Publications

Teamwork is one of the "buzzwords" of the 1990s. Debates on the subject
usually take one of two positions - its effects are advantageous for all
concerned or it has a wholly detrimental impact upon employees. New
collaborative research conducted in Britain and North America by
theIndustrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick and by the
Département des Relations Industrielles, Université Laval, Canada,
highlights for the first time the complexities of the effects of teamwork.
Below we summarise the findings of this research.

The announcement in June 1997 by the Paperworkers' Union of its intention to
conclude a separate agreement with the employers in the forestry sector
(FI9706119N [1]) has undermined the common approach of Finnish trade unions
towards the negotiation of a new broadly-based incomes policy. The
Paperworkers' Union is one of the largest unions in Finland and plays a key
role in the forestry sector. If the union were to withdraw from a new
agreement between the social partners on a new incomes policy, it could
undermine the legitimacy of any such agreement.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/paperworkers-union-disassociates-itself-from-national-level-incomes-policy

On 26 June 1997 the Northrhine-Westphalia (NRW) district office of Germany's
IG Metall metalworkers' union for the first time invited its colleagues from
Dutch and Belgium metalworking unions to join a meeting of the regional
collective bargaining commission (Tarifkommission). The commission is the
trade union's decision-making body on collective bargaining strategy, as well
as on the final adoption of collective agreements.

In June 1997, the Italian Parliament adopted a package of measures aimed at
boosting employment, including legislation giving temporary agency work a
legal status for the first time. This article reviews the provisions of the
new legislation and its implications.

Pensions in the Austrian private sector are financed under a "pay-as-you-go"
system, with 22.75% of the total wage cost being contributed to the national
pension insurance schemes. Pensions cost nearly 15% of Austrian GDP, compared
with between 9% and 12% in most member states of the EU, and close to 20% of
private sector pension cost is financed from the federal budget. There is
broad agreement among experts that the Austrian pension system is relatively
generous. Average pensions, according to the Government, are ATS 11,000 per
month for former employees, and ATS 32,000 per month for former federal civil
servants. Local government civil servants are estimated to receive average
monthly pensions of ATS 24,000. Austrian pensions amount to 80% of the
average contributions over a person's best 15 years' earnings, if they have
worked for at least 35 years, in the case of men, or 30 years, in the case of
women. Where people have worked for under 35 or 30 years, there are
deductions for every year under this figure. Men have to be at least 60 and
women at least 55 to qualify for early retirement, except in cases of
disability, while the normal retirement age is 60 for women and 65 for men.

A government committee has been set up in Portugal to examine the framework
for reform of the country's social security system and to make proposals for
change. Consultations with the social partners were launched in late June
1997.

Late June 1996 saw agreement in the central "wage regulation" negotiations in
Norway's state sector. These negotiations take place within the framework of
the main state sector settlement.

In autumn 1996, following what company management considered the constant
opposition of some works councils to worker participation, the
Electrolux-Zanussi group in Italy announced that it intended to terminate all
company-level agreements on participation from the end of March 1997. At the
same time, however, the company invited trade unions to negotiate a revision
of the participation model which had been developed within the group during
the previous years, in order to strengthen it and confirm joint and full
support from both unions and management. Consultations among company and
union representatives started in May, but they have not yet led to an
agreement. The issue at stake is very important, since the participation
model at Electrolux-Zanussi is generally considered one of the most advanced
in Europe and the most significant in Italy.

The framework agreement, signed on 15 November 1996, for the 625,000
employees in the 275 Danish municipalities and 14 counties, is the
culmination of six years of experiments with new structures for cooperation
between workers and employers. The agreement is a response to the increasing
demands imposed on local and regional authorities for quality services,
budgetary restraints and improvements in efficiency and increased flexibility
on the part of employees.

In his inaugural policy statement to Parliament on 19 June, the new Prime
Minister, Lionel Jospin, announced a 4% rise in the SMIC national minimum
wage to take effect on 1 July 1997.