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  • Article
    27 June 1997

    With the agreement of 30 May between the Building Workers' Union and the
    Employers' Federation of the Swedish Construction Industry, the last of
    1997's major collective agreements was concluded. It gave 70,000 building
    workers an increase of SEK 2.50 per hour and, for the first time, payment
    during certain public holidays. According to the union, this represents an
    overall pay increase of 3.1%, while the employers estimate its value to be
    2.6%. Irrespective of who is right, the agreement is very much in line with
    the 1997 average settlement.

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    On 10 June 1997, Renault management announced the appointment of an
    independent expert who will evaluate, on an economic basis, the potential
    measures envisaged to "compensate for the inefficiency involved in the
    structure of Renault's production facilities".

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    The decision in May 1997 by Halivourgiki, the largest steel concern in
    Greece, to introduce flexible working hours, reduce its workforce and close a
    part of the production line has led to an industrial dispute. We examine the
    factors behind Halivourgiki's decision and the reactions of employees and
    their representatives.

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    The European Council meeting in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June 1997 concluded
    the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) with the agreement of a new draft
    Treaty. The conclusion of the IGC leaves the path open for launching the
    enlargement process, and the timetable for the single currency has equally
    been reaffirmed. Economic stability, growth and employment also featured
    prominently in talks between the governments of the 15 member states.
    Reinforced by the participation of members from the two new left-of-centre
    governments of France and the United Kingdom, the European Council agreed to
    give fresh momentum to keeping employment firmly at the top of the European
    Union's agenda.

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    The confederation of Critical Shareholders (Kritische Aktionäre) is an
    alliance of about 35 small shareholders' groups and other non-governmental
    organisations such as environmental, consumer and anti-militaristic groups.
    Currently, the Critical Shareholders are active in about 40 German
    corporations including the most important German banks as well as various
    industrial corporations in the automobile, electronic, chemical and food
    industries. They can call on up to 5% of the votes cast in some of the
    companies.

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    On 4 June, Padraig Flynn, the European Commissioner responsible for social
    affairs, employment and industrial relations, launched a consultation
    document on "information and consultation of workers within the national
    framework" (EU9706132F [1]). The document constitutes the first stage of
    consultation of the European-level social partners under the Maastricht
    social policy Agreement procedure, and could thus lead to a European-level
    agreement and/or Community legislation. If the Commission's proposals bear
    fruit, there would be minimum standards across Europe to ensure that workers
    enjoy rights to be informed and consulted. These rights would apply to all
    workers in enterprises above a certain size (50 employees has been suggested
    as a possible threshold). The new measure would reinforce existing
    requirements on national information and consultation over transfers of
    undertakings, collective redundancies and health and safety issues.

    [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/working-conditions-undefined/european-social-partners-discuss-the-social-impact-of-restructuring

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    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.

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    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.

  • Article
    27 June 1997

    Protests in June 1997 against the termination of ship-refitting work at
    Spain's publicly owned Astander shipyard met with a forceful response from
    the police. The problem arose because the Ministry of Industry imposed a
    unilateral amendment to the Strategic Competitiveness Plan for the naval
    sector. The dispute is still continuing, even though the Ministry has
    modified its position

Series

  • European Restructuring Monitor

    The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This publication series include the ERM reports, as well as blogs, articles and working papers on restructuring-related events in the EU27 and Norway.

  • European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021

    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 European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) 2021, an extraordinary edition conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was first carried out in 1990.

  • Developments in working life, industrial relations and working conditions in the EU

    This publication series gathers all overview reports on developments in working life, annual reviews in industrial relations and working conditions produced by Eurofound on the basis of national contributions from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (NEC). Since 1997, these reports have provided overviews of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The series may include recent ad hoc articles written by members of the NEC.

  • COVID-19

    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, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.

  • Sectoral social dialogue

    Eurofound's representativeness 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.

  • Minimum wages in the EU

    This series reports on developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.  

  • European Working Conditions Surveys

    The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. 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.

  • Challenges and prospects in the EU

    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.

  • European Company Survey 2019

    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. 

  • National social partners and policymaking

    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).

Forthcoming publications

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