It submitted its
recommendations to the government in October 2008 (Skift og turnus –
gradvis kompensasjon for ubekvem arbeidstid (in Norwegian) [1]). The
committee was established against the backdrop of a lengthy debate about
gender equality in relation to working time schemes involving three-shift
rotation work and continuous shift work (*NO0711029I* [2]).

[1] http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/aid/dok/NOUer/2008/nou-2008-17.html?id=528756
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/expert-committee-to-examine-shift-and-rotation-work

When Peter Löscher took over as the Chief Executive of Siemens [1] in 2007,
one of his major tasks involved remodelling the transnational enterprise [2]
to boost efficiency. On 8 July 2008, Siemens officially announced that it
intends to cut 16,750 jobs, which corresponds to 4% of its global workforce
of 400,000 employees. The company’s plans call for about 12,600 job cuts
worldwide. An additional 4,150 jobs will be affected by restructuring [3]
projects. The restructuring plan for Germany envisages some 5,250 job cuts.
In the other European countries, it is planned to axe 5,150 jobs, and outside
of Europe the job reductions will amount to 6,350 units.

[1] http://w1.siemens.com/entry/cc/en/
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/transnational-enterprise
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring