Based on advices from the so-called paritarian committees in different sectors the National Labour Council has formulated an intermediate report with an assessment of the Labour Relations Act. In its report the Council formulates the worries and demands as expressed by the sectors, in particularly related to an effective policy against bogus self-employment. The Council underlined that the current Labour Relations Act can contribute to a more effective enforcement policy against cross-border social dumping practices.
French: http://www.nar-cnt.be/RAPPORT/rapport-101-FR.pdf
Dutch: http://www.nar-cnt.be/RAPPORT/rapport-101-NL.pdf
Search results
Find articles
8810 articles found.
The thousands of financial service sector workers who are losing their jobs in the current wave of cutbacks are finding it hard to get a new job. Over 60% of them end up claiming unemployment benefit for more than a year, compared with 35% of the general working population. Half of unemployed bank workers have a degree, double the rate in the population at large. The figures come from a report by the state run job centre organisation UWV and show bookkeepers and receptionists have just a 10% chance of finding a new job in the financial sector. The report compares the perspectives of workers that became unemployed since the start of the crisis.
English: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/11/sacked-bank-workers-spend …
The report (in Dutch): http://www.uwv.nl/overuwv/Images/Kansrijk …
In a tripartite meeting, the unions, employers, and the government have agreed to boost paid sick leave in the case of long-term illness. The government is hoping to tack one of three possible options discussed so far onto a health insurance amendment. The prime minister has already said he will back a proposal put forward by the labour ministry, counting on a rise of six percent in paid sick leave from the 31st day off.
English: http://radio.cz/en/section/news/tripartite-agrees-to-boost-long-term-paid-sick-leave
The government decided to initiate a coal mine closure process by providing financial support of about €1.8 billion to workers who might lose jobs due to closures. The EU sees these funds not as competition obstacles while requiring that mines receiving ‘closure aid’ must cease mining activities by the end of 2018. The state aid is meant to cover exceptional costs resulting from activities related to the closures, notably to mitigate social costs such as the costs of social welfare benefits or early retirement, costs incurred in safety or site rehabilitation for the production units subject to closure and must be based on an agreed closure plan.
English: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng …
A Eurofound report looks at fraudulent contracting practices across the EU and examines measures initiated by national authorities, including labour inspectorates and the social partners, to identify, prevent and combat such practices. While governments and public bodies focus largely on improving regulation – reducing loopholes in legislation and strengthening detection and inspection – the social partners endeavour to achieve compliance, particularly through organising information and awareness-raising initiatives. Based on 29 national reports, covering the EU28 and Norway, the research finds that the potential of collective bargaining to respond to the challenges of fraudulent use of contracting work is largely underexploited.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2016/industrial-relations …
The report: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites …
Trade union JHL is strongly against proposals to create a low paid work market. This has been proposed by some politicians and business leaders recently as a way to improve the economy and create more jobs. The union considers that low pay will not improve the country’s competitiveness, productivity or employees’ motivation and proposed that the trade union federations draft a programme on pay policy for discussion with the government. The goal of this programme should be to improve the purchasing power of wage and salary earners, employment opportunities, and equal pay. It should also serve to advance solidarity among wage and salary earners by taking into account especially those with the lowest incomes.
English: http://www.jhl.fi/portal/en …
Salaries have suffered more from the crisis than what wages statistics showed so far. The Income Inequality Update by OECD shows that between 2010 and 2014, workers with the lowest salaries suffered the greatest wage cuts of all OECD member states after Portugal. According to the Labour Price Index that is published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), workers' wages fell by 0.7% between 2008 and 2014. Between 2009 and 2010, the annual rate registered positive values (1.5% and 0.5%, respectively), to decline between 2011 and 2013, until 2014, when they recovered again (0.8%). The labour price index shows that between 2008 and 2014 wages have actually declined 0.7%; in the same period, prices increased with 8.5%. This implies a 9.2% loss of purchasing power.
Spanish: http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2016/11/18/actualidad …
http://www.ine.es/prensa …
http://www.abc.es/economia/abci-salarios-espanoles-redujeron-07-por-ciento …
The National Executive Council of trade union SIPTU has authorised ballots by union members for industrial action and strike action on public service pay. SIPTU stated that throughout the very difficult years since the economic collapse of 2008 SIPTU has recommended acceptance of extremely difficult wage cuts across the private and the public service. The union always made it clear that when circumstances changed it would take the necessary actions to re-take lost ground. With the starting of economic recovery their members in manufacturing have been securing pay increases of the order of 2% - 3% per year. In private sector services new legally binding agreements in industries such as security and contract cleaning as well as increases for members in the retail and distribution sector were reached. Moreover, SIPTU representatives are calling for pay increases of the order of 4% in 2017 for workers in the private sector. SIPTU consider that the Lansdowne Road Agreement is not being applied equitably. Accordingly, the union has decided to authorise each recognised negotiating group of the union’s members in the Public Service to conduct ballots seeking mandates for industrial action and/or strike action in pursuit of better terms.
English: http://www.siptu.ie/media/pressreleases2016/fullstory …
In the 6th European Working Conditions Survey, Eurofound presents the results of interviews with 44,000 workers across Europe. Both employees and self-employed were interviewed. They were asked about their employment conditions, working hours, exposure to risks, work organisation, skills use and autonomy, work–life balance, health and well-being. Overall, structural inequalities and differences in terms of gender, employment status and occupation are still significant. The section on earnings reveals that most workers are concentrated at the lower end of the income distribution, with very few at the upper end. The income of men is substantially higher than that of women, partly due to differences in working hours
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/european-working-conditions-surveys …
The report: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites …
Flexible employment constitutes a relatively large and increasing share of the labour market in many countries. In this study with 6 country cases, the Netherland Bureau for Economic Analysis CPB analyses the extent to which the growth in flexible employment can be related to global economic trends and country-specific institutions. One of the advantages of flexible employment is that it allows firms to react more easily to demand shocks. The presence of a significant share of flexible employment does, however, present several policy questions, particularly as it may lead to segmentation and inequality in the labour market, because workers with flexible contracts generally enjoy lower job and income security.
English: https://www.cpb.nl/sites …