Reports

114 EN - European Works Councils: a trade union guide to directive 2009/38/EC

Author: Séverine Picard

Published: 2010

This guide has been developed by the ETUC in order to help trade unionists and practitioners in the area of information and consultation around Europe to play an active role in this process and to make the most of the new provisions in the European Works Council Directive as amended by Directive 2009/38/EC. It is an article-by-article legal commentary, written in an accessible style so that it can be used by everybody with interest in European Works Councils and their functioning.

112 EN - The European union's better regulation agenda

Author: Eric Van den Abeele

Published: 2010

Despite the meltdown caused by deregulation in the financial sector, the Barroso Commission continues to push Better Regulation as delivering light-touch, business-friendly lawmaking. This report explains the ins and outs of the Better Regulation agenda, and answers many of the questions raised by this programme that it is claimed will improve the EU’s legislative framework. Is the Better Regulation agenda a real way of improving EU governance? Can it add something extra to the work of the European institutions and Member States? Will it change the relationship between stakeholders and their relationships with citizens?

111 EN - Viking - Laval - Rüffert: consequences and policy perspectives

Editors: Andreas Bücker and Wiebke Warneck

Published: 2010

The Viking-Laval – Rüffert cases raise the question of the relationship between market freedoms and fundamental social rights, with a particular focus on the freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. In its rulings on these cases the ECJ has put in question the traditional relationship between market freedoms on a European level and national systems of industrial relations. This publication, part of a project entitled ‘The ECJ’s Viking, Laval and Rüffert judgements: Consequences and Policy Perspectives’ was prepared by a group of academic lawyers and practitioners. Its focus is to analyse from both a legal and policy perspective the consequences the ECJ decisions have on national industrial relations systems.

110 EN - Trade unions in Malta

Author: Godfrey Baldacchino

Published: 2009

This report on Maltese trade unions forms part of a wide-ranging ETUI project which aims to map changes in unionisation and the varying organisational structures of unions in the ‘New Member States’ (NMS). The author, Godfrey Baldacchino, indicates that Maltese trade unions still enjoy significant membership rates. More than one in two workers in Malta is a trade union member, one of the highest unionisation rates in the EU. The two main trade unions have seen the rise of different sections in their internal structures, while their dominance has been weakened.

109 EN - Climate change, the environment and jobs in UNI europa's sectors

Author: Sophie Dupressoir

Published: 2009

This report aims to explore the future of employment in the European service industry from a sustainable development perspective, particularly in an environmental sense of the word. It also aims, based on best practices, to propose avenues for initiating social dialogue in services on environmental issues.

108 EN – Better defending and promoting trade union rights in the public sector. Part II – Country reports

Editors: Wiebke Warneck and Stefan Clauwaert with Marina Monaco, Victorita Militaru and Isabelle Schömann

Published: 2009

This publication is the second part of a wider report covering trade union rights in the public sector. It provides information on trade union rights in the public sector country-by-country. The information is sourced from case law emanating from the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well as information on trade union rights violations from the International Confedration of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The report follows on from the publication of Part I of the wider report entitled “summary of available tools and action points”. This initial report, published last year, identified what actions could be taken to promote trade union rights in public service sectors. It also mapped out the situation with regard to the application of and respect for trade union rights in the public sector across Europe. The focus was on obstacles to fundamental trade union rights such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, collective action and information and consultation.

106 FR - Codes de conduite et accords-cadres internationaux: de nouvelles formes de gouvernance au niveau de l'entreprise

Authors: Isabelle Schömann, André Sobczak, Eckhard Voss and Peter Wilke

Published: 2008

Au cours de ces dernières années, le processus rapide de mondialisation a déclenché un débat politique sur les normes internationales de production et de travail et sur la nécessité d’introduire des structures de régulation supranationales. L’adoption de codes de conduite des entreprises et d’accords-cadres internationaux (ACI) reflète le champ d’action et l’influence de plus en plus mondiale des entreprises multinationales. Ce rapport analyse l’impact de ces initiatives sur les pratiques d’entreprise et les relations professionnelles

105 EN - Better defending and promoting trade union rights in the public sector. Part I: Summary of available tools and action points

Editors: Stefan Clauwaert and Wiebke Warneck

Published: 2008

Designed as a campaign-oriented, practical tool, the report maps out the current situation with regard to the application of and respect for trade union rights in the public sector across Europe.
It identifies persistent and existing obstacles and problems facing trade union rights, in particular concerning the freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and the right to take collective action, as well as information and consultation rights.

104 EN - Services employment in Europe – now and in the future

Authors: Heather Connolly, Gintare Kemekline, Maarten Keune, Andrew Watt

Published: 2008

This publication outlines the impact the rise of the service sector has had on employment and some of the challenges and opportunities that are facing trade unions as a result. While trade unions find it challenging to respond to a sector that is undergoing continuous change the report shows that the sheer growth of services employment also represents a tremendous opportunity. Many service sector workers are in urgent need of the support and protection that union membership can offer as they seek to improve their working lives. They constitute a large pool of potential members. The challenge for trade unions is to seize this opportunity, increase membership and strengthen trade union influence in this fast growing part of the labour market.

103 EN - “Strike rules in the EU-27 and beyond: a comparative overview”.

Author: Wiebke Warneck

Published: 2008

This publication assembles up-to-date information on the rules governing collective action in the different EU Member States and provides a non-exhaustive overview of national situations with a view to answering the following questions: what types of action exist in the different countries? Are they lawful? What kinds of restriction or procedural requirements have to be taken into consideration when taking collective action? What are the effects on workers in the different countries? Information for this report was collected by the national legal experts of the NETLEX network.

102 EN – Board-level participation and workers’ financial participation in Europe

Authors: Norbert Kluge and Peter Wilke

Published: 2007

This report examines development trends in board-level participation and workers’ financial participation. The report argues that it is only possible to maintain and develop successful companies on the technological and productive high-road if their employees are strongly committed to them. It is important that employees are embedded in the company permanently and dependably as a high-skilled labour force. The task for both enterprise managements and organised workers’ representation therefore is to establish meaningful links between codetermination and financial participation.