Survey reveals sharp drop in real wage trend

(July 2017) The latest issue of the OECD's Employment Outlook includes an analysis of collective bargaining trends in the leading industrial nations. The report confirms the long-term decline in collective bargaining coverage and looks at the extent to which the main negotiations in each country take place at sector and/or local level. The study notes that a higher degree of coordination of collective bargaining has been an important factor in dealing with macroeconomic shocks, citing several countries as examples, including Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden.

A new study by the EIRO industrial relations observatory has found significant changes to wage-setting systems across Europe following the crisis. There have been developments in relation to the main level of collective bargaining, the extent of coordination. the links between different levels of bargaining as well as changes to extension arrangements and procedures for continuing agreements. Not surprising the most dramatic changes have been in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania and Spain where the attacks on collective bargaining have been mainly imposed by national governments

The ETUI has produced an interactive map that presents a range of economic and wage data for countries across Europe. It shows that most countries (15 out of 27) have seen falling real wages. The most dramatic decline of real wages since the onset of the crisis took place in those countries that were subject to financial bailout programmes. There has also been a decline in real hourly minimum wages affecting the most vulnerable part of the workforce, with the highest decline in the programme countries. The map also shows how the wage share has fallen in the majority of EU countries indicating