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Industrial action

Industrial action is one of the fundamental means available to workers and their organisations to solve labour disputes and promote their economic and social interests. It can take many forms, from the complete withdrawal of labour for an indefinite period to more restricted forms of collective action in which there is no cessation of work. The right to strike is explicitly recognised in the constitutions and/or laws of many countries. At EU level, the right to strike is enshrined in Article 28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The right to collective action by the social partners is also included in the European Pillar of Social Rights.  Eurofound is currently exploring the feasibility of an industrial action monitor. 

Topic

Eurofound research

Eurofound has analysed data collected in 2018–2019 during the piloting of its Industrial Action Monitor (IAM) database. Using cluster analysis, the research classified industrial action in Europe into five categories: 

  • national disputes of interest and rights, sometimes involving different forms of employment
  • extended disputes about collective pay agreements
  • localised disputes about employment problems, working time and restructuring, with short work stoppages
  • localised disputes about workers’ rights and grievances over company policies
  • disputes concerning public policies

Recent updates

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This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2021 for 28 countries – the 27 EU Member States and Norway. The country reports summarise evidence on the...

19 máj 2022
Publication
Other
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V posledných rokoch okrem niektorých dočasných prudkých nárastov došlo v členských štátoch EÚ k všeobecnému poklesu počtu kolektívnych akcií. Počas pandémie ochorenia COVID-19 tento trend pokračoval, pričom najvýznamnejšie pracovné spory...

7 február 2022
Publication
Research report

Key outputs

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In recent years, apart from some intermittent spikes, there has been a general decrease in industrial action across the EU Member States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend has continued...

7 február 2022
Publication
Research report
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Relative calm on the industrial action front in 2020

Despite the economic turmoil that led to large-scale restructuring in many EU Member States and changes in working conditions for many occupational groups, 2020 seems to have been a quiet...

Article
Publications results (18)

This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2021 for 28 countries – the 27 EU Member States and Norway. The country reports summarise evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working life based on national research and survey results during 2021. They

19 May 2022

V posledných rokoch okrem niektorých dočasných prudkých nárastov došlo v členských štátoch EÚ k všeobecnému poklesu počtu kolektívnych akcií. Počas pandémie ochorenia COVID-19 tento trend pokračoval, pričom najvýznamnejšie pracovné spory sa neprekvapujúco vyskytli v odvetví ľudského zdravia a

07 February 2022

This report – the latest in an annual series – describes the main developments in industrial relations and the regulations affecting working conditions at EU level and in the EU Member States and Norway during 2018. Based on data from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents, it presents information

02 October 2019

Annual review of working life 2017 is part of a series of annual reviews published by Eurofound and provides an overview of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The annual review collates information based on reports from Eurofound’s

22 October 2018

Teachers across Europe have been protesting about their working conditions. Pay levels and pay inequalities, working time and workload, recruitment procedures and staffing at schools have been the main focus of social dialogue and collective action. Several of the reported cases are set in the

09 January 2017

Smartphone car service Uber, a successful company example of the sharing economy, has spread to many EU Member States in recent years. However, many employers and unions are concerned about its challenge to fair competition for other businesses in the sector and about the erosion of working

25 January 2016

Air transport has been in the news in recent months as strikes and difficulties in social dialogue across the European Union have strained relations between the sector’s unions and companies. Disputes in the different countries have revolved around pay and working conditions, restructuring and

09 December 2015

Strike activity across the EU dropped in 2014 following a crisis-related peak in 2010. However, evidence from EurWORK correspondents suggests that the more highly unionised public sector has been a focus of industrial action recently. In general, strikes have been triggered by pay freezes and cuts

24 November 2015

Collective bargaining systems in the EU have undergone a steady change since the end of the 1990s. But as businesses across Europe struggle to respond to intensifying global competition, pressure from employers for greater flexibility in collective bargaining is increasing, especially since the 2008

04 November 2015

This article presents some of the key developments and research findings on aspects of dispute resolution in the EU between the first and third quarters of 2014. Changes in the EU Member States’ collective and individual dispute resolution mechanisms are the main focus. The section on 'Extensions of

18 February 2015

Online resources results (504)

New organisation established for resolving labour disputes out of court

In April 1998 the Intersectoral Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA) was set up in Spain. This organisation is designed to implement the social partners' agreement on resolving labour disputes out of court and the regulations accompanying this agreement, both dating from 1996. SIMA, which had

Three-way dispute on Austrian railways

On 16 September 1998 a new dispute broke out on the state-owned Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen, ÖBB). The Union of Railway Employees (Gewerkschaft der Eisenbahner) went public with demands aimed at halting staff reductions and at promoting massive investment in rolling stock

Social partners fail to reach agreement on working time in road transport

The road transport industry is one of the sectors excluded from the 1993 Council Directive on certain aspects of the organisation of working time (93/104/EC) [1], whose provisions include a maximum working week of 48 hours, adequate rest breaks and four weeks' paid annual leave. At the time the

Borders blockaded on day of cross-border industrial action in road transport

An international day of action by lorry drivers on 8 September 1998 was relatively well supported in Europe, especially in France. It was designed to increase awareness among drivers and the general public about the issue of driving time - especially relevant in the EU, where regulations on this

New statute helps improve industrial relations climate in education in Francophone Belgium

A first step has been taken towards the normalisation of relations between teachers' trade unions and the French Community government, the regulatory authority of the Francophone school system, in Belgium. The unions are satisfied with the statute governing the conditions of kindergarten and primary

General strike as civil service pensions law is adopted

After 30 months of negotiations at all levels, in July 1998 the Luxembourg Government extended the session of the Chamber of Deputies by a week in order to vote through a law reducing the pension entitlements of civil servants and state employees. The same day, a general strike in the public sector

Restructuring leads to port pilots' strike

In summer 1998, Portugal's port pilots took strike action in a dispute with the Government over a restructuring of services in the maritime ports sector. The Government's measures to deal with the dispute caused controversy among the pilots' unions.

LO evaluates the 1998 collective bargaining round

In April 1998, for the first time in 42 years, workers refused to support in a ballot a joint mediation proposal to settle the bargaining round which was recommended by their trade unions (DK9805168F [1]). According to opinion polls, the reason given by seven out of 10 workers for their rejection of

DGB quits Employment Alliance for eastern Germany: a chronology of failure

On 22 May 1997, the German Federal Government, the German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB), the German Salaried Employees' Union (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft, DAG), the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen

Ostmetall and Christian Metalworkers' Union conclude innovative package of agreements

On 15 May 1998, after 18 month of intense negotiations, the eastern German metalworking employers' association, Ostmetall, and the Christian Metalworkers' Union (Christliche Gewerkschaft Metall, CGM) concluded a package of collective agreements known as Phönix [1]. Ostmetall is an association of the


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