Europeiska fonden för förbättring av levnads- och arbetsvillkor
Eurofound är ett trepartsorgan inom EU som förmedlar kunskap för att stödja utvecklingen av en bättre social-, sysselsättnings- och arbetsmarknadspolitik
Eurofound är ett trepartsorgan inom EU som förmedlar kunskap för att stödja utvecklingen av en bättre social-, sysselsättnings- och arbetsmarknadspolitik
Should people who run their own businesses be allowed to become a trade union
member? The Swedish Union for Technical and Clerical Employees (Svenska
Industritjänstemannaförbundet, SIF) answered yes to this question when, in
1996 its congress decided, after a very lively debate, to allow union
membership for the self-employed. Opponents saw the decision as a breach of
the fundamental trade union principle of looking after workers' interests in
relation to their employer. They also pointed out the risks of internal
conflicts - situations where employees in a company might be competing with
external self-employed people for the same job.
Norwegian ground staff employed by Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) have
resorted to industrial action against the airline's plans to improve company
earnings by means of outsourcing approximately 7,000 employees in Norway,
Sweden and Denmark. Since 14 July 1999, members of the "SAS Personnel Club"
(SAS Personalklubb) have refused to work extra overtime, which is a legal
option under the Norwegian Working Environment Act.
A reform of the rules on overtime working has been pending in Spain since the
social partners and the government made a commitment in this area in 1997.
However, there has still been little progress, with the 1999 National Action
Plan on employment, issued in May 1999, containing no measures to reduce and
reorganise working time.
Early summer 1999 had seen a number of disputes breaking out in the transport
sector, with commentators believing that Austria potentially faced a summer
of disruption on the roads and in the air (AT9906150F [1]). This had failed
to materialise by late July.
Some 70% of chairs of company boards and 60% of managing directors, in a
sample of 660 Swedish companies with more than 25 workers, have a positive
attitude towards employee representatives on the boards of companies. This is
among the findings of a survey, released on 5 July 1999, commissioned by the
Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen i Sverige, LO) and the
Federation of Salaried Employees in Industry and Services
(Privattjänstemannakartellen, PTK), which represents 1.2 million members of
white-collar trade unions. The survey, entitled /The representation of
employees on company boards/ (Anställdas representationi företagsstyrelser)
was carried out by Klas Levinsson, a researcher at the National Institute for
Working Life (Arbetslivsinstitutet, ALI). No larger studies on the subject
have been conducted since the end of the 1970s.
On 7 July 1999, delegations from France's five main trade union
confederations (CFE-CGC, CFDT, CFTC, CGT and CGT-FO) met to study the
government's recent proposal for a second law on the 35-hour working week and
compare points of view.
In late June 1999, the Spanish central government lodged an appeal with the
Constitutional Court against the Navarre regional government's recent law on
the 35-hour working week, because it considers that the tax benefits arising
from it are unconstitutional.
Magna International, one of the world's major automotive components
manufacturers, based in Canada, and founded and owned by a 1950s Austrian
emigrant, in 1998 acquired the Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG (SDP) for about
ATS 4 billion. At the same time, Magna continued to expand its own Austrian
operations. It has, by its own reckoning, so far invested ATS 11 billion in
Austria and created 1,300 jobs while cutting 100 jobs in one of the SDP
plants. While engineering jobs are carried out for a wide variety of
customers, much of the manufacturing output is destined for Daimler-Chrysler.
Recently, major orders were also received from BMW's Rover subsidiary, from
Opel and Saab ( the two General Motors subsidiaries), and from Volkswagen.
The latter order is expected to create another 300 jobs. Magna, however, is
threatening to divert the investment to Hungary or Germany because it feels
that its welcome in Austria has soured and its treatment has become unfair.
At the end of June 1999, trade unions and employers in private sector
industry appointed eight impartial chairs for their forthcoming collective
bargaining round. Under the March 1997 agreement on cooperation and pay
regulation in the industry sector (SE9703110N [1]), such impartial chairs on
their own initiative join the negotiations over a new collective agreement
one month before the existing agreement is to expire and ensure that the
negotiations end in due time. The 1997 agreement was signed by eight trade
union federations and 12 employers' associations, representing some 10,000
companies and 800,000 employees. The aims of the agreement include the
conclusion of new collective agreements without any strikes or lock-outs.
The president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Sir Clive
Thompson, has sparked controversy by warning that the much-discussed concept
of partnership may be hiding a "damaging build-up of trade union influence".
His remarks, made in a speech to an audience of employers on 23 June 1999,
have been strongly criticised by union leaders and have highlighted the
diverging interpretations placed on the idea of partnership by different
groups of practitioners and policymakers. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has
been actively promoting the concept of union-based partnership at work, but
the government and employers' organisations are unwilling to accept that
partnership arrangements necessarily require union involvement (UK9906108F
[1]).
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.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2020. 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 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, conducted in two rounds – in April and in July 2020. 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 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.
Eurofound's representativness 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 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.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.
Access to key social services, especially education and healthcare, as well as stable family life and decent housing are necessary for the well-being and development of children. Ensuring that all children have these resources is an EU priority; the European Commission is currently undertaking to recommend a Child Guarantee to address the situations of children in need. Service provision has been complicated by the COVID-19 outbreak, however, and the pandemic has put psychological and material strains on families.
How can working conditions be improved to make work more sustainable over the life course? This question has been the guiding principle for analysis of the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey data during the period of Eurofound’s work programme for 2017–2020. This flagship report brings together the different research strands from this work and gives a comprehensive answer to the question. It includes an analysis of trends in working conditions, examining whether these are the same for all workers or whether inequalities between different groups of workers are increasing.
This report analyses the involvement of the national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, and their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and other key policy documents of the European Semester cycle.
This report builds on Eurofound's existing research on social mobility, assessing the distribution and transmission of wealth in Member States. It examines the roles of inheritance and household debt in explaining the transmission of advantage or disadvantage between the generations across Member States. The analysis is based on Eurosystem's Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS).
This report will focus on assessing the employment impact of the COVID-19 crisis, including its effects across sectors and for different categories of workers. It will also be looking at measures implemented to limit negative effects following the Coronavirus outbreak in Europe.
This report examines the contribution of social and employment services in EU Member States to the inclusion of people with disabilities, specifically in relation to the impact these have on labour market integration – in line with the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The report includes a discussion of the costs and benefits of different approaches.
This report examines people's optimism about the future, for themselves and for others, and the extent to which it varies depending on one's social situation and perceptions of the quality of society. The study includes an analysis of the relationships between people’s perceptions of fairness and objective indicators of their social and economic situation and living standards.
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 (flight crew) 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 European Green Deal is at the very top of Member State agendas across the EU. This topical update maps the national discussions – in policy, public and research debates – on the potential, ongoing or already felt impact on work and employment of the transition to a low-carbon economy. It attempts to identify the most active actors involved in these discussions (governments, social partners, NGOs and so on) and their perspectives.
This report will draw from case studies of establishments across the EU that have introduced advanced digital technologies in the workplace. The technologies in focus are the Internet of Things, 3D printing and virtual and augmented reality. Each case study – illustrated in the report - will explore the approach or strategy taken by the establishment to manage the digital transition and the impact of the deployment of the technology on the work organisation and job quality.
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