13/06/2016
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL
AFFAIRS AND INCLUSION DG
Prerogatives
GRANTS AWARDED AS A RESULT OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS VP/2015/004
Improving expertise in the field of industrial relations
Budget line : 04.03 01 08
Action title
EU grant (€)
With innovative tools for bargaining support in the
commerce sector (BARCOM)
Co-financing rate (%)
298 364.73
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0012
Summary of the action
Collective bargaining is an important instrument in wage-setting processes, but lacks underpinning with empirical data. Little is known about what exactly is agreed upon in collective bargaining. Few
countries maintain databases with coded collective agreements; and agreements are coded for different topics and levels of detail. Attempts to discuss bargaining results at EU level are hampered by the
lack of systematic data-collection of agreements. Social partners perceive an increasing need for cross-country comparisons, i.e., because of growing importance of foreign direct investment in EU
member states. Therefore, EU-level social partners in commerce, UNI Europa and EuroCommerce, have expressed their interest in a study of content of collective agreements negotiated by their
members at national level.
The research institutes AIAS, CELSI and EUBA are joining forces to collect, code and analyse 140 collective agreements in commerce across 28 EU countries, i.e., approx. five per country. The social
partners will support this research by collecting agreements. The research institutes are able to cover all languages needed to read these agreements. An existing online coding form of associate partner
WageIndicator Foundation (WIF) will be used to code agreements. The database of coded agreements allows for statistical analyses comparing bargaining topics and countries. The research will be
complemented with a study of the wide variation in sectoral bargaining practices, needed for the proper interpretation of cross-country differences in agreements.
The research will result in three reports: one will compare the content of the 140 agreements, the second will be about sector-level bargaining settings, and the third will analyse the relationship between
agreements’ content and sector-level characteristics. The three reports will be discussed at the BARCOM Main Event in Brussels, for which members of the two social partners and others will be invited
to participate.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
SPUI 21 1012 WX AMSTERDAM
NL - Netherlands
Action title
EU grant (€)
BARSOP - Bargaining and Social Dialogue at the Public
Sector
Co-financing rate (%)
310 508.95
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0053
Page 1 of 9
Summary of the action
The project Bargaining and Social Dialogue at the Public Sector -BARSOP- will address, from a multidisciplinary and multi-level governance perspective, how the economic and financial crisis has
transformed industrial relations, social dialogue and employment in the public sector in the European Union and in particular in nine EU Member States: Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Slovakia, Czech Republic, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom.
The BARSOP project will, in the nine countries mentioned, review how social partners have been responding to the pressures created by the crisis, both in terms of collective bargaining and social
dialogue processes, in terms of specific social partner crisis initiatives and in terms of outcomes. In addition, it will review changes in the legal, budgetary and broader public policy setting in which the
public sector social partners operate and their effects on industrial relations and the quantity and quality of employment in the public sector.
Within the public sector, BARSOP will focus on three major sectors: healthcare, education, and local and regional authorities. These three sectors cover a large part of the public sector but, with
substantial variation by country, each present their own challenges in terms of their exposure to austerity policies and the respective pressures on the quality and quantity of employment, their model of
industrial relations, and their profile in terms of the prevalence of low quality employment.
