The aim of the article is to present the areas of the greatest convergence and disparities in industrial relations in the EU. This paper also aims to identify the causes of such situations and to determine the influence of the economic crisis on the shape of these relations and the attempt to achieve convergence. The study is composed of an introduction, three main sections and a conclusion. Following the introduction, the section 2 discusses the evolutionary process of European industrial relations and social dialogue. The next section is devoted to employee participation in the management of a company, the area of greatest convergence in industrial relations. Special emphasis is placed on the dual system of employee representation (trade unions and works councils), and in particular on the European Works Councils. The final section examines the greatest disparities between the old and new EU member states with reference to trade union density, range, and the level of collective bargaining. This is followed by a summary of conclusions.
In September, 2011 there was 15thanniversary of the implementation of the first EU directive creating European Works Councils (EWCs). This is also the year when the new version of the directive was put in force, i.e. Directive 2009/38/EC. EWCs are a form of indirect employee participation on European level which guarantees workers the right to information and consultation. The employees' representatives of all undertakings of transnational company were given the opportunity to voice their opinion about the decisions to be made by central management of the company. In this article three major topics are discussed: the role of European Works Councils in EU countries, the range of these institutions of employee participation on European level and changes in EWCs' functioning introduced by the new EWC directive. The main aim of the paper is to present diverse patterns of these institutions as well as to attempt the evaluation of EWCs effectiveness and their influence on the system of industrial relations in Europe.
PL
We wrześniu 2011 r. minęła 15 rocznica wejścia w życie pierwszej unijnej dyrektywy powołującej Europejskie Rady Zakładowe (ERZ). W tym roku także zaczęła obowiązywać nowa wersja tej regulacji, tzn. dyrektywa 2009/38/EC. ERZ są formą reprezentacyjnej partycypacji pracowniczej na poziomie europejskim, która gwarantuje pracownikom prawo do informacji i konsultacji. Reprezentanci załogi otrzymali możliwość wyrażania swoich opinii o projektowanych decyzjach centralnego kierownictwa przedsiębiorstwa transnarodowego, które odnoszą się do pracowników we wszystkich zakładach tego przedsiębiorstwa. Niniejszy artykuł koncentruje się trzech głównych obszarach: roli Europejskich Rad Zakładowych w krajach UE, zasięgu tych instytucji partycypacji na poziomie europejskim i zmianach w funkcjonowaniu ERZ spowodowanych wprowadzeniem nowej dyrektywy. Głównym celem artykułu jest przedstawienie różnych rodzajów tych instytucji oraz próba oceny efektywności ERZ i ich wpływu na system stosunków przemysłowych w Europie.
The implementation of the 2002 Directive caused establishment of participation structures in coimtries of the Central and Eastern Europę following the pattern of works councils in Western Europę. The institiitions of workers participation have right to information and consultation but they do not possess the right to codetermination which for a long time has been granted to most works councils in the old EU Member States. Works councils in the new EU Member States have not been established on the road of organie development but they had to define their entitlements and evolve organizational structures themselves. In this article two major topics are discussed: types of employees' interests representation and dijferences in structures of works councils in coimtries of the Central and Eastern Europę. The main aim of the paper is to present the most important factors which affect the establishment and creation of such institiitions.
Polskie przedstawicielstwo w ERZ było pierwszym krokiem w kierunku europeizacji partycypacji pracowniczej w Polsce. Proces ten rozpoczął się na wiele lat przed przystąpieniem Polski do UE, a aktywną w nim rolę odegrały związki zawodowe. Niestety, nie powołano dotąd żadnej ERZ w polskim koncernie, co można uznać za pewne niepowodzenie procesu europeizacji w zakresie partycypacji. W 2006 r. w polskich przedsiębiorstwach zaczęto powoływać nowe instytucje partycypacyjne w postaci rad pracowników. Ich pojawienie się w obszarze stosunków przemysłowych związane było z koniecznością implementacji dyrektywy z 2002 r. ustanawiającej podsta-wowe struktury informowania i konsultacji wśród pracowników we Wspólnocie Europejskiej. Jednak instytucje rad pracowników nie spełniły pokładanych w nich nadziei – zasięg rad w przedsiębiorstwach jest niewielki i nie działają one efektywnie. W dalszym ciągu to związki zawodowe pozostają podstawową formą reprezentacji interesów pracowników w Polsce. Poza nowymi formami partycypacji pośredniej, okres transformacji gospodarczej w naszym kraju zaowocował także nowymi partycypacyjnymi metodami organizacji pracy. Różnica w zasięgu występowania tych form partycypacji w przedsiębiorstwach w Polsce i w starych krajach UE nadal jest duża. Jednak polskie przedsiębiorstwa „nadrabiają” zaległości w obszarze stosowania partycypacji bezpośredniej, co wymuszone jest globalizacją i rosnącą konkurencją. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie trudnego procesu europeizacji partycypacji pracowniczej w Polsce i określenie wpływu tego procesu na kształtujące się stosunki przemysłowe.
