Arbeitskämpfe - Streiks, Aussperrungen usw. - sind einer der vorrangigsten
Aspekte von Arbeitsbeziehungen, nicht zuletzt in Bezug auf ihre Behandlung in
den Medien sowie hinsichtlich ihrer Auswirkungen auf die und ihre Beachtung
in der Öffentlichkeit. In manchen Quellen werden Arbeitskämpfe als
wichtiger Indikator für das Funktionieren von Systemen im Bereich der
Arbeitsbeziehungen betrachtet, wobei Arbeitskämpfe zum Teil als Zeichen für
die Fehlfunktion eines Systems betrachtet werden, während sie von anderen
als ein ralativ normales Merkmal eines gesunden und gut funktionierenden
Systems angesehen werden. Im Juni 2001 veröffentlichte die Europäische
Kommission eine Mitteilung über Beschäftigungs- und Sozialpolitik: ein
Konzept für Investitionen in Qualität [1]. In diesem Dokument werden Wege
und Möglichkeiten zur Förderung der 'Qualität' in der Beschäftigungs- und
Sozialpolitik vorgeschlagen; es enthält ferner Vorschläge für eine Reihe
von Indikatoren zur Messung dieser Qualität. Einer der unter 'Sozialer
Dialog und Arbeitnehmermitbestimmung' aufgeführten Indikatoren sind 'durch
Arbeitskämpfe verlorene Arbeitstage'.
Les actions syndicales - grèves, lock-outs, etc. - sont l’un des aspects
les plus visibles des relations industrielles, notamment en termes de
couverture médiatique et d’impact sur le public. Ces actions sont souvent
considérées comme un indicateur important du bon fonctionnement ou non du
système de relations industrielles, les actions syndicales étant perçues
par certains comme un signe de dysfonctionnement du système alors que pour
d’autres, il s’agit d’une caractéristique assez normale d’un
système en bonne santé fonctionnant correctement. En juin 2001, la
Commission européenne a publié une communication intitulée Politiques
sociales et de l’emploi: un cadre pour investir dans la qualité [1]. Ce
document propose différentes façons de promouvoir la 'qualité' dans
l’emploi et la politique sociale et prévoit un ensemble d’indicateurs
pour mesurer cette qualité. Un des indicateurs en termes de 'dialogue social
et participation des travailleurs' porte sur les 'journées de travail
perdues à la suite de conflits du travail'.
In summer 2003, work is due to start on a revision of the Toledo pact, the
1995 agreement on the Spanish pensions system, in the light of gloomy
demographic and expenditure forecasts. The government is seeking various
changes, notably linking pensions to contributions paid over the entire
career, the development of private pension schemes, a halt to early
retirement and an increase in the retirement age. A recent European
Commission report has contributed to the debate.
The French government is due to propose legislation after the summer 2003
parliamentary recess reforming the 'minimum integration income' (RMI) benefit
and assistance scheme for people facing labour market difficulties. Much of
the responsibility for the scheme is to be decentralised to local level,
while a new form of employment contract - the 'minimum employment income'
contract - will be introduced for people who have been receiving RMI for two
years.
The French government was forced to amend its controversial proposals on
pension reform by wide-scale strike action and demonstrations organised in
protest on 13 May 2003. Following talks with the social partners, it revised
the plan - though not the key point of increasing the contribution period
required for a full pension - on the basis of a deal agreed by two trade
union confederations, CFDT and CFE-CGC. The talks thus led to a split in the
united trade union front on the issue, and unions opposed to the planned
reform have called more protest action. Parliamentary debate on the bill
began in June and is expected to to be completed in July.
Der Bericht vermittelt einen Überblick über die - in Tarifverträgen
vereinbarte und gesetzlich geregelte - Dauer der Arbeitszeit in der
Europäischen Union und in Norwegen im Jahr 2002 (und 2001), der auf den
Beiträgen der nationalen Zentren des Europäischen Observatoriums für die
Entwicklung der Arbeitsbeziehungen (EIRO) basiert. Zum ersten Mal
berücksichtigen wir auch Daten von drei der Kandidatenländern, die 2004 in
die EU aufgenommen werden: Ungarn, Polen und die Slowakei.