In addition, from a multi-level governance perspective, BARSOP includes in its analysis the EU dimension of the selected sectors by studying the respective European Sector Social Dialogue
Committees, the initiatives that these Committees have developed to respond to the crisis and the follow up given at national level to these initiatives as well as their effects.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
SPUI 21 1012 WX AMSTERDAM
NL - Netherlands
Action title
EU grant (€)
Supporting industrial relations in the field of workplace
adaptation to enable the employment of older and
disabled populations
Co-financing rate (%)
217 553.46
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0061
Summary of the action
The action aims to improve social partners’ expertise and industrial relations in the field of workplace accommodation, and as a result promote inclusion of disabled and older workers. A mixed
methodology will be used to examine what is known about workplace adaptations to build a profile of enabling policies and practices for knowledge exchange with the aim of improving the expertise of
social partners in this field. A review of existing literature, policy and practice will provide an overview of what is the cumulative knowledge about workplace adaptation and the role of industrial relations in
accommodating working conditions for disabled and older workers. This will then be used to develop a conceptual framework to inform industrial relations relevant research and action. Comparative policy
analysis will give an overview of selected member states policy on workplace adaptation from the perspective of industrial relations and social dialogue. This analysis will then be supported by a
quantitative analysis of the inclusion of disabled or older populations in labor markets, employee and employer practices in work adaptation using EU surveys. This retrospective analysis will lay the
foundations for transnational action research with social partners in Estonia, Poland, Hungary, with the aim of documenting what practices already exist and looking forward, how these might be
improved. The aim of the action research is to, in cooperation with social partners, discuss the cumulative knowledge about workplace accommodations and find or elaborate upon workable practices and
measures that could be used to support their own activities that encourage workplace adaptations. Findings will be disseminated to employee and employers representatives, policy makers, the scientific
community and journalists at both national and EU levels. We will aim to tailor messages to each stakeholder based on the communicative environment in which they work and sustainability of the action.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
SIHTASUTUS POLIITIKAUURINGUTE KESKUS PRAXIS
TORNIMAE 5 10145 TALLINN
EE - Estonia
Action title
EU grant (€)
DECOBA - Decentralisation of collective bargaining during
the years of the crisis in Europe. Set-ups, trends and
prospects
Co-financing rate (%)
257 050.01
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0064
Page 2 of 9
Summary of the action
In accordance to the objectives of this call for proposals, our action aims “to develop expertise and exchange of EU-relevant information, as well as actions to improve knowledge on industrial relations
institutions and practices across the EU and dissemination of results”.
The DECOBA action will focus on the analysis and research, at EU level as well as in comparative terms, about the rules and practices regarding collective bargaining decentralization in five European
Member States: Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium.
We want to analyse – theoretically and empirically – how recent reforms are changing the traditional hierarchy of levels and actors in collective bargaining. We aim to explore in depth:
1.what have been the main changes implemented at national level over the past years, aimed to foster the decentralization of the collective bargaining systems?
2.what has been the participation of the social partners in the process of design and implementation of these changes?
3.how is being affected the dynamic of collective bargaining at company level, in terms of scope, bargaining actors, contents and outcomes?
4.what have been the main impacts of these changes with regard to issues such as the structure of the collective bargaining, the relations among different their levels, and the juridical implications of the
derogations at company level of higher level collective agreements?
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
Associazione Bruno Trentin-Isf-Ires
Via di Santa Teresa 23 I-00198 Rome
IT - Italy
Action title
EU grant (€)
Verbesserung des Kenntnisstandes zu den Wirkungen der
neuen Rechnungslegungsrichtlinie 2014/95/EU auf die
Arbeitsbeziehungen
Co-financing rate (%)
270 476.78
Application reference
89.72 VP/2015/004/0080
Summary of the action
Nach dem Inkrafttreten der EU-Richtlinie zur Pflichtpublizität nicht-finanzieller Informationen (2014/95/EU) wird Sozialberichterstattung für Geschäftsjahre mit Bilanzstichtag 31.12.2017 verpflichtend und
betrifft EU-weit ca. 6.000 Unternehmen. Dies kann die soziale Dimension der Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion stärken und positiven Einfluss nehmen auf die Umsetzung der Politischen Leitlinien, die
Jean-Claude Juncker in der Agenda für Jobs, Wachstum, Fairness und Demokatischen Wandel vorgestellt hat.
Ein europäisches Konsortium aus Sozialpartnern, Hochschulen, Forschungszentren und Bildungseinrichtungen will die Kennnisse verbessern über die Wirksamkeit dieser Publizitätspflicht, die
wechselseitigen Beziehungen von Arbeitsbeziehungen und Qualität der unternehmerischen Nachhaltigkeit durch Mitbestimmung, sowie über Auswirkungen der Mitbestimmungsmodelle auf den
gesetzgebenden Prozess. Die Ergebnisse werden den Sozialpartnern in Form eines Syntheseberichtes vorgelegt.
