Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

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would appear that the funds were a battleground on which the government sought to influence wage policy. Kjellberg (2009) notes that increases in the fees of union unemployment funds, aimed at pressuring unions to moderate their wage claims, resulted in significant losses in the membership of trade unions and of the funds: “In 2007, union unemployment funds lost almost twice as many members as the unions did. In a period of one year, union density declined by 4 percentage points, which is unique in modern Swedish history and remarkable also from an international perspective … by changing the Swedish Ghent system the government caused a fall in union density with no parallel in modern Swedish history.” 6.4 Main trends in social partner involvement in unemployment benefit The context within which unemployment benefit systems operate has changed radically since many of these systems were first created. Clasen and Clegg (2011) note that many of these benefit systems were designed in economies that were predominantly industrial and characterised by employment relationships that were largely standardised and followed a stable career path. Over the past 20 years or so, this scenario has changed significantly, as the result of a move towards predominantly service-based economies and demand for more flexibility in terms of wages and employment terms and conditions. These types of changes in circumstance and context have had an influence on the level and influence of the social partners, although it would seem that the degree of change depends to a large extent on the national context. Schaapman and van het Kaar (2007) note that social partner influence is likely to be stable and undisputed in countries with a strong and continuing tradition of social partnership (such as Finland and Sweden), where there is a strong tradition of state leadership in social security (such as in Hungary), or where there is little social partner influence in the area of social security, and no debate on changing the situation (eg in the UK). In countries such as Slovenia and Malta, although influence is stable, the social partners are demanding more influence in the area of social benefits. Institutional changes are deemed to have had a negative impact on the influence of the social partners on unemployment benefit systems in some countries, such as Denmark and Germany. Further, lack of consensus among the social partners themselves in some countries, such as France, was also identified to have a negative impact on social partner influence in the area of social benefits. Some trends can also have positive influences on social partner involvement and influence. These include institutional changes to the advantage of the social partners, and proactive social partner approaches. This has been the case in Ireland where, although the welfare system is not generous, social partner influence has increased since 1987 due to the growth of social partnership (although this has now come under severe pressure as a result of the financial crisis). On occasion, trade union action has resulted in policy influence – this has been the case in recent years in countries such as Austria, the Netherlands and Spain. Most recently, the pressures affecting the operation of unemployment benefit systems are likely to have been exacerbated by the crisis, as governments implement austerity measures and cost-cutting plans (see also chapter 4 of this report). Social partners are being involved to a greater or lesser extent in this process – for more details, see the section below on the effects of the crisis. Another issue relevant to the formulation of unemployment benefit policy and the social partners’ involvement in this is that of the reservation wage – the lowest level of income that would be 237
acceptable to a worker for a particular type of job. There have been a number of studies devoted to assessing whether this reservation wage changes if a person remains unemployed, as this would have an impact on the setting of the level of unemployment benefit, something on which the social partners would have a view. Research has found some elasticity, although on the whole this is not deemed to be significant. For example, Addison et al (2010) examined whether an individual’s reservation wage declined over the course of a period of joblessness. They found that this was the case, but that this elasticity is quite small. They also found that there was well-determined direct association between completed duration of a period of unemployment and reservation wages, which is to be construed as higher reservation wages lead to higher jobless duration. Krueger and Mueller (2011) have also examined the reservation wage and the role it plays in job search. They found that the self-reported reservation wage predicts whether a job offer is accepted or rejected and that the reservation wage is basically stable over the course of unemployment for most workers, with the notable exception of workers who are over age 50 and those who had substantial savings at the start of the study. They also found that many workers who are looking for full-time work will accept a part-time job that offers a wage below their reservation wage. Further, they found that the amount of time devoted to job search and the reservation wage help to predict early exits from receiving unemployment benefits. This issue is of direct relevance to the social partners as it has a direct impact on the lives and income of benefit recipients and will therefore influence any positions that they take with regard to benefit changes or reform. This section has examined social partner involvement in and influence over unemployment benefit systems, which is characterised by high levels of diversity. Nevertheless, there are some common trends and challenges, such as meeting the challenge of adapting to the labour market and economic developments of the past 20 years or so, and the reaction of the social partners to this. Most recently, the economic crisis has posed a huge challenge to unemployment benefit systems, and this issue is examined later in this chapter. 6.5 Pension systems: key issues and challenges This section examines the key issues and challenges facing national pension systems in the EU Member States. Most specifically, it looks at pension reform as the main challenge for the future that is common to all EU Member States, in the context of changing demographics. It highlights the main national pension reform plans in the context of EU guidance, and considers the reasons why social partner involvement in pension policy can make a significant contribution. In particular, it examines trends such as the development of second and third-tier pension provision and the opportunity that this presents for greater social partner involvement in policy development. Pension reform is one of the key issues facing European policymakers and is likely to become ever more pressing over the coming decades, due to changing EU demographics. Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension systems, which rely on those in work to fund the pensions of those who are retired, are facing increasing strain as the number of those in retirement grows in relation to those in work. This is a major issue in EU countries which rely on such systems: it is recognised that there is a need to move away from these PAYG systems, towards alternative forms of provision, such as occupational and privately-funded schemes. However, this path is fraught with difficulties and often encounters high levels of protest from trade unions. Overall in the EU, the proportion of those who are over 65 and dependent on those in the labour force has increased from almost 21% of the population in 1990 to almost 26% in 2010, according to Eurostat, and is predicted by Eurostat to reach just over 34% by 2025 and over 53% by 2060. 238
