EFFAT Annual Survey
Collective bargaining policy forms the core activity of trade unions. It was and is the most important means at the disposal of trade unions for the improvement of the pay and working conditions of their members / employees.
Trade union collective bargaining policy has been one of the most important political and social forces for social reform since the Second World War, leading to an unprecedented improvement in the living and working conditions of workers in many fields. Collective bargaining policy was one of the political guarantees of economic stability at full employment.
But with the rise in unemployment, the internationalisation of capital, the consequent globalisation of production structures and the introduction of economic and monetary union in the EU, the threat of ruinous cross-border competition and social dumping, in which workers will be played off against one another and social standards will be reduced, is growing.
The EFFAT rejects all forms of ruinous competition. Only jointly this can be achieved with success at European level. The EFFAT trade unions have decided to counter these tendencies with a collective bargaining strategy which is capable of supporting an autonomous, Europe-wide trade union wages and collective bargaining policy oriented towards the interests of the workers.
Therefore, one of the tool elaborated by EFFAT member organisations is a yearly reporting on collective bargaining situation across Europe within seven sectors. An overview of the results is presented at the Spring Executive Committee meeting.
A specific website has been established for the agriculture sector:
www.agri-info.eu
Report on collective bargaining and agreements for 2009
Report on collective bargaining for 2007
With the return of stronger growth as from 2006, the overall context for collective bargaining and the formation of wages has undergone a sea change in Europe.
On the one hand, lower unemployment and a stronger dynamic of job creation make workers often less vulnerable to being blackmailed by employers claiming that the existing jobs need to be saved by practising wage moderation. On the other, with many order books once again nicely full, companies can afford less in the way of labour unrest and actions.
Campaign
EMF Launches 2nd Common Demand of the European metalworkers’ unions
“For more secure employment, against precarious work”
which will be included in the collective bargaining demands of all its 75 affiliated trade unions and in future collective bargaining rounds throughout Europe over the next four years.
