February 2000
- 28 Feb 2000
Austria: New pension reform plans heavily disputed<#PDF_LINK>Substantial reforms of the pensions and welfare system are underway in Austria. Proposals presented in January 2000 as part of coalition talks over the formation of a new government were met with substantial trade union opposition. Due to planned expenditure cuts, the debate over social policy is likely to continue in the future.
- 28 Feb 2000
Belgium: Ban on night flights highlights conflict between employment and environment<#PDF_LINK>On 30 December 1999, Belgium's Federal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport adopted a Royal Decree preventing night flights from Brussels-National airport between 01.00 and 05.00, in order to prevent noise pollution. The move caused controversy, with the DHL courier company threatening to relocate to Belgium. The parties in the coalition government were divided, as were the trade unions, with the general secretary of the FGTB/ABVV confederation taking a contrary view to union representatives at DHL. The Decree was subsequently withdrawn for a rethink. The controversy highlighted a growing conflict between environmental and employment priorities.
- 28 Feb 2000
Belgium: Employers propose making information technology specialists available to education system<#PDF_LINK>The urgent lack of information and communication technology specialists on the Belgian labour market has prompted employers to come up with new solutions. In January 2000, some 20 large companies issued a "shock declaration", in which they proposed lending out their personnel for the purpose of training students in information and communication technology. This proposal has been subject to a variety of criticisms.
- 28 Feb 2000
Germany: Dispute between DAG and HBV unions over banking agreement<#PDF_LINK>The German White-Collar Workers' Union (DAG) and the Commerce, Banking and Insurance Union (HBV) were not able to sign a common collective agreement for private sector banking in January 2000. While DAG accepted the employers' offer and signed the deal, HBV objected to the provisions concerning Saturday working. HBV has not ruled out the possibility of a strike over the issue.
- 28 Feb 2000
Germany: DGB suspends participation in talks on Baden-Württemberg regional alliance on employment<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, the regional organisation of Germany's DGB trade union confederation decided to suspend its participation in talks over a tripartite regional "alliance for work and employment" in Baden-Württemberg, on the grounds of a perceived lack of initiative on the part of state government and the allegedly unbending attitude of the employers' associations. DGB's further collaboration was made dependent on bilateral top-level talks with the prime minister of Baden-Württemberg.
- 28 Feb 2000
Germany: Main employers' and business associations demand changes in Collective Agreement Act<#PDF_LINK>In February 1999, Germany's main employers' and business associations made demands for a redefinition of the "favourability principle" set out in the Collective Agreement Act. According to the employers, it should be legally possible for companies to diverge from collective agreements in order to safeguard or promote employment. At the same time, the liberal FDP party presented a comprehensive draft for an amendment of the Collective Agreement Act to the German parliament. Trade unions, however, have sharply rejected any attempts to change the legal foundations of the German system of collective bargaining.
- 28 Feb 2000
Germany: Pay increases lag behind overall economic development<#PDF_LINK>According to a study published by the WSI research institute in late 1999, Germany saw only moderate pay increases in the 1990s, while at the same time there was an almost steady decline in employment.
- 28 Feb 2000
Germany: Employers demand new labour market policy<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, the Confederation of German Employers' Associations, BDA, published a paper calling for fundamental changes in labour market policy. These proposals are aimed mainly at reducing jobseekers' allowances and restricting job-creation measures, with the aim of placing greater pressure on unemployed people to enter the labour market. The DGB trade union confederation rejects these proposals, arguing that it is not the amount of benefits but the lack of jobs which hinders unemployed people from finding new jobs.
- 28 Feb 2000
Germany: Majority of managers doubt usefulness of Alliance for Jobs<#PDF_LINK>In February 2000, a survey conducted by the business newspaper Handelsblatt indicated that three out of five German managers saw no sense in continuing the national tripartite Alliance for Jobs, after the trade unions had announced their claims for the 2000 collective bargaining round. Although the majority of the managers questioned have negative assumptions about the outcome of the forthcoming bargaining round, they clearly see the development of overall economic framework conditions in a positive light and expect an overall growth in investments and employment in the coming months.
