ISSN 1680-3515 Industrial Relations in Europe 2010 Industrial Relations in Europe 2010 European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Unit B1 Manuscript completed in October 2010 Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission may be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this publication. © Cover photos: 123RF For any use or reproduction of photos which are not under European Union copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder(s). Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Cataloguing data as well as an abstract can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011 ISBN 978-92-79-17861-0 doi:10.2767/1416 © European Union, 2011 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Luxembourg PRINTED ON ELEMENTAL CHLORINE -FREE BLEACHED P A P ER (ECF ) Foreword by the Commissioner The turmoil The distribution of the full cost unions are worrying. In countries that hit finan- of the crisis and the current eco- like Romania, Bulgaria and my own cial markets nomic outlook continue however to country Hungary, limitations in insti- and the econ- raise serious concerns among social tutional capacity translate into limita- omy in 2008 partners. Public debt has risen and tions in the industrial relations system. led to the fiscal consolidation programmes are The EU helps by supporting capacity deepest reces- underway throughout the EU. In building of social partners through sion in the some countries they carry the risk the European Social Fund or through history of the of undermining recovery. Social dia- co-financing of transnational projects. European Union, bringing unprec- logue and collective wage bargaining But I call on Member States and social edented challenges. Employment have been especially challenging in partners to step up their efforts fur- rates across Europe suffered greatly, countries under pressure from finan- ther and reinforce support for social but the involvement of employers, cial markets. Yet it is precisely in this dialogue and collective bargaining. trade unions and governments in difficult climate that social dialogue negotiations and consultation has can play its fullest role. This year’s At European level, social dialogue helped to minimise job losses and we report shows that in countries where continues to deliver tangible results have weathered the crisis better than social partnership is strongest - like and improvements to European work- feared. This report shows how the Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands ers and companies. The report con- social partners have helped workers and Poland - they are managing to firms that collective bargaining is and companies adapt to the dramatic get through challenging times. The very much present in the EU with two economic situation over the past two participation of their employers and thirds of workers in Europe covered years. Strong social dialogue has led workers in shaping concrete policy by collective agreements. Although to effective responses like, for exam- responses to the crisis is one of their there is still room for improvement, ple, the introduction or extension important recovery tools. This is why concrete results have been achieved of short-time working schemes in I believe we need to emerge from with EU cross-industry social dia- Germany or the Netherlands and other this crisis with more, not less social logue leading to a number of consul- countries and across various sectors. dialogue. tations, joint actions and successful It has also seen genuine progress on negotiations. All of this shows that issues like the transition to the low- At the same time, the dynamics of both cross-industry and sectoral social carbon economy with social partners social dialogue are very uneven across dialogue have an important contribu- in countries like Spain and Belgium Member States. In many of the Mem- tion to make to the EU’s Europe 2020 contributing to proposals for invest- ber States that joined in 2004 and strategy, helping to put our economy ment in green technologies and skills 2007 for example, the weaknesses of firmly on the path to smart, sustain- to their national recovery plans. employers’ organisations and trade able and inclusive growth. March 2011 László ANDOR Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 3 Contents Foreword by the Commissioner ........................................................................................................... 3 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1: Variations and trends in European industrial relations in the 21st century’s first decade ........................................................................................ 17 1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 17 1.2. Trade unions ................................................................................................................................................................ 18 1.3. Employers’ associations .............................................................................................................................................. 29 1.4. Collective bargaining .................................................................................................................................................. 34 1.5. Employee representation in the enterprise ............................................................................................................... 42 1.6. Industrial conflict ........................................................................................................................................................ 46 1.7. State and government intervention ........................................................................................................................... 48 1.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 2: The crisis: challenges and social partner perspectives .................................................... 55 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 55 2.2. Economic and employment dimensions of the crisis .............................................................................................. 55 2.3. Perspectives of the social partners on public policy responses to the crisis ......................................................... 66 2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 3: Negotiating the crisis: social partner responses .............................................................. 85 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 85 3.2. Cross-sector level ......................................................................................................................................................... 86 3.3. Sector and company levels .......................................................................................................................................... 97 3.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 116 Chapter 4: Wage flexibilisation and the minimum wage ................................................................ 127 4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 127 4.2. The level of collective wage bargaining: a trend towards decentralisation? ........................................................ 129 4.3. Variable pay systems .................................................................................................................................................. 134 4.4. The minimum wage ................................................................................................................................................... 139 4.5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................ 143 Chapter 5: Industrial relations and the transition to a low-carbon economy ................................ 149 5.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 149 5.2. Policies for a low-carbon