Communication calendar

For the first time since 1960, the Belgian social partners have failed to reach an intersectoral pay agreement and have instead accepted government imposition of measures on employment and maximum pay increases. This development runs counter to all traditions of free collective bargaining and the

On 19 February, the Government presented a bill to Parliament, proposing modifications in the legislation concerning the granting of workers' claims in case of their employer's insolvency. There is no doubt that it will be passed by Parliament. This will then be the second time the legislation has

The immediate catalyst for the current prominence of working time in UK industrial relations is the failure in November 1996 of the Government's attempt to have the EU Directive on certain aspects of the organisation of working time (Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993) annulled by the

At its plenary session of 13-17 January 1997, the European Parliament debated two important measures relating to employee consultation in European companies. After the European Works Councils (EWCs) Directive was passed in 1994, the Commission published a Communication on the future of employee

Industrial action has accompanied trade unions' pay demands in Spain's public administration since late 1996, and the threat of further action has been made if negotiations are not started immediately.

The Dutch Government wants to allow employers temporary exemptions from the legal minimum wage [1] (WML- wettelijk minimumloon), and to that end, a bill was submitted to Parliament in 1996. The target group consists of long-term unemployed people aged between 20 and 65. The purpose of the bill is to

Following parliamentary controversy, a law clamping down on illegal and undeclared "clandestine" employment was adopted in February 1997.

Nurses had threatened industrial action on 10 February 1997 in pursuit of a claim for a major overhaul in their pay structures and an improved early retirement scheme. However, the action was called off when the nurses accepted an IEP 85 million formula drawn up by the Labour Court, which includes