Das Projekt wird sich auf zwei zentrale Forschungsfragen konzentrieren: 1. Untersuchung der bisherigen freiwilligen Sozialberichterstattung von EU-weit ca. 2.500 Unternehmen hinsichtlich ihrer
Wirkungen auf die betrieblichen Arbeitsbeziehungen und den betrieblichen Sozialdialog; 2. Prozess der Implementierung der Richtlinie. Es wird herausgearbeitet, welche Korrelationen zwischen den
Modellen der betrieblichen Arbeitsbeziehungen mit ihren jeweiligen Mitbestimmungsmodellen, der Qualität und Quantität der Sozialberichterstattung sowie den nationalen Gesetzgebungsprozessen
bestehen.
Dazu werden größere Länderstudien durchgeführt, die durch Kurzstudien ergänzt werden. Auf zwei Expertentagungen und einer Transferkonferenz werden die Ergebnisse der wissenschaftlichen
Recherchen vorgestellt und diskutiert. Das Europäische Forschungsinstitut der Gewerkschaften (ETUI) stellt die wissenschaftliche Expertise seines Netzwerkes für die Validierung der Ergebnisse zur
Verfügung.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
ARBEIT UND LEBEN DGB/VHS
ARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFT FUR POLITISCHE UND
SOZIALE BILDUNG IM LAND NORDRHEINWESTFALEN EV
MINTROPSTRASSE 20 40215
DUSSELDORF
DE - Germany
Action title
EU grant (€)
Social Partner Engagement and Effectiveness in
European Dialogue (SPEEED)
Co-financing rate (%)
255 273.53
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0082
Page 3 of 9
Summary of the action
The project examines European Sectoral Social Dialogue (ESSD) and the functioning of European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committees (SSDCs). The objectives are to (1) map and analyse the settings
of ESSD, (2) to develop an ‘effective engagement indicator’, (3) to identify barriers to effective engagement in SSDCs, and (4) to analyse social partners engagement procedures. Quantitative analyses
will be based on secondary data including all 43 representativeness studies by Eurofound, the social dialogue texts database, and Eurostat data. Qualitative interviews will be made with social partner
representatives. In-depth case studies of 2 sectors (hospitals and metal) will be carried out in 5 countries (Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom).
The project is innovative in a number of ways. First, while earlier research has examined the contribution of SSDCs to policy making and ESSD output, this project develops this by investigating the
interest of social partners in SSDCs issues, and barriers to effective engagement. To research this we need to map the settings for ESSD, i.e. the national sectoral industrial relations (structural capacity)
and the actors (trade unions and employers domain, size etc.). Second, the study combines quantitative data for all 43 SSDCs in the EU-28, with qualitative data on engagement and interaction
procedures between partners at the European and national level. To account for differences in the capacity and engagement of social partners the study compares 2 sectors and 5 countries, selected to
maximize variation in industrial relations regimes. While quantitative or qualitative methods have been used in previous research, few studies have combined these methods to triangulate data and
improve research validity. Third, the scale of the proposed research, involving analysis of a large quantitative dataset investigating 43 sectors for the EU-28 and qualitative data in 5 countries and 2
sectors, is matched by few existing studies.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM
STOCKTON ROAD THE PALATINE CENTRE
DH1 3LE DURHAM
UK - United Kingdom
Action title
EU grant (€)
Transformations et Négociations du Travail et de l'Emploi
dans les activités postales européennes
Co-financing rate (%)
181 641.33
Application reference
88.68 VP/2015/004/0085
Summary of the action
Depuis les années 1990, les activités postales en Europe connaissent des transformations économiques, technologiques et organisationnelles accélérées, en lien avec le processus de libéralisation
impulsé à l’échelle de l’Union européenne et de numérisation du courrier. Elles se traduisent par des changements considérables dans l’emploi (volume, statuts, conditions) et le travail (contenu,
organisation, conditions). Historiquement bien implantées parmi les travailleurs des postes, les organisations syndicales y sont mises à rude épreuve, au plan de leur efficacité, de leurs revendications,
stratégies et pratiques.
