Publications

The State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family
(Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny Slovenskej republiky, MPSVR
SR [1]), Emília Kršíková, and the Vice-President of the Confederation of
Trade Unions (Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky, KOZ SR
[2]), Ján Gašperan, issued a press release on 5 October 2009. After four
months of negotiations, the social partners had concluded a multi-employer
Collective Agreement for Civil Servants and a multi-employer Collective
Agreement for Public Servants for 2010. The participants in the collective
bargaining [3] round included representatives of the government and regional
self-governments, led by the main negotiator Ms Kršíková, and
representatives of KOZ SR, the Independent Christian Trade Unions of Slovakia
(Nezávislé kresťanské odbory Slovenska, NKOS [4]) and the General Free
Trade Union Association (Všeobecný slobodný odborový zväz, VSOZ), led by
the main negotiator Mr Gašperan.

[1] http://www.employment.gov.sk/
[2] http://www.kozsr.sk/
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/collective-bargaining
[4] http://www.nkos.sk/

At the end of October 2009, the Spanish National Statistical Institute
(Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE [1]) presented the results of the
Spanish Labour Force Survey (/Encuesta de Población Activa/, EPA)
corresponding to the third quarter of 2009. The results are somewhat
significant as, for the first time in two years, they show a decrease in the
number of unemployed people. Unemployment has declined by 14,100 persons in
comparison to the previous quarter, with the number of unemployed people now
standing at 4,123,300 persons.

[1] http://www.ine.es

Under Royal Decree 4/2008 of 19 September (in Spanish, 40Kb PDF) [1], the
Non-EU Foreign Workers’ Voluntary Return Programme allows for the early
lump-sum payment of unemployment contributory benefits to non-EU foreign
workers who are voluntarily returning to their home country. The benefits are
granted in two payments: 40% of the total amount is paid in Spain, and the
remaining 60% is granted to the individual when they return to their home
country after a period of 30 days. The programme, which was approved a year
ago, is voluntary and, according to the government, aims to alleviate the
situation of one of the groups most negatively affected by the economic
crisis. In addition, individuals receiving the benefit may be offered the
possibility of returning home together with their family, through a
travel-finance assistance programme.

[1] http://extranjeros.mtin.es/es/NormativaJurisprudencia/Nacional/RegimenExtranjeria/RegimenGeneral/documentos/reglamento_prestacion_desempleo_retorno.pdf

On 20 and 21 October 2009, the Executive Committee of the European Trade
Union Confederation (ETUC [1]) adopted a ‘Resolution on climate change’.
The resolution was developed in the context of a major document debated at a
meeting earlier that month and in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate
conference due to take place in December. The document – entitled Climate
change, new industrial policies and ways out of the crisis [2] – provides a
detailed account of the trade union position on climate change policies. It
affirms that the trade unions at EU level support policies aimed at cutting
carbon emissions and at developing greener jobs. However, it also argues that
these objectives can only be achieved in the context of social partner
involvement, with ‘the information/consultation/negotiation procedures and
processes at both company and sector level in need[ing] to be as rich as
possible’, while recognising the need to enable workers to adapt to new
jobs.

[1] http://www.etuc.org/
[2] http://www.etuc.org/a/6594

The current debate about reforming the Swedish labour market model should be
considered within the context of recent debates and developments, such as the
Laval case [1] (*SE0905029I* [2], SE0706029I [3], SE0801019I [4], SE0804029I
[5], SE0811029I [6], SE0901029I [7]) and the breakdown in negotiations
between the peak national social partner organisations to reach a new central
agreement earlier this year (SE0903029I [8], *SE0908029I* [9]).

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/laval-case
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-have-differing-views-on-laval-inquiry
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/debate-over-implications-of-laval-case-for-labour-market-relations
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/european-court-ruling-on-the-laval-case-will-restrict-right-to-industrial-action
[5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-to-amend-labour-law-in-light-of-european-court-ruling-on-laval-case
[6] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/swedish-labour-market-model-under-threat
[7] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/swedish-laval-inquiry-proposals-may-prove-difficult-to-implement
[8] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/deadlock-in-negotiations-on-new-central-agreement
[9] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-debate-wage-bargaining-model

The problem in the Netherlands is the dominance of small-scale part-time jobs
among women: three quarters of all women who work hold such a position and
most of them are happy with this arrangement.

In the spring of 2009, the government appointed a tripartite working group to
examine the issue of extending working life. Both trade unions and employers
groups are represented. Before the induction of the working group, the trade
union side rejected the government’s proposal to raise the retirement age
from 63 to 65 years (*FI0903019I* [1]).

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/widespread-opposition-to-government-plan-to-raise-retirement-age

After several months of negotiations, the government of the Republic of
Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybė, LRV [1]) and the social partners
– the national peak trade union and employer organisations – finally
signed a national agreement providing for measures to combat the recession on
28 October 2009.

[1] http://www.lrv.lt

Under a bill (in French) [1] transposing the European directive opening up
the postal market to competition by 1 January 2011 (Directive 2002/39/EC
[2]), the French postal operator La Poste [3] is to become a limited
liability company (/Société anonyme/, SA) on 1 January 2010. This is to
enable La Poste, currently a public establishment, to make the necessary
preparations for a liberalised postal services market. Such a change in its
legal status would make it possible to increase its capital by €2.7
billion, which includes €1.5 billion from the Deposit and Securities Fund
(/Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations/, CDC [4]). The French postal operator
has major debts, amounting to €6 billion, which is twice the amount of its
own funds. Moreover, mail distributed by La Poste has diminished
significantly – more specifically, by 6.3% during the first six months of
2009 – especially because of the drop in direct marketing by mail order
companies. It is estimated that the volume of mail will fall by another 30%
between now and 2015 due to competition from the internet.

[1] http://www.gouvernement.fr/gouvernement/projet-de-loi-sur-l-avenir-de-la-poste
[2] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32002L0039:EN:NOT
[3] http://www.laposte.com/
[4] http://www.caissedesdepots.fr/

The recent report from the National Institute of Economic Research
(Konjunkturinstitutet, KI [1]) entitled ‘/Wage formation in Sweden 2009/’
focuses on next year’s wage bargaining and the relations between wages and
economic development. KI highlights the importance of a responsible wage
formation in order to ease the effects of reduced employment levels and to
avoid deepening the economic crisis. In 2010, about 500 out of 600 collective
agreements will be renegotiated, covering 90% of the country’s total
workforce. The majority of the national agreements have to be renegotiated
before the end of March 2010. The bargaining round will be a huge challenge
for the social partners in light of the ongoing recession and large tensions
between the parties (*SE0910019I* [2]).

[1] http://www.konj.se/2.2f48d2f18732142c7fff2.html
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/heated-debate-among-social-partners-on-reform-of-labour-market-model