- 28 Feb 2000
Denmark: Historic stability pact agreed in industry sector<#PDF_LINK>In late January 2000, the social partners in Denmark's industry sector concluded a historic "stability pact". The term of the collective agreement has been extended to four years, while employees have obtained longer holidays in the form of five flexible extra days of leave per year, and occupational pension contributions have been increased to 9%. Due to the long term of the agreement, the total increase in costs as a result of the central bargaining will be only about 1% per year, thus leaving some room for wage increases in local bargaining without any harmful impact upon the national economy. A positive result for the employers was an agreement on more flexible working time organisation at local level.
- 28 Feb 2000
Denmark: 2000 bargaining round completed peacefully<#PDF_LINK>In the favourable climate which characterised the course of the Danish collective bargaining round in 2000, it did not take long for the Public Conciliator to draw up a draft compromise in February which could be accepted without problems by both the DA employers' confederation and the LO trade union confederation. Only 3% of the LO/DA area did not conclude an agreement before the Public Conciliator became involved. The peaceful bargaining climate spread to the transport sector, where negotiations could have faltered over the issue of the unusual four-year period of the agreement.
- 28 Feb 2000
Denmark: Compromise means renewed stability in Danish industrial relations<#PDF_LINK>The conclusion in January and February 2000 of new four-year collective agreements covering most of the private sector has resolved an essential problem in the continuing "coordinated decentralisation" of the Danish collective bargaining system. The Danish bargaining model has adapted itself to meet the requirements for flexible, enterprise-oriented solutions which Danish enterprises are facing in an internationalised economy. The good "homework" done by the organisations prior to the start of the negotiations - including the September 1999 "climate agreement" between the LO trade union confederation and DA employers' confederation - was a contributory factor to the conclusion of the first agreements in the industry sector and in building and construction, and thus to the prospect of a solution for the entire DA/LO area with promising future perspectives.
- 28 Feb 2000
Spain: Plan to curb industrial accidents in Catalonia<#PDF_LINK>On 25 January 2000, the Catalan government presented a plan to curb industrial accidents to trade unions and employers. It is aimed especially at the small group of companies (2%) in which almost half of all accidents occur (48%).
- 28 Feb 2000
Spain: Unionisation of the self-employed<#PDF_LINK>For some time, Spain's two main trade union confederations, UGT and CC.OO, have been promoting the unionisation of self-employed workers, who form a large part of the country's active population. January 2000 saw the creation of the Union of Professionals and Self-employed Workers within UGT.
- 28 Feb 2000
Spain: Dispute at Tudor over dual pay scale<#PDF_LINK>Workers at SEA Tudor, a Spanish subsidiary of the US-based multinational EXIDE, have been holding intermittent strikes in February 2000 to put pressure on management to modify the "dual pay scale" agreed in 1996, whereby new recruits receive 30% less pay than existing workers in the same jobs. The workforce want to abolish this scheme now that the company is making profits, and the actions are planned to continue until June if there is no movement from management.
- 28 Feb 2000
EU Level: Portuguese Presidency holds conference on developing the European social model<#PDF_LINK>On 19-21 January 2000, the Portuguese government, which currently holds the Presidency of the European Union, organised a conference to debate social policy and prepare the ground for the Lisbon employment summit in March 2000.
- 28 Feb 2000
EU Level: Commission launches jobs strategy for the knowledge economy<#PDF_LINK>In February 2000, the European Commission launched an employment strategy aimed at providing workers with the skills needed to operate in what it terms the "knowledge economy". It focuses on exploiting the opportunities provided by information and communications technology in the fields of education and employment, calling on governments and social partners to act to reduce the skills gap in this area.
- 28 Feb 2000
EU Level: Commission sets out five-year objectives<#PDF_LINK>The European Commission issued two policy documents on 9 February 2000. One outlines its strategic objectives for the coming five years and the other details its plans for 2000. In terms of social policy, the emphasis in 2000 is on drawing up a new social policy action programme and a new gender equality framework programme, and on social partner consultation on the modernisation of work.
- 28 Feb 2000
EU Level: IGC launched as governments take position on qualified majority voting<#PDF_LINK>The Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on institutional reform, which aims to negotiate a definitive set of reforms for the European Union's institutions prior to enlargement, was launched on 14 February 2000. While the European Parliament and the European Commission have called for the extension of qualified majority voting to more areas of decision-making - including many social policy issues - this move is being resisted by some Member State governments.
