The impact of austerity on collective bargaining

A conference organised by the ETUI research organisation provided an opportunity to debate the impact of the crisis and austerity including a session on collective bargaining which has been particularly hit with knock-on pressure on wages in some sectors. "The collective bargaining system has been all-but wrecked in Ireland and Romania," said Torsten Müller and Magdalena Bernaciak. The ETUI researchers have observed a decentralization of collective bargaining along with increased government intervention in it. This has mainly affected southern and eastern Europe, while northern countries have