Ce projet de recherche, mené en collaboration avec les organisations syndicales de la poste, dans cinq Etats de l’UE (Belgique, France, Royaume-Uni, Espagne, Bulgarie), se propose de repérer et de
caractériser comment s’organisent et se redéployent, dans un contexte très défavorable, des pratiques et des expériences syndicales significatives en matière de conflits et de négociations sur le travail
et sur l’emploi. Il est ciblé sur les activités postales de distribution du courrier et de colis, et les travailleurs qui les réalisent (facteur-livreur).
Comment les syndicats arbitrent entre la sauvegarde de l’emploi et la défense du métier et de la qualité du travail ? Quelle est la capacité des syndicats à critiquer les critères de performance du
management ? Quelles sont les perspectives de redéploiement des syndicats dans les nouvelles catégories de travailleurs des postes (jeunes, femmes, immigrés, travailleurs de la sous-traitance) ?
Comment intègrent-ils dans leur action les relations avec les usagers/clients des services postaux ?
Ces questions de recherche seront examinées selon une approche comparative, d’une part, à partir de l’analyse de la conflictualité sociale et de la négociation collective et, d’autre part, à partir d’une
étude qualitative des conditions de travail et d’emploi au niveau des centres de distribution.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES
AVENUE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT 50 1050
BRUXELLES
BE - Belgium
Action title
EU grant (€)
Smart Industrial Relations - Smart production in the
manufacturing industry and work organisation: new
scenarios for Industrial Relations
Co-financing rate (%)
166 385.00
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0091
Page 4 of 9
Summary of the action
What is the impact of smart production on work organization, on the quantity and quality of occupation? How can social parts improve industrial relations for a better management of these processes?
Partners from 6 countries (IT, BG, UK, PL, PT,ES) will try to answer these questions effectively, creating a 3-phases project. In the 1st one 2 studies will be undertaken:
- a desk analysis to study the European smart production in the manufacturing industry and the institutional conditions that favors its development, the work organization and employment, industrial
relations models;
- a qualitative analysis aimed at about 100 stakeholders, so to scrutinize different topics, as well as to get ideas for the development of new strategies of industrial relations.
These analysis will be led in several European countries, although the focus will be on the partner countries, which are very different between each other. The project involves the participation of the
working council also the work councils of Volkswagen (Portugal) and the representatives of the multinational company Pirelli and Sorin (Italy). The workshop in Barcelona will be held.
3 workshops will be organized during the 2nd phase to acquire new points of view and identify best practices ((Lisbon, Warsaw, Sofia - around 30 participants per each, but the streaming of the event is
guaranteed).
During the 3rd phase operational guidelines will be elaborated so to facilitate the management of industrial relations in the smart production, promote the anticipation of change and a more effective
management of restructuring.
An 8 hour training will be held for 100 social parts stakeholders in 5 partner countries.
In order to spread the analysis's results many activities are foreseen: a website will be created, a final meeting in Brussels (European and local stakeholders are invited). Finally a public meeting with
social parts and public authorities will be organized in Turin after the conclusion of the project.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
ISTITUTO DI RICERCHE ECONOMICHE E SOCIALI
LUCIA MOROSINI ASSOCIAZIONE
VIA PEDROTTI 5 10152 TORINO
IT - Italy
Action title
EU grant (€)
Bargaining for Productivity
Co-financing rate (%)
289 911.00
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0099
Summary of the action
According to the European Commission, labour productivity will become the key driver of growth in the EU (European Commission, 2012, 2013, 2014). In the EU and the euro area, labour input acts as a
drag on growth over the projection period (2010-2060), as the working-age population is projected to decline. As a result, labour input contributes negatively to annual output growth on average over the
projection period.
The proposition of this project is that productivity is an objective that can be dealt with by collective bargaining. As a source of regulation of wages and working conditions, indeed, collective bargaining is
a key determinant of labour productivity. There is consensus that multi-employer bargaining, combined with vertical coordination of collective bargaining, has a positive impact on economic performance,
because it prevents wage competition and enforces companies to increase productivity in order to pay the given wages (OECD, 2004, 2009; ILO, 2011, 2013, 2015); at the company level, productivity
agreements can make the production more efficient and increase work performance through incentives, WLB and welfare measures.