- 28 Feb 2000
Finland: Third phase of training guarantee scheme agreed<#PDF_LINK>A Finnish social partners' working group agreed in January 2000 on the implementation of a scheme providing funding for people in employment to undertake vocational training courses on their own initiative. This third phase of the so-called "training guarantee scheme" is a sequel to the first and second phases, which were intended for unemployed and long-term unemployed people
- 28 Feb 2000
Finland: New agreements reached for over 1 million workers<#PDF_LINK>In late January 2000, the social partners in Finland's banking sector concluded a one-year collective agreement providing for a 3.1% pay increase, in line with the trend set by the metalworking sector. A deal was also reached for most municipal and state employees, and by early February 2000 over 1 million workers were covered by a new collective agreement in the sectoral bargaining round.
- 28 Feb 2000
Finland: Closure of Fujitsu Siemens plant – a repeat of Renault Vilvoorde?<#PDF_LINK>Fujitsu Siemens decided in December 1999 to shut down a profitable computer assembly plant in Finland and move its production to Germany. Following the closure (attempts to find a prospective buyer failed), 450 employees will be dismissed by the end of March 2000. The employees are now asking whether laws and agreements have been violated, as in the case of the closure of Renault Vilvoorde in 1997. However, it is clear that nothing will prevent closure, though the significant electronics industry cluster that has been established in Finland should provide work for those made redundant.
- 28 Feb 2000
France: Debate over trade union funding<#PDF_LINK>In early January 2000, the Le Mondenewspaper published a report by France's General Inspectorate of Social Affairs, alleging that there is "a system of direct or indirect funding" of the five nationally representative trade union confederations by CRI, one of the social security bodies jointly managed by employers and unions. This rekindled the debate over the funding of the trade union movement.
- 28 Feb 2000
France: Industrial unrest at the Post Office<#PDF_LINK>Following a framework agreement concluded in February 1999, the implementation of the 35-hour working week in the French Post Office though local-level bargaining is proving complex and controversial. In January 2000, strikes and industrial action had been disrupting mail distribution for over three months.
- 28 Feb 2000
France: Controversy over 35-hour week in road haulage<#PDF_LINK>The implementation of the 35-hour working week in the French road haulage sector triggered protests by the industry's employers, which blockaded French border crossings in mid-January 2000. Following negotiations with the employers, the government adopted a new draft decree putting in place specific provisions for the road haulage sector. Employers were satisfied with these measures - however trade unions were not, and in turn set up their own blockades on 1 February.
- 28 Feb 2000
France: Renegotiation of 35-hour week agreement in metalworking<#PDF_LINK>A new agreement on the application of France's 35-hour working week law in the metalworking sector was signed on 29 January 2000. It slightly amends the controversial agreement on the same issue signed in July 1998. While the CFTC, CGT-FO and CFE-CGC trade unions have signed the new agreement,CGTand CFDT have yet to do so.
- 28 Feb 2000
France: Staff unhappy about Ministry of Finance reform plan<#PDF_LINK>In January and February 2000, civil servants in France's Ministry of Economy and Finance took part in a number of well-supported one-day strikes, following the announcement of reform measures by the Minister, Christian Sautter, aimed largely at simplifying procedures and bringing the taxation system closer to the tax-payer. Trade unions claim that there have been no real negotiations on the plans.
- 28 Feb 2000
France: Towards a comprehensive overhaul of French industrial relations?<#PDF_LINK>Following the call from France's MEDEF employers' confederation in November 1999 for the establishment of a "new social constitution", overhauling the French system of industrial relations, the leaders of all the main trade union confederations and employers' associations met on 3 February 2000. From these talks emerged a joint list of eight main issues for negotiation in 2000.
- 28 Feb 2000
Greece: Trade union confederation sets out demands for 2000<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) invited employers' organisations to open bargaining over a new National General Collective Agreement, and set out its main demands for the agreement.
