Europe
The 2012 edition of Benchmarking Working Europe from the ETUI research organisation includes a chapter on collective bargaining and wage developments. The report divides the EU into five groups of countries with similar structures and processes of collective bargaining and analyses trends in wages. It also looks at the evidence on the impact of collective bargaining on inequality.
Read more at > ETUI (EN)
The latest collective bargaining bulletin from the ETUC looks at recent evidence of trends in working conditions and finds a number of issues of concern for trade unionists. The high level of temporary work facing young people, the increase in enforced part-time work and low levels of training are among some of the main worries identified by the ETUC. However, in the light of the current debates around flexicurity the newsletter emphasises the need to create jobs and that any initiatives around greater flexibility, improved training and greater employability will be worthless if the economy is
A report from the Eurofound industrial relations observatory shows that following the economic and financial crisis wage inequality increased, mainly as a result of rising inequalities within countries. This reversed the trend seen in the years up to 2008. Only eastern European Member States experienced a decline in wage inequality over the whole period, while other Member States saw increasing overall inequality levels against a background of growing unemployment. [Read more at > Eurofound (EN)->http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/news/news-articles/working-conditions-labour-market/impact-of
In preparation for the upcoming bargaining round where it will be involved in negotiating around 60 agreements, the JHL public services union has underlined the importance of protecting the purchasing power of public sector workers just as much as those in the private sector. Rejecting a call from employers that public sector union pay demands should be moderate, JHL notes that a number of private sector negotiations have led to pay increases of around 3.2% over two years.