During 2003, Italian trade unions - and especially the Cisl confederation -
have been repeatedly threatened and attacked by terrorist groups (with 43
such attacks, including 12 fire-bombings, recorded between July 2002 and May
2003). The minister of the interior has highlighted the threat to unions in
parliament and in June the three main confederations agreed a united response
to the attacks.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget statement on 9 April 2003
contained a commitment to introduce measures to ensure that pay systems in
the public services become more responsive to differences in labour market
conditions between the UK’s regions. In particular, the pay review bodies
which determine levels of pay for 40% of the public service workforce would
have a new remit to take into account regional and local factors. To augment
the economic data available to negotiators and pay review bodies, the
government also announced plans to publish regional inflation figures.
Supporting its proposals, the government cited evidence from its 2002 review
of the public sector labour market which showed that wages in the public
sector vary far less than those in the private sector. The review found that
'public-sector workers outside of London are probably better paid than their
private-sector counterparts. But those in London are worse off than
equivalent workers in the private sector' (quoted in the /Financial Times/,
11 April 2003). The review concluded that the problem lay with national pay
bargaining and review body arrangements.
On 13 June 2003, the Norwegian government issued a proposal for new
legislation relating to gender quotas on company boards. The aim is to
achieve a 40% share of female board members in both larger private firms and
public enterprises. The proposed legislation would be made applicable to
private companies only if they fail voluntarily to achieve an acceptable
level of female representation on their boards. The government's proposal
comes against the backdrop of an increasing awareness of the low presence of
women on company boards in Norway. The government sees this as an equal
opportunities issue and argues that the business and industry community is
not doing enough to avail itself of the competences and qualifications of
both women and men.
In June 2003, the Cologne Institute for Business Research (Institut der
deutschen Wirtschaft, IW [1]) published a report which finds that a 40-hour
working week (or longer) is still a reality for 44% of all employees in
eastern Germany. Moreover, only slightly more than one-fifth of all west
German employees have a 35-hour week, while over half work 38 hours a week or
more. The figures - see table 1 below - indicate that the 35-hour week is
less common in Germany than is commonly thought.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The European Restructuring Monitor has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This series includes its restructuring-related databases (events, support instruments and legislation) as well as case studies and publications.
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.
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.
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).
This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.
The European Company Survey (ECS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2004–2005, with the latest edition in 2019. The survey is designed to provide information on workplace practices to develop and evaluate socioeconomic policy in the EU. It covers issues around work organisation, working time arrangements and work–life balance, flexibility, workplace innovation, employee involvement, human resource management, social dialogue, and most recently also skills use, skills strategies and digitalisation.
This report is carried out in the context of the three-year pilot project (2021–2023), ‘Role of the minimum wage in establishing the Universal Labour Guarantee’, mandated to Eurofound by the European Commission. Its focus is module 3 of the project, investigating minimum wages and other forms of pay for the self-employed. Out of concern for the challenging conditions faced by certain groups of self-employed workers, some Member States have established or are in discussions about proposing some statutory forms of minimum pay for selected categories of the self-employed.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the civil aviation sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the food and drinks sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the food and drinks sector in the EU Member States.
This report explores the association between skills use and skills strategies and establishment performance, and how other workplace practices, in terms of work organisation, human resources management and employee involvement, can impact on this. It looks at how skills shortages can be addressed, at least in part, by creating an environment in which employees are facilitated and motivated to make better use of the skills they already have. This further supports the business case for a more holistic approach to management.
This report offers the most up to date insight on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work and life of Europeans over the last two years. The main focus is on Eurofound’s e-survey Living, working and COVID-19 which was launched on 9 April 2020 just after the onset of the crisis. Through five rounds of the survey (two in 2020, two in 2021 and one in 2022), the range of questions changed to match the evolving situation and to understand the effects on the everyday lives of citizens and workers in the EU27.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the textiles and clothing sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the professional football sector in the EU Member States.
This report explores the drivers of economic and social convergence in Europe, using a selected set of economic and social indicators to examine trends in the performance of individual Member States. It also investigates what role the Economic and Monetary Union plays in convergence, particularly in southern and eastern Member States. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on convergence is analysed and initial conclusions are drawn about the impact of EU recovery packages and their ability to prevent divergence.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an extraordinary level of provision of social services across the EU. Healthcare and care providers carried much of the burden and, together with essential services, played a crucial role in getting citizens through the crisis. This report explores how public services adapted to the new reality and what role was played by the digital transformation of services. The aim is to contribute to the documentation and analysis of changes in funding, delivery and use of healthcare and social services during the pandemic.
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