- 28 Feb 2000
Greece: Greek shipbuilding industry in crisis<#PDF_LINK>The Greek shipbuilding industry, like the wider European industry, is in crisis due to competition from countries with low labour costs. Greek shipyards have been forced to make a series of structural changes which have resulted in lower employment levels, but which are gradually creating the conditions for Greek shipyards profitably to re-enter international markets. We examine the situation and prospects of Greek shipbuilding in early 2000, and the positions of trade unions and employers.
- 28 Feb 2000
Ireland: Social partners expected to endorse Programme for Prosperity and Fairness<#PDF_LINK>After concluding their negotiations on a proposed three-year national agreement - the "Programme for Prosperity and Fairness" - in February 2000, Ireland's social partners are expected to endorse it formally by 23 March.
- 28 Feb 2000
Ireland: Special catch-up pay award for civil servants<#PDF_LINK>A majority of Ireland's public servants are to receive a special one-off 3% pay increase under the proposed new national agreement, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, agreed in February 2000. The aim is to compensate them for the higher than average rises granted to nurses and the police under previous national agreements.
- 28 Feb 2000
Ireland: Earnings increase by 5% in services sector<#PDF_LINK>In March 2000, for the first time, Ireland's Central Statistics Office published earnings data for the services sector as well as manufacturing. The data show a 5% annual increase in the 12 months to June 1999.
- 28 Feb 2000
Italy: Op Computer reopens<#PDF_LINK>After being declared bankrupt in September 1999, Op Computer, a major Italian information technology company created from a division of Olivetti, has been bought by another Italian company, Finmek Spa. An agreement was signed with trade unions to reinstate the workers made redundant, and the production of computers was resumed in January 2000, with products still bearing the Olivetti trademark.
- 28 Feb 2000
Italy: Agreement signed in building sector<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, a new national collective agreement was signed for 1.5 million workers in the Italian building sector. The most innovative aspects of the agreement concern pay increases, supplementary pensions, reduction of working time and the fight against undeclared employment.
- 28 Feb 2000
Italy: Inefficiency of the Italian training system highlighted<#PDF_LINK>A survey promoted by the Cisl trade union confederation, presented in January 2000, examines the problems of Italian teenagers as students and workers. One of the main causes of social exclusion lies in Italy's high level of school "drop-outs", and the social partners have questioned the role and strategies of schools and vocational training bodies in this respect. Teenagers' education and their preparation to enter the labour market are thus at the centre of debate, with parliament currently examining a proposed reform of the educational system.
- 28 Feb 2000
Italy: Constitutional Court allows referenda on individual dismissals and trade union dues<#PDF_LINK>On 3 February 2000, Italy's Constitutional Court ruled on the admissibility of 20 proposals for referenda presented by the Radicals political party. It allowed only two of the proposed referenda on trade union and labour issues - those on on individual dismissals and on the collection of trade union fees. While the promoters are highly critical of the Constitutional Court decisions, trade unions declared themselves satisfied with the rulings and announced a campaign to support a vote against the two permitted referenda.
- 28 Feb 2000
Italy: Government approves legislative decree transposing EU Directive on part-time work<#PDF_LINK>On 28 January 2000, the Italian Council of Ministers definitively approved a legislative decree which sets out new regulations on part-time work in application of EU Directive 97/81/EC. Among the most important innovations are a more flexible use of part-time work and the introduction of "extra hours" for part-timers. According to the government, the new rules, which also include a series of incentives, should help create around 100,000 new jobs. The Confindustria employers' confederation has criticised the new regulations, which it considers to be too rigid. The trade unions, by contrast, appear to be substantially satisfied.
- 28 Feb 2000
Italy: Workplace accidents increase<#PDF_LINK>Workplace accidents increased in Italy in 1999, according to figures released in January 2000, to the concern of the government and social partners. The situation differs substantially from sector to sector, with the building industry and agriculture particularly hard hit. The growing precariousness of employment seems to be having a negative effect on safety.
- 28 Feb 2000
Luxembourg: Transport unions react to relocation from Denmark to Luxembourg<#PDF_LINK>Trade unions representing road haulage workers in Denmark and Luxembourg met in January 2000 in response to increasing relocation of Danish transport firms to Luxembourg. The unions demanded concrete political measures against outsourcing and "social dumping", and also EU legislation on drivers' working hours.
