The majority of pilots' trade unions represented in the Air France group took
part in a relatively successful strike from 20-23 May 1997, protesting at the
setting up of a two-tier salary system.
During the fourth bargaining round for its 90,000 employees, the German car
producer Volkswagen AG announced the creation of several hundred new jobs.
According to an agreement between management and the IG Metall trade union,
the newly hired employees will be employed exclusively on a temporary basis
and will de facto be remunerated below the level of the company agreements.
Although being hired on the terms of the current company agreements, the
newly hired employees will not be eligible for the compensatory extra pay
component which was agreed when Volkswagen established the four-day working
week in 1994, and thus they will be paid 10% less than core employees.
According to the agreement, details will be fixed by the social partners at
establishment level. During the negotiations, the IG Metall rejected
Volkswagen's plans to pay the newly hired employees according to the
branch-level metalworking agreement. The compensation of the new temporary
staff will still be around 10% higher than the pay other employees receive on
the basis of the current branch-level metalworking agreement.
In its recently published opinion on the conclusion of the Intergovernmental
Conference (IGC), the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of
Europe (UNICE) underlines the need for the negotiating parties to "place a
strengthening of Europe's competitiveness at the heart of the (new) Treaty,
since promotion of competitiveness is the sine qua non to increase
employment". The promotion of employment can, according to UNICE, never be
treated in isolation. While European employers have repeatedly pronounced
themselves in favour of the Essen employment strategy, they are keen to
underline that responsibility for employment policy must continue to lie
primarily with the member states.
Over 1995-7, certain collective agreements in Spain have allowed employers to
recruit workers at lower wages than workers in the same job grade who are
already employed by the firm (the "dual pay scale"). Companies' objectives in
reducing labour costs and workers' objectives in creating employment seem to
be threatening the principles of solidarity and equality that have
traditionally been maintained by the unions.
After 10 days of boycotts and two hours of strike action among the cleaners
in the LKAB mine in northern Sweden, the Business Services Associations on
the one hand and the Building Maintenance Workers' Union and the Union of
Service and Communication on the other, accepted a draft collective agreement
on wages from the mediators on 16 May 1997. The agreement covers 25,000
employees in 600 companies. It means that the average monthly salary will be
raised by SEK 370.
On 29 April 1997, the management and works council at Mohn GmbH, a subsidiary
of one of Germany's biggest media corporations, Bertelsmann, signed a works
agreement [1]- known as the "Pact for partnership 1997" - for the 1,700 or so
employees at the Mohn printing works in Gütersloh.
Part-time work is an expression of the flexible organisation of working time.
Although it is often quoted as a "new" form of employment, its practice has a
long history in Greece. However, its legal framework has been moulded by the
special provisions of the so-called Law on Development of 1990 (Law
1892/1990, articles 37-9), which regulated for the first time the rights of
workers employed on part-time contracts.
The negotiating teams representing the Union of Industrial and Employers'
Confederations of Europe (UNICE), the European Trade Union Confederation
(ETUC) and the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and
of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP) reached a draft framework
agreement on part-time work in the evening of 14 May 1997.
This feature is drawn from a report to the Labour Relations Commission,
entitled /Competitive strategies and employee relations in the Irish retail
sector/ and written by Majella Fahy of the Graduate School of Business,
University College Dublin.
Luxembourg's Economic and Social Council has recently responded to a
government request for its opinion, with a view to reforming the Law of 12
June 1965 relating to collective agreements and of the Grand-Ducal Order of 6
October 1945 dealing with the National Conciliation Office (Office National
de Conciliation).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Eurofound's annual review of minimum wages reports on the development of statutory and collectively agreed minimum wages across the EU and the processes through which they were set. The focus of this year’s report is on the impact of high inflation on the setting of minimum wage rates. In addition, new figures on the net value of minimum wages are presented, along with the latest policy-relevant research in the EU Member States and Norway.
Are the policies required to meet the commitments outlined under the EU’s plan for a green transition, the Fit-for-55 package, and the associated budgetary commitments – the Green New Deal – likely to lead to positive or negative employment outcomes by 2030? What types of jobs will be created or destroyed? Will shifts in employment be skewed towards the bottom, middle or top of the job–wage distribution? This report aims to provide answers to these questions, using macro-modelled estimates of the likely impacts of these policies on the structure of employment.
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.
Building on previous work by Eurofound, this report will investigate intergenerational dynamics over time. During the 2008 double-dip recession, worrying intergenerational divides appeared in many Member States, and while some of the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is universal, early data suggests disparities across demographic cohorts. Eurofound will examine how different age groups may have been affected in terms of their health, labour market participation, quality of life and financial needs, both in the short term and in the long term.
This report explores the potential socio-economic implications of the transition to a climate-neutral economy on different EU regions and groups of people. It adopts a foresight approach to envision potential actions that can be taken to shape the future. After consulting with stakeholders and experts, three scenarios were developed to consider emerging economic and social inequalities at EU and regional level. The report includes policy pointers which outline measures to be taken to achieve a just transition to a sustainable, climate-neutral economy where no one is left behind.
This report explores how environmental performance has converged – or diverged – among the EU Member States since the early 2000s. With environmental goals piling up at the EU level, is it reasonable to expect Member States to adhere to this emerging EU environmental aquis? And, just as importantly, can we expect Member States to reach these goals at the same time? This report attempts to provide answers to these and other questions high on the political agenda.
This report investigates the potential individual and societal impacts of labour market insecurity, focusing on workers with non-permanent contracts, part-time and self-employed workers, and workers who perceive their job as insecure. It explores the impact of labour market insecurities on health and well-being, social exclusion, trust in people and the perception of fairness, as well as trust in institutions. Policies aimed at reducing labour market instability following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic are also presented.
This policy brief aims to contribute to the effective monitoring and evaluation of the European Child Guarantee. Progress at EU level is measured by a monitoring framework which monitors the key areas of the European Child Guarantee: early childhood education and care; education, including school-based activities and at least one healthy meal each school day; healthcare; healthy nutrition; and adequate housing. The policy brief explores trends and disparities in these areas using a convergence analysis, which tracks any disparities among EU Member States.
This report highlights the prevalence of psychosocial risks across countries, sectors and occupations during the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines the specific working conditions that can lead to work-related health problems. In particular, the report investigates the potential pitfalls related to the expansion of telework, the role of job and income insecurity as a psychosocial risk and the phenomenon of adverse social behaviour and discrimination at work. In addition, it offers policy pointers on tackling the increase in work absenteeism due to mental health problems.
This report – published every two years – covers important developments resulting from legislative reforms in collective bargaining at national or sectoral level in 2021 and 2022. It examines the average weekly working hours set by collective agreements, both across national economies and in five sectors: education, health, transport, retail and public administration.
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