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Industrial Relations in Europe 2012
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Neither the European Commission nor
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Table of contents Executive summary
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employers. The second covers countr
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as has trade union fragmentation, d
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collective bargaining, in other cou
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fragmentation and pay dispersion ha
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Generating new jobs and transformin
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een negligible. Second- and third-t
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Nevertheless, the study indicated m
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Chapter 1: Overview of European, na
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2010, collective bargaining coverag
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short period of eight years. In Est
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Chart 1.6: Bargaining centralisatio
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A core aim of the CAWIE project has
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purposes of the present analysis. T
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have been substituted by contractin
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Table 1.1 shows that in 11 countrie
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SI SK UK Central level agreements.
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IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK
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Across the EU the magnitude of the
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IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SE Jo
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argaining in the same way so that d
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Table 1.6: Major unions in the publ
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LU LV MT NL General Confederation o
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As shown by Visser (2010) for the n
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1.5 Employers’ associations In co
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SI SK Governmental bargaining group
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State-centred, including Greece, Sp
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Chart 1.12: Comparison between nati
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this would imply that industrial re
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Doellgast, V. and Greer, I. (2007),
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Chapter 2: Industrial relations dev
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the only available source of compar
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Chart 2.4: Annual net earnings in t
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Table 2.1 GINI coefficients for the
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producers’ Finally, the governmen
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A weakening membership base indicat
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less eager to join an employers’
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The lower degree of bargaining coor
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Existence of tripartite council con
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including trade unions in policymak
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Legal extension of collective agree
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Descriptive statistical evidence (s
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of sector-level collective agreemen
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* Italics indicate pacts addressing
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the liberal CEECs (LT, LV, EE, RO a
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2.3.7 Interim conclusions Unionisat
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Chart 2.16: Multi-national companie
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Box 2.3 Coping with the economic cr
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motivation for employers was findin
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EE HU rapid increase before the cri
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SK 2011: cuts/freeze planned SI 200
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cooperation within the EU, where be
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cabinet resignation, Romania renege
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important for building additional r
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References Avdagic, S. (2005), ‘S
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egulationin Eastern Europe’, in D
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and not an exact measurement of the
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Of the remaining countries, four -
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In some cases this is linked to emp
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and social security activities have
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Table 3.4 Part-time employment, 201
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Table 3.6 Number employed in tempor
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3.4 Employment status and the right
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employees (Angestellte and Arbeiter
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Table 3.8 Trade union density in th
