Turlan, Frédéric

An agreement between Luxembourg's social partners in the banking sector reached on 9 July 2013 (published September 2013) sets out the conditions of the national agreement on harassment that are specifically aimed at this sector.

A year after the first Grand Social Conference (*FR1205031I* [1]) in July 2012, the Government of France [2] held a second. It invited 300 representatives of employers, trade unions, and regional and local authorities to take part. The second Grand Social Conference [3] was held on 20–21 June 2013. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-undefined/grand-conference-to-launch-new-governments-social-reform-strategy [2] http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/ [3] http://travail-emploi.gouv.fr/rubrique_technique,281/sites-web-colonne-droite,382/evenements-colloques,2215/la-grande-conference-sociale-pour,2287/

After nine months of negotiation, an agreement has been signed by social partners in France on the quality of working life and professional equality. The deal was signed by all three of the country’s employer organisations. Three of the five union confederations put their names to the document – the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT [1]), the General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (CFE-CGC) [2], and the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (CFTC [3]). [1] http://www.cfdt.fr/jcms/j_5/confederation [2] http://www.cfecgc.org/ [3] http://www.cftc.fr/

The cross-sectoral Framework Agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work [1] of 26 April 2007 did not directly address the issue of third-party violence against workers. Eight European social partner organisations operating in a range of sectors in which employees are exposed to third-party violence in the employment relationship have now adopted a supplementary set of multi-sectoral guidelines to tackle work-related third-party violence and harassment [2]. The social partner organisations involved are: the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR [3]), the Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS [4]), the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE [5]), the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU [6]), the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE [7]), EuroCommerce [8] representing wholesale, retail and international trade in the EU, the Union Network International-Europa (UNI-Europa [9]), and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM [10]). These organisations represent the regional government, healthcare, commerce, private security and education sectors. The guidelines aim to ensure that every workplace has a policy to deal with third-party violence against staff, for example from the general public or from customers. [1] http://www.etuc.org/a/3574 [2] http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=896&furtherNews=yes [3] http://www.ccre.org [4] http://www.coess.org [5] http://www.lge.gov.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=4567329 [6] http://www.epsu.org [7] http://www.csee-etuce.org [8] http://www.eurocommerce.be [9] http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/iportal.nsf/pages/reg_20081016_gca9En [10] http://www.hospeem.eu/

The management of the French car manufacturer Renault [1] has signed an agreement with union representatives of the French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff – General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (CFE-CGC [2]), the French Democratic Federation of Labour (CFDT [3]) and the General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (CGT-FO [4]). [1] http://www.renault.com [2] http://www.cfecgc.org/ [3] http://www.cfdt.fr/jcms/j_5/confederation [4] http://www.force-ouvriere.fr/

Since 1966, five French trade union confederations have been considered as representative at the national level: the General Confederation of Labour (CGT [1]), the French Democratic Federation of Labour (CFDT [2]), the General Confederation of Labour – Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO [3]), the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (CFTC [4]) and the French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff – General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (CFE-CGC) [5]. [1] http://www.cgt.fr/ [2] http://www.cfdt.fr/jcms/j_5/confederation [3] http://www.force-ouvriere.fr/ [4] http://www.cftc.fr/ [5] http://www.cfecgc.org/

Draft legislation based on a consultative document prepared by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Work and Employment, Social dialogue within companies (in French, 288Kb PDF) [1], is intended to reform social dialogue [2] within businesses in the country. The Luxembourg Government [3] has passed the draft of the new bill to its Chamber of Deputies [4], and a vote on the plans is expected before the summer. [1] http://www.csl.lu/component/rubberdoc/doc/1684/raw [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/social-dialogue [3] http://www.gouvernement.lu/ [4] http://www.chd.lu/wps/portal/public

Four months after the French Government [1] asked the social partners to begin negotiations over labour market reform, a national interprofessional agreement (in French, 317Kb PDF) [2] was signed on 11 January 2013. The social partners had been asked to conclude an agreement ‘to the fullest extent possible’ before the end of 2012 (*FR1209051I* [3]). [1] http://www.gouvernement.fr/ [2] http://direccte.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/ANI_securisation_de_l_emploi-2.pdf [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-undefined/government-includes-social-partners-in-labour-market-reform-talks

The question of how to manage restructuring, particularly in the current difficult economic climate, has been taxing European Union decision-makers for some time. The European Commission has been looking at this problem since the first consultation to the EU-level social partners in January 2002. Following on the above, in 2003 the EU-level cross-sectoral social partners agreed on a joint statement, Orientations for reference in managing change and its social consequences (85Kb PDF) [1]. In early April 2005, the European Commission initiated the second stage of formal consultations with the EU-level social partner organisations under Article 138(3) of the EC Treaty (now Article 154 (3) TFEU) on the related issues of handling restructuring and enhancing the role of EWCs. The Commission published a Communication, Restructuring and employment (184Kb PDF) [2], setting out measures to be developed or strengthened with the aim of facilitating ‘anticipation of change’ and ensuring improved management of restructuring within the EU. In 2008, the Commission staff working paper (Restructuring and Employment. The Contribution of the European Union. COM2008 (419) final) outlined which EU policies and instruments are concerned with major restructuring events, referring to the European Employment Strategy, cohesion policy (ERDF and ESF), the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Eurofound and its European Monitoring Centre on Change. In January 2012, the Commission published a Green Paper on restructuring [3] (EU1201041I [4]).The European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee [5], meanwhile, continued to work on this issue, and adopted a resolution on 15 March, 2006 European Parliament resolution on restructuring and employment [6]. On 15 January 2013, the European Parliament [7] voted in favour of a resolution [8] endorsing a report which called on the European Commission to come up with a new legal act on the management of change and restructuring. The report, drawn up by Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE [9]) member Alejandro Cercas, gained the support of a large majority of MEPs with 503 voting in favour and 107 voting against. There were 72 abstentions. [1] http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/dsw/public/actRetrieveText.do?id=10407 [2] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0120:FIN:EN:PDF [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring [4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations/european-commission-launches-new-consultation-on-restructuring [5] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/empl/home.html [6] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-88 [7] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en [8] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2013-0005+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN [9] http://www.psoe.es/ambito/actualidad/home.do

The suicides of two employees at French postal group La Poste [1] were widely reported [2] in the national media at the beginning of 2012. The suicides were blamed on an ‘oppressive’ work culture at the company. [1] http://www.laposte.com/Everything-about-La-Poste/Who-we-are/Facts-and-figures [2] http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2012/03/12/un-cadre-de-la-poste-se-suicide-dans-le-finistere_1656316_3224.html