Industrial relations and social dialogue
Watch the webinar - #AskTheExpert: How to help workers struggling with inflation?
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Eurofound is organising a live interactive webinar on 'How to help workers struggling with inflation?' with a live Q&A.
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- Date
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- Location
- Online event
- Organised by
- Eurofound
The debate
In this #AsktheExpert webinar Senior Research Manager Christine Aumayr-Pintar and Research Manager Ricardo Rodríguez Contreras will look at the impacts of inflation on real terms pay across Europe and how this is likely to develop in the coming months. Tadas Leončikas, Head of the Employment unit, will also speak about the broader societal implications of declining purchasing power and the role of public services in building resilience across the EU. The discussion will be moderated by Mary McCaughey, Eurofound’s Head of Information and Communication.
The European Commission's spring economic forecast projects that EU inflation will fall to 6.7% in 2023 from 9.2% in 2022, before easing to 3.1% in 2024. While inflation looks to have peaked for the foreseeable future, the European Central Bank has warned that inflation will remain too high for too long. This is particularly the case for core inflation, which excludes energy prices.
Eurofound's analysis shows that, while the risk of recession has subsided, inflation continues to erode the purchasing power of households, workers and consumers. Data published at the beginning of this year show that, despite significant increases in nominal rates in 2023, minimum wage workers in most EU countries are seeing their purchasing power decline, with increases in real terms expected in just a few Member States. A new report on Tackling rising inflation in sectoral collective wage bargaining shows that workers across sectors are experiencing declining purchasing power and that this has the potential to increase social conflicts, industrial action, and labour disputes. In the long-term this could potentially jeopardise the EU’s strategic goals for the twin green and digital transition.
Dealing with inflation has featured prominently on the political agenda, and governments have enacted extensive relief packages aimed at mitigating the impact of inflation on households and families, and on sectors. Fiscal measures, such as tax reductions, have been used extensively. These measures are usually temporary but have been extended regularly. Their long-term use may have an impact on social services, which provide vital support for all in society, and particularly those which are struggling financially.
Is there another way? Can workers receive the support they need without compromising on the effectiveness of public services? Our experts discuss Europe’s options.
Watch the webinar
Speakers
 | Moderator: Mary McCaughey Mary is Head of Information and Communication in Eurofound, where she has worked since 2003. A graduate in Business and Politics from Trinity College, Dublin and an ‘ancienne’ of the College of Europe, Bruges, she began her career in journalism in Brussels in 1990 with Europe Information Service and the Wall Street Journal Europe. She subsequently contributed to the WSJE and the Irish Times as a features writer before taking up the post of spokesperson with the Delegation of the European Commission to South Africa in 1998, heading up its press and information department. In 2001, she moved to Belgrade, Serbia, where she worked as a communications consultant for the European Agency for Reconstruction. |
 | Speaker: Tadas Leončikas Tadas Leončikas is Head of the Employment unit at Eurofound, taking up the position in September 2022. Prior to this, he was a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit, managing the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) and developing Eurofound survey research. Since joining Eurofound in 2010, he has worked on various topics including survey methods, quality of life, social mobility, social inclusion, trust and housing inadequacies. In his earlier career, he headed up the Institute for Ethnic Studies in Lithuania where he worked on studies related to the situation of ethnic minorities, migrants and other vulnerable groups. As a researcher, he has previously collaborated with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Organization for Migration. He has a PhD in Sociology. |
 | Speaker: Christine Aumayr-Pintar Christine Aumayr-Pintar is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. Her current research topics include minimum wages, collectively agreed wages and gender pay transparency. She also manages the EU PolicyWatch database. From the end of 2022, she will take up the coordination of Eurofound’s research on industrial relations and social dialogue, while also managing the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (NEC). Before joining Eurofound in 2009, she worked as a researcher in labour markets and regional economics at Joanneum Research, Austria. She studied economics in Graz, Vienna and Jönköping and holds a Master’s degree and a PhD in Economics. |
 | Speaker: Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras is a research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound and focuses on comparative industrial relations, social dialogue and collective bargaining. He is also involved in research on restructuring and the implications of technology and digital change in employment relations. Prior to joining Eurofound in 2014, he worked as a consultant for the European Commission and the European Parliament conducting studies at EU level assessing the implementation of social legislation throughout the EU, the EEA and the candidate countries. For years, he performed training activities for multinational companies and European Works Councils in the area of comparative industrial relations and labour legislation in the EU. He has also worked for the Inter-American Development Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration in some countries of Latin America. He holds a BSc in Law from the Complutense University in Madrid. |