Employment relationship

Over a year after April 1997's major reform of the labour market in Spain, the Government and employers believe that progress is being made towards creating employment. The trade unions, on the other hand, stress what they see as the inadequacies of the reform and the continuing insecurity of

Viessmann, a family-owned heating equipment business which employs roughly 6,500 employees, is a member of the Hessen regional metalworking employers' association, Verband der Metall- und Elektro-unternehmen Hessen eV. After 450 employees were made redundant in 1995, Viessmann did not plan further

From 7-9 May 1998 the German metalworkers' trade union, IG Metall, held a conference with about 460 participants (mainly union workplace representatives and local trade union officers) to discuss the union's positions on future working time policy. In the run-up to the conference, the board of IG

Commissioned by the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS), the Institute of Demographics at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, ÖAW) has produced a detailed study on the use and effects of parental leave. The legislation on parental leave has

The dispute surrounding the closure of the Renault Vilvoorde plant (EU9704118F [1]) had barely been settled and the emotions aroused by the closure were still raw when, in October 1997, the management of Opel Belgium in turn announced a new slimming down of the 7,800-strong workforce at its plant in

Against the background of rapid structural changes, the sectoral demarcations of traditional collective bargaining units correspond less and less with current economic structures. On the contrary, the development of new branches often creates new economic areas which are not covered by any

Public transport employees went on strike in Helsinki on 2-8 February 1998 in a dispute arising from the contracting-out of public services. The sector's social partners reached an agreement after the confederations - SAK for the unions and and TT for the employers - joined in the negotiations. The

Since early January 1998, the Greek shipping industry has been facing serious problems, with workers mobilising strongly and making numerous demands, while at the same time being divided over several issues. A key factor in the current difficulties is the ending of the system of "cabotage", whereby