Participation at work

In late January 2002 the Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE) decided on its framework of demands for 2002 banking sector collective agreement. It is calling for pay increases of 7%-8%, the introduction of a 35-hour week and a variety of other measures, including enhanced information and

On 7 November 2001, the German government approved a draft Law on Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities (Gleichstellungsgesetz für behinderte Menschen), which is due to come into force on 1 May 2002. This law completes a series of reforms and political initiatives by the 'red-green'

A new law on universities, introduced by the current centre-right government, has been adopted by the Spanish parliament and is likely to be passed by the Senate in November 2001. The proposed law has met with total rejection by the university community, trade unions, students' associations and

One of the goals of the Dutch Working Time Act of 1996 was to transfer decision-making on working time to the enterprise or even plant level. A survey evaluating the effects of the Act, carried out in 2000 and published in 2001, finds that the ability of employee representatives to counter

At its plenary session on 22-25 October 2001, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a range of amendments to the Council of Ministers' common position on the draft EU Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community [1]. The amendments seek

A restructuring exercise at Opel, the German-based car manufacturer, which is part of the US-based General Motors group, was the front-page story in Belgian social and economic circles in late August 2001. The focus was on a threat of closure that hung over Opel's Belgian production site in Antwerp

On 28 August 2001, the German-based car producer Volkswagen (VW) and the IG Metall metalworkers' trade union concluded a package of company agreements for the new VW subsidiary, Auto 5000 GmbH. The company agreements will be effective for 3,500 newly hired employees at the VW Wolfsburg plant and

For the past 10 years, the European Commission, in cooperation with national and European employers' organisations, has organised a conference for the human resource (HR) directors of Europe's major employers. The conference is used as a forum for the Commission to engage in social dialogue with