2011 July epsucob@NEWS 12
Wages and economic governance
{{This is a special issue of the newsletter to highlight the debate around collective bargaining, wage determination and economic governance. That debate is set to intensify in the autumn as the European Commission and European Council investigate the relationship between wage determination, collective bargaining structures and competitiveness. The ETUC aims to be at the centre of the debate arguing that wages cannot be simply reduced to a factor that needs to be controlled to improve competitiveness or tackle macroeconomic imbalances. The role of public sector pay is particularly important
Wages, collective bargaining and economic governance
The Euro crisis and debate about economic governance has brought the issues of wage determination and collective bargaining into sharp focus. Representatives of the European Central Bank, European Council and European Commission have been quick to call for wage moderation, to argue that the public sector should set an example for the private sector, to suggest that there should be greater decentralisation of bargaining and to call into question systems of wage indexation. However, as a series of recent documents from the Commission and Council show, there is no clear evidence to back up any of
ETUC 2011 Collective Bargaining Survey
This year's ETUC survey on collective bargaining is particularly important because of the vital information it can help provide that will help the ETUC in its intervention in the debate on wages and economic governance. This year's questionnaire includes a number of specific questions on collective bargaining structures and wage determination. EPSU urges its affiliates to contact their national confederations and encourage them to complete the survey and include information on the public sector. Read more at > EPSU (EN)
ETUC and EPSU input into the wages debate
The ETUC will be using its 2011 collective bargaining survey to help it formulate a position on wage determination, competitiveness and economic governance. It will draft a discussion document over the summer that will be discussed at the ETUC Collective Bargaining Committee on 7 September and this will be the basis of the ETUC intervention at a conference on wages organised by DG Employment on 15 September. EPSU will contribute to the discussion document and to the intervention on 15 September. Read more at > EPSU (EN)