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distinguish between ‘technical’
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with adequate services as well as t
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Wales) about pay increases, based o
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majority public ownership) than in
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3.7 Centralisation, decentralisatio
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government over the entire bargaini
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3.8 Industrial conflict and settlem
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all of public employees. Career civ
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is also paid to equal pay and low-p
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Casale G. (2008), Public service la
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Pedersini R. (2009), “La riforma
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Appendix 3.1 Number employed in pub
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Chapter 4: The consequences of the
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had a lengthy engagement with NPM r
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Moreover, after an initial increase
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GDP), Denmark (3.2%), Cyprus (0.9%)
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in 2009 - a target that was missed
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public sector and its workforce in
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Pay Cut Pay Freeze Other measures H
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Nevertheless, it should be remember
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able to progress to higher salary p
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the sharing of information technolo
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and moves towards fiscal consolidat
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the importance of inward investment
Page 188 and 189: In countries less affected by auste
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Page 192 and 193: 4.5.2 Responses of social partners
Page 194 and 195: Country Protest & Strikes Finland F
Page 196 and 197: Country Protest & Strikes Spain Ext
Page 198 and 199: It has been suggested that although
Page 200 and 201: Acknowledgements We thank Berndt Ke
Page 202 and 203: Ibsen, C., Larsen, T., Madsen, J. a
Page 204 and 205: Chapter 5: Greening the social dial
Page 206 and 207: (Ueapme 2010 55 ). Fostering the ad
Page 208 and 209: 5.3 Cooperative approaches in manag
Page 210 and 211: Chemical industry institutes) is th
Page 212 and 213: 5.4 Representation within an emergi
Page 214 and 215: In other countries, the emergence o
Page 216 and 217: Skills developments Career and empl
Page 218 and 219: (WiRES 83 ) looked into the aspect
Page 220 and 221: Career and employment security Heal
Page 222 and 223: solar energy production, has launch
Page 224 and 225: will hire unemployed workers, with
Page 226 and 227: Overall, industrial relations in gr
Page 228 and 229: References Arbeiterkammer Wien, Ins
Page 230 and 231: Chapter 6: Social partner involveme
Page 232 and 233: the same country in different areas
Page 234 and 235: 6.3 Unemployment benefit systems Th
Page 236 and 237: established tripartite cooperation.
Page 240 and 241: Further, according to the most rece
Page 242 and 243: An example of social concertation i
Page 244 and 245: government will facilitate the acco
Page 246 and 247: funds. The schemes were based on pe
Page 248 and 249: of industrial actions in the summer
Page 250 and 251: managing these insurance funds is t
Page 252 and 253: 6.6.2 Social partner influence on p
Page 254 and 255: etirement income gap by private fun
Page 256 and 257: Acknowledgements The author would l
Page 258: Natali D (2009), Public/private mix
Page 261 and 262: Commission must consult the social
Page 263 and 264: social partners' increasing role as
Page 265 and 266: The agreement is a significant achi
Page 267 and 268: the Commission not to present it to
Page 269 and 270: In late July 2012 the cross-industr
Page 271 and 272: Through the AGS the Commission has
Page 273 and 274: workplaces in local and regional go
Page 275 and 276: Moreover, the social partners are c
Page 277 and 278: Change Summit in Cancun in December
Page 279 and 280: linked to the Europe 2020 strategy
Page 281 and 282: EU's flagship policy towards the se
Page 283 and 284: to be included in the national LLL
Page 285 and 286: industry and sectoral social dialog
Page 287 and 288: In the construction sector, the Eur
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In the sugar sector, the implementa
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Directive on 30 May 2012. In this,
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well represented at the higher leve
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to establish and/or improve nationa
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Federation of Textiles, Clothing an
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Chart 7.1 Number and type of texts
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commitment to the aim of full imple
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Table 7.1: European sectoral social
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Table 7.2: European social partner
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Recovering and strengthening compet
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Joint position regarding the Europe
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developments, explains the Commissi
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The review is based on consultation
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concluded on 21 May 2012 a European
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Furthermore, studies were commissio
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Report of 26 October 2012 on the im
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Six judgments were delivered relati
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In Case C-3/10 162 , the ECJ ruled
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In Case C 282/10 179 , the ECJ deci
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8.3 Health and safety of workers 8.
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8.3.5 Exposure to asbestos Practica
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of data due to the need for major a
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and effects of the EU Directives on
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2. FREE MOVEMENT OF WORKERS DIRECTI
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HOW TO OBTAIN EU PUBLICATIONS Free
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