In July 1999, following earlier allegations of violations of working and
banking hours in Greek banks, the Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions
(OTOE) lodged a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate against EUROBANK and
ASPIS Bank.
Summer 1999 saw increasing concern among Portuguese trade unions over a
number of economic indicators. Although individual income has gone up, the
inflation rate and the rate of indebtedness of Portuguese families are
considered to be sources of major concern.
On 1 September 1999, 100 years have passed since the two most prominent
social partner confederations in Denmark - the Danish Employers'
Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) and the Danish Confederation
of Trade Unions (Landsordanisationen i Danmark, LO) - concluded the
"September compromise" (Septemberforliget), the first basic agreement on the
regulation of Danish industrial relations. The main principles of this
agreement are still valid. Hardly any other event in recent history has
contributed more than the September compromise to the development of Danish
society as a "consensus society", in which conflicts between groups and
classes are resolved through compromises on the basis of mutual respect.
On 4 August 1999, the trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers published a
consultation document setting out the government's proposals for a statutory
right for working parents to take parental leave and for improved maternity
leave arrangements. The legislation will take the form of Regulations, and
will take effect from 15 December 1999 - the deadline for implementing the
requirements of the EU Council Directive on parental leave (96/34/EC) [1].
In late July 1999, a preliminary agreement on an "employment pact for the
city of Milan" was signed by the city's municipal administration, the trade
union confederations - with the important exception of Cgil - and the
employers' associations. Under the deal, September will see the start of
local-level consultations and dialogue aimed at drawing up pay and employment
measures to promote the entry into employment of weaker sections of the
labour force - immigrants, long-term unemployed workers, workers over 40
expelled from the labour market, and disadvantaged young people. The Milan
Cgil organisation has pulled out of the talks because it fears that the
proposals for pay and employment contract flexibility put forward by the city
council will open the way for more precarious forms of employment.
In August 1999, several Dutch trade union organisations announced plans to
support their members with financial advice and professional education, thus
further developing the role of unions away from their traditional collective
bargaining function.
In Germany, workers' interests are represented by four large trade union
organisations which regularly publish membership figures. In descending order
of size these are:
At the end of July 1999, a second bargaining session was held between
representatives of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) and of
employers' organisations, for the purpose of discussing a reduction of the
working week to 35 hours without loss of pay. The parties agreed to set up a
joint committee to consider the matter.
Euro-FIET held its annual meeting of representatives of European finance
workers' trade unions in Portugal in May 1999. The main themes were
globalisation and the consequences of the euro single currency. The event
also gave Portuguese unions the opportunity to express their views on these
issues.
In a recent high-profile incident, a Muslim woman of Lebanese origin was
rejected for employment by Denmark's two largest supermarket chains because
she refused, if employed, to remove the headscarf that she wore according to
Muslim tradition. The woman concerned, Maria Mawla, brought the matter to to
attention of the press in late July 1999. The national supermarket chains
concerned - the Danish Consumer Cooperative (Forenede Danske Brugsforeninger,
FDB) and Dansk Supermarked- refused to employ Muslim women in headscarves to
work at check-out desks or other visible places in their outlets. They
claimed that: individual headgear is contrary to their ways and customs;
headscarves are unhygienic and not compatible with the stores' principles
concerning uniforms; and the presence of staff in headscarves may put off
many customers.
The European Restructuring Monitor has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This series includes its restructuring-related databases (events, support instruments and legislation) as well as case studies and publications.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2020. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, conducted in two rounds – in April and in July 2020. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
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 ECS 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound's representativness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
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 study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the live performance 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 Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in the EU Member States.
This report investigates the convergence of Member States in various dimensions of living conditions. Indicators are drawn from the European Quality of Life Surveys and other surveys. The analysis pays special attention to particular subgroups such as young people and women. The analysis also investigates the key drivers of convergence in living conditions.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the overlaps between different parts of the public sector, especially with regard to social services. Firstly, the overlaps in terms of employment structures are analysed; secondly, the overlaps of all national sector-related organisations are assessed; and thirdly, the overlaps of the European social partner organisation are considered. The conclusions of this report should help decision-making regarding which ESSDC social services activities fit best in.
The European Jobs Monitor biannual report comprises two sections: one providing a jobs-based analysis of labour market developments, while the other has a thematic focus on shifts in the employment structure from both a gender and an age perspective. The age-based analysis examines how the age profile of employment has evolved since the crisis and explores whether employment continues to be more resilient in jobs with an older age profile. The gender analysis reassesses the findings of the jobs approach using more gender-disaggregated job-ranking data, based on both wage and education.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the civil aviation (groundcrew and air traffic control crew) 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 objective of this study is to examine the quality and effectiveness of the tripartite social dialogue practices involving national social partners aimed at addressing relevant reforms and particularly those adocpted as CSRs in the context of the European Semester. It also analyses the structural, political or operational reasons limiting or shaping the effective involvement of the social partners in these processes.
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