A report from the EIRO industrial relations observatory examines the impact of the crisis on industrial relations across Europe. The findings are, not surprisingly, that trends have been mainly negative from a trade union point of view in terms of reforms in wage-setting mechanisms, an increase in opt-out and opening clauses, a decrease of extensions in collective agreements, a fall in the volume and quality of bargaining and generally more adversarial industrial relations. The report acknowledges that these features have often been more acute in the public sector. However, it also argues that there are examples of social partners working more closely together in response to the crisis.
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Impact of crisis on industrial relations
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