- 28 Feb 2000
Luxembourg: Banking sector agreement will apply provisionally<#PDF_LINK>In December 1999, Luxembourg's Minister of Labour's decided to reject the registration of a 1999-2001 collective agreement for white-collar banking staff, on the grounds that the signatory trade unions were not representative. However, the president of the Administrative Tribunal has subsequently ordered that the measures contained in the agreement should be made provisionally applicable, on the grounds that failure to do so would cause staff serious and lasting detriment.
- 28 Feb 2000
Netherlands: Cabinet and social partners reach compromise on new social security structure<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, the Dutch social partners and the government reached a compromise on a new structure for the social security system, under which the social partners will assume a larger role in formulating policy on reintegrating unemployed and disabled people into the labour market. The cabinet's proposal to place the payment of benefits to these two groups, and responsibility for implementation, entirely in the public domain remained unchanged.
- 28 Feb 2000
Netherlands: Part-time Employment Act seeks to promote combining work and care<#PDF_LINK>In February 2000, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament passed the Part-time Employment Act, thus awarding employees the right to increase or reduce their working hours. The legislation is part of the framework Work and Care Act, which brings together numerous existing and new leave provisions and seeks to facilitate the reconciliation of employment and family care responsibilities. Research suggests that around 30% of Dutch couples would like to change the scope of their personal working week, and the government considers them an important target group for the new Act, with the aim that the same proportion of men and women will work part-time and share care duties. The new Act may well succeed in making employees with care responsibilities the standard reference point in companies' working time policy, something which the 1996 Working Time Act has so far failed to accomplish.
- 28 Feb 2000
Norway: Temperature rising prior to wage settlement<#PDF_LINK>On 4 February 2000 the Norwegian government's contact committee on incomes policy met to discuss the general outlook for the national economy and the forthcoming pay round in spring 2000. The Prime Minister pledged at the meeting to continue the current early retirement scheme, and emphasised that there will be no favourable treatment of particular groups during the settlement.
- 28 Feb 2000
Norway: IIRA Congress to be held in Norway in June 2001<#PDF_LINK>From 25 to 29 June 2001, the sixth European congress of the International Industrial Relations Association - entitled "Working Europe: visions and realities" - will be held in Oslo, Norway.
- 28 Feb 2000
Norway: Increased holidays a central demand in spring 2000 bargaining round<#PDF_LINK>More holiday and extra funds for skills and training development are set to be central issues on the agenda when collective bargaining commences in the Norwegian private sector in March 2000. The negotiations will be conducted at the level of the central confederations.
- 28 Feb 2000
Norway: Disagreement over shape of proposed new trade union confederation<#PDF_LINK>The joint steering committee deliberating the basis for a new trade union confederation in Norway, merging the existing AF and LO confederations, delivered its report in February 2000, but there is already internal discontent with its main recommendations. If established, the new confederation would pose a significant challenge to LO in the public sector.
- 28 Feb 2000
Portugal: Bargaining in textiles faces difficulties<#PDF_LINK>Trade unions in the Portuguese textiles sector have made 2000 the year of wages, in an attempt to raise traditionally low pay rates in an industry which has experienced increasing productivity and export sales. However, bargaining has run into difficulties, with employers seeking flexibility in the organisation of working time. With negotiations stalled, the unions are demanding state intervention.
- 28 Feb 2000
Portugal: Civil service unions debate working conditions and European social dialogue<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, Portugal's State Technical Staff Union (STE) organised a seminar on the future of public service work in the EU and in the world. The event was an opportunity for European civil servants' trade unions to share their experiences and analyse trends in working conditions in the sector and the first steps toward European social dialogue.
- 28 Feb 2000
Portugal: Conciliation report highlights need for innovation in bargaining<#PDF_LINK>The need to innovate collective bargaining has been on the Portuguese social partners' agenda for some time. The issue is highlighted in a report on conciliation activities from 1995 to 1999, published by the Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions (IDICT) in early 2000. The report stresses the sharp decrease in the number of cases of conciliation in 1999, and opens the way for reflection on why other mechanisms of dispute resolution, such as mediation and arbitration, are not being used.
