EU

The ETUC has criticised the latest proposals to amend the Working Time Directive, pointing out that if adopted they will mark the first time that the European Union has legislated to reduce social protection. The ETUC argues that the Directive won’t do enough to tackle the health and safety issues arising from long working hours and creates more possibilities for employers to avoid regulation of working time through collective agreements. The Directive will be discussed at the council of employment ministers on 9 June. Read more at > ETUC (EN) And at > EPSU (EN)

JHL, the main public service union in Finland, has signed a co-operation agreement with ROTAL, the Estonian public administration union. This coincided with a similar agreement signed by the Danish trade union confederation LO with the Lithuanian confederation LPSK. In both cases the idea is to work together to counteract wage dumping and to encourage members who move to the other country to join the partner trade union. JHL reports that it has around 450 Estonian members working in catering, kindergartens and health centres. Read more at > Finnish Labour News (EN) And at > LO (EN)

A seven-country study of public and private sector organisations concludes that the pressures of globalisation and the resulting intensification of work prevent many working parents from benefiting fully from parental leave policies. The study also found that the increase in outsourcing means that many workers lose out because the parental leave policies that apply to them are worse than those available to workers in the organisation that has outsourced the service. Read more at > eubusiness.com (EN)

The European Commission has published a report looking at the measures needed to tackle gender equality. This is not just about reducing the persistent gender pay gap but about dealing with inequalities between men and women across society. The Commission plans to publish a Communication on the pay gap but in the meantime as set out a roadmap - a list of actions to be taken to tackle political, economic and social inequality. Read more at > European Commission

The ETUC has argued that the European Central Bank should take action to boost the European economy rather than be too concerned about the potential impact of increasing oil prices on inflation. The ETUC notes the modest fall in pay settlements across Europe over the last four years and argues for measures to boost domestic demand. Read more at > ETUC

The European Commission’s Directorate of Employment and Social Affairs has launched a new anti-discrimination website. The site provides information about EU law on all kinds of discrimination at work except gender discrimination. Read more at > Employment and Social Affairs

The European Commission’s statistical agency Eurostat has just released figures which show that nearly 60% of 25-64 year-olds across Europe didn’t take part in any education or training activity in 2003. It also shows that those with lower levels of skills and education were less likely to take part in training than workers with higher qualifications. Read more at > Eurostat

Following the major study of minimum wages by the EIRO industrial relations observatory in August, the Eurostat statistical body has just published its round-up of national minimum wage rates around Europe. It finds the monthly rates range from 72 euros in Romania to 1467 in Luxembourg. Don’t forget to comment on the draft EPSU policy document on low pay. If you would like a copy contact rpond@epsu.org. Read more at > Eurostat

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has published its review of industrial relations for 2004. This is a 100-page report covering social dialogue developments at the European Union level plus key collective bargaining and industrial relations changes within each country. The third section looks at developments in rights to information and consultation. This is the direct link to the pdf of the report at > EIRO

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