EN
Polish representation in EWCs was the first step towards of Europeanization of employee participation in Poland. This process began many years before the Polish accession to the EU and trade unions played an active role in this process. Unfortunately, not a single EWC has been established in Polish corporations which can be regarded as some failure of the process of Europeaniza-tion. In 2006, Polish enterprises began to establish the new participatory institutions in the form of employee councils. The emergence of these institutions in the system of industrial relations was associated with the necessity to implement the 2002 Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community. However, institutions of employee councils not lived up to hopes – the range of councils in enterprises is small and they do not work effectively. So far the trade unions remain the basic form of representation of employee interest in Poland. In addition to new forms of indirect employee participation, the period of economic transformation in our country has resulted in new participatory methods of work organizations. The difference in the range of these forms of participation in enterprises in Poland and in the old EU countries is still large. However, Polish companies “catch up” in the area of direct participation, which is forced by globalization and increasing competition. The aim of this paper is to present the difficult process of Europeanization of employee participation in Poland and determine the impact of this process on the emerging industrial relations.
The reasons for the introduction of employee participation in the country are de-pendent on different social interests and actors of industrial relations. Forms of participa¬tion occurring in Polish enterprises in the period of economic transformation were close¬ly associated with the processes of privatization and commercialization. Polish accession to the EU has resulted in the emergence of two new forms of participation: employees councils and employees’ representatives in the European Works Councils. The main objective of this paper is to determine the role of the state in the development of employ¬ee participation in Poland and to define the reasons for introducing forms of participation by trade unions, employers' organizations and the state.
This article presents the examples of functioning programmes and the systems of direct participation practiced in Polish organizations that serve the reporting by employees of their improvements and encourage them to innovate. These programmes allow better use of knowledge and skills of employees, stimulate their creativity which translates into an increase in labor productivity, improve product quality and reduce costs in the company. The results of the research in this paper indicate fairly common occurrence of direct participation in Polish companies but they also demonstrate the lack of an integrated approach to participation, i.e. the simultaneous practice of various forms of this participation. Moreover, the research confirmed the relationship between the extent of direct participation and the following factors: job categories, task complexity, work organization, preparation to work and level of qualifications of the largest occupational group.
Labor market inflexibility has long been seen as an important factor with a negative influence on European labor markets. The article aims to present factors determining the flexibility of labor markets in OECD countries, with a special focus on “old” EU member states. The analysis covers both a traditional approach to labor market flexibility based on the relationship between real wages and productivity and an approach covering the institutional aspect of labor market flexibility. The first part of the study examines the growth of flexibility in real wages in relation to labor productivity. The authors make use of data applying to 22 OECD countries. Because economic integration took place in stages, the comparison of wage flexibility was made for two periods, 1970-1986 and 1987-2002. In the next part of the study, with the use of a composite labor market flexibility indicator-based on Strahl’s taxonomy-the authors present the diversification of labor market flexibility in EU countries. The eventual flexibility indicator is based on the following four institutional variables: part-time employment, trade union influence, tax system and compensation. The choice of variables for the labor market flexibility indicator was largely determined by limited access to data. Definitive annual figures for the variables in question were only available for the 1998-2003 period for 16 EU countries (EU-15 plus Poland). The study reveals that there is no significant relationship between real wages and labor productivity in most countries in Europe. However, wage flexibility in relation to labor productivity varies considerably from one country to another depending on the analyzed period. This applies to not only highly developed EU countries, but also the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The results of the taxonomy confirm the widespread opinion that Great Britain has the highest labor market flexibility indicator. Denmark, Finland, Belgium and Poland, on the other hand, were classified into a group of countries with the lowest flexibility. Labor market inflexibility in Denmark, Finland and Belgium is additionally confirmed by research conducted by Blanchard and Wolfers (2000) and Dicks and Papadavid (2002).
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