Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 2002 (pdf) - mol.fi

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still some big changes ahead for Lithuania in that sphere. Many changes have
indeed taken place in the country during recent years - more than in the others
under comparison - but the trends have been contradictory.
Membership of the trade union movement is rarer in Lithuania than in Latvia
and Estonia. It has fallen during the last few years. This drain in membership
has happened among both men and women, and among both Lithuanian nationals
and others (Russians, Poles, Belorussians). In the public sector, the
drop in membership has been small; but in the private sector, very few (5 %)
belong to the unions anymore. The degree of unionisation in the Lithuanian
private sector is the lowest in the whole Baltic area, and the greatest problems
in the country's working life are in that very sector. The loss of trade union
membership is seen also in the increase in individual agreements and the decrease
in collective agreements. More and more working people have agreed
on the contents of their employment contract personally together with their
employer.
Individual agreement takes place more than the wage earners would like. In
Lithuania's current labour market situation, their powers of negotiation are not
very great. Among private-sector wage earners, feelings of uncertainty and
fear are common. In the private sector particularly, the status of female workers
is, in general, poor. Wage earners' confidence in the economy of their
workplace is low overall; and similarly, there are only fairly few who believe
that the employment situation in general will improve in the near future. In
consequence, even poor working conditions are tolerated for fear of losing
one's job. Some companies are in real financial difficulties, and the unfairness
or problems experienced by wage earners are due first and foremost to the
companies' economic realities rather than to lack of good will. On the other
hand, there are also companies that mercilessly exploit the subordinate labour
market status of wage earners.
Long working weeks have become more widespread in Lithuania. There, as in
Latvia, those working in the private and in the public sector have very different
working weeks. It is noticeable that the lengthening in Lithuania's working
weeks is due to longer weekly hours for private-sector employees. Wage earners
in the public sector work practically the same weekly hours as three years
earlier. In the private sector, the average number of hours worked per week by