- 28 Feb 2000
Sweden: New agreement on supplementary pensions for blue-collar workers<#PDF_LINK>On 20 January 2000, a new collective agreement on supplementary pensions for blue-collar workers was concluded by the Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO). The two parties had been negotiating for six months, and until "the last minute" it was uncertain whether LO was going to call for industrial action.
- 28 Feb 2000
Sweden: Sweden Post to sell Postgirot Bank<#PDF_LINK>In late January 2000, the Swedish government decided to allow Sweden Post to sell Postgirot Bank, in a move accepted by postal workers' trade unions. As part of the changes to Swedish postal services, nearly 1,000 "traditional" post offices will gradually be replaced by a basic post service provided in food stores, petrol stations and libraries, and by information technology.
- 28 Feb 2000
Sweden: Do benefit cuts increase the transition rate into new employment?<#PDF_LINK>In November 1999, researchers at the Swedish Office of Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU) published a paper which examines how the 1996 cut in unemployment benefit from 80% to 75% of previous pay affected the rate at which unemployed people found jobs. The research indicates that the effect was "significant and relatively large".
- 28 Feb 2000
Sweden: Ice-hockey players sign Sweden's first collective agreement in sport<#PDF_LINK>A collective agreement for 250 top ice-hockey players, the first in professional sport in Sweden, was concluded in October 1999 by the Salaried Employees' Union on behalf of the players, and by the Employers' Alliance on behalf of the clubs. The deal contains significant variations from statutory provisions on issues such as working time, holidays and negotiation rights.
- 28 Feb 2000
EU Countries: Pay developments - annual update 1999<#PDF_LINK>In this annual update, we review broad trends in pay across the European Union (plus Norway) in 1998 and 1999. We find that average collectively agreed pay increases ran at around 3% in 1998, falling slightly in 1999 - though with major variations between countries - and that there are suggestions of greater pay moderation and convergence in the countries of the "euro-zone". In sectoral terms, increases in metalworking generally exceeded those in banking and, to a greater extent, local government.
- 28 Feb 2000
EU Countries: Working time developments - annual update 1999<#PDF_LINK>In this annual update, we review developments in the length of working time across the European Union (plus Norway) in 1998 and 1999. We find that average collectively agreed weekly working time stood at 38.6 hours in 1999, with little change from 1998, and that there is a relatively small range between the highest average agreed hours (40 in Greece, Luxembourg and Sweden) and the lowest (37 in Denmark and the Netherlands). Usual weekly hours are on average two hours longer than the collectively agreed norm. In sectoral terms, banking has a shorter average agreed week than local government and metalworking.
- 28 Feb 2000
United Kingdom: Government consults on draft part-time work Regulations<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, the UK government initiated consultation on draft Regulations designed to prevent part-time employees being treated less favourably than full-time employees in respect of pay, pensions, training, holidays and redundancy. Trade unions say that the draft Regulations need "toughening up".
- 28 Feb 2000
United Kingdom: Round-up of industrial relations developments<#PDF_LINK>During December 1999 and January 2000, there were new moves concerning a number of important ongoing issues in UK industrial relations, including a dispute at BT, junior doctors' working hours, and legal developments related to working time, parental leave and posted workers.
- 28 Feb 2000
United Kingdom: How is the New Deal for young people working?<#PDF_LINK>The New Deal for young people which was launched in April 1998 is a key component of the UK government's "Welfare to work" strategy. It is playing an important role in helping long-term unemployed and economically inactive people move into employment. In early 2000, research on New Deal suggests that generally it has made a good start, with many young unemployed people benefiting from the programme's innovative approach. However, it is clear that the long-term success of New Deal hinges on the economy, the danger remaining that it could be hit in some parts of the country by rising unemployment.
- 28 Feb 2000
United Kingdom: High involvement work systems and economic performance: a review of recent research<#PDF_LINK>Many commentators suggest that "high involvement work systems" may markedly improve organisational performance. Drawing upon UK research to be published later in 2000, this feature reviews and critically examines these claims.
- 28 Feb 2000
United Kingdom: How small firms are adjusting to the national minimum wage<#PDF_LINK>As the first anniversary of the introduction of the UK's first national minimum wage approaches in April 2000, research covering sectors in which it was expected to have the most significant impact reveals the processes of adjustment within small firms.