The main research question underpinning this project is how the aspirations of policy makers are manifest at a micro-level and how these strategies are seen by the actors to translate into outcomes,
seeking to illuminate why the productivity problem persists in some of the observed countries (e.g. Italy and the UK). To answer this question, this project will look at methodologies of coordination
between bargaining levels, as well as at best practices of productivity agreements combining work efficiency with sustainability in six EU countries: Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the
UK.
With the aim to turn knowledge into skills and competences, the overall results of research will be transferred to workers’ and management’s representatives within a capacity building training programme
organized in each country.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
ADAPT ASSOCIAZIONE PER GLI STUDI
INTERNAZIONALI E COMPARATI SUL DIRITTO DEL
LAVORO E SULLE RELAZIONI INDUSTRIALI
VIALE BERENGARIO 51 UNIVERSITA DI
MODENA E REGGIO EMILIA 41100
MODENA
IT - Italy
Page 5 of 9
Action title
EU grant (€)
IMPROVING EXPERTISE ON LABOUR RELATIONS’
IMPACT ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND
EMPLOYABILITY IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH EASTERN
EUROPE
Co-financing rate (%)
193 191.86
Application reference
89.99 VP/2015/004/0109
Summary of the action
The aim of the project is to increase the knowledge about the current system of sectoral social dialogue and tripartite consultation on youth employment and vocational education and training (VET) with
genuine information on the needs of the youth itself in the Central- and South-Eastern European countries: Hungary (HU), Austria (AT), Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR), Poland (PL) and Serbia (SRB). The
project deepens the expertise on the metal sector´s labour relation systems in the region Central and Southern Eastern Europe.
The basic assumption is that there is a relation between the articulation of interests of employees in the social dialogue and the employability of the youth with special emphasis on their transition from
school to work.
We assume that if interests of these young people are represented via social partners in the tripartite consultation on VET, youth unemployment rate can be reduced and as a result economic
performance of Europe will improve. Therefore it is important to find out more about the current praxis of the representation of VET students’ interest in the system of social dialogue and decision-making
processes affecting them. Therefore, the praxis of social dialogue structures and processes are also investigated and analysed.
The project has a research focus which aims to understand the role of social partners in developing the employability of young people who are enrolled in vocational education through the analysis of
collected qualitative data. We use both a bottom-up approach to identify the needs of young people in VET and perspectives on their future employment so their interests can be represented later in the
system of labour relations; and a top-down approach to investigate the current practices of social partners’ and political bodies’ involvement in consultation on VET. The outcome of the project is, that we
gain expertise on the impact of social dialogue on employability of young people. The results are useful for all actors.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
VASAS SZAKSZERVEZETI SZOVETSEG
MAGDOLNA UTCA 5-7 1086 BUDAPEST
HU - Hungary
Action title
EU grant (€)
Industrial relations and the preservation of the local
economy:new forms of job and enterprise
Co-financing rate (%)
138 640.93
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0110
Summary of the action
When a production plant is restructuring, social actors and, in general, industrial relations systems, tend to preserve the workplace of the workers.
However, when the owner of the plant decides to close it, are industrial relations systems able to propose alternative jobs or forms of enterprise for the redundant workers? Alternatively, in order to
preserve the workplace, sometimes the industrial relations system helps the redundant workers to take over the control of the production plant that is closing. In this way, the workers effectively become
the new owners and managers of the plant (e.g. co-operatives).
However, when the conditions of a plant inevitably get worse due to a fall in product demand, what is the role of industrial relations systems in proposing new/alternative forms of job or enterprise for
redundant workers? What are the roles and tools of industrial relations systems that can be used to adapt jobs and/or different forms of enterprises to local needs? What are the tools that could support
the social actors in their evaluation of local conditions and opportunities? Are industrial relations systems able to manage the transition from production plants to new/alternative forms of job and/or
enterprise?
Together with answering to