(July 2017) The latest issue of the OECD's Employment Outlook includes an analysis of collective bargaining trends in the leading industrial nations. The report confirms the long-term decline in collective bargaining coverage and looks at the extent to which the main negotiations in each country take place at sector and/or local level. The study notes that a higher degree of coordination of collective bargaining has been an important factor in dealing with macroeconomic shocks, citing several countries as examples, including Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden.
Survey reveals trends in collective bargaining
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Survey reveals trend to decentralise collective bargaining
A new study by the EIRO industrial relations observatory has found significant changes to wage-setting systems across Europe following the crisis. There have been developments in relation to the main level of collective bargaining, the extent of coordination. the links between different levels of bargaining as well as changes to extension arrangements and procedures for continuing agreements. Not surprising the most dramatic changes have been in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania and Spain where the attacks on collective bargaining have been mainly imposed by national governments
Survey reveals members’ bargaining preferences
The JHL public services union has carried out a major survey of its members to find out their priorities for the next round of collective bargaining. A majority (67.5%) saw a pay rise as the first priority with 84% in favour of a general wage increase to be applied to all workers. The second most important goal was the improvement of working time (37.9%) and the third most important was to improve well-being at work (32.8%), particularly the operation of occupational health care. For local negotiations 79% thought that this should be the responsibility of shop stewards and shouldn’t be
Benchmarking survey covers wage and bargaining trends
(March 2017) The annual benchmarking report from the European Trade Union Institute provides an overview of latest developments in wages and collective bargaining. It notes a trend towards higher real wages, particularly in central and Eastern Europe, mainly as a result of low inflation. There has also been growth in minimum wages but most are still at a very low level. It also found that the decline in collective bargaining coverage continued and was very pronounced in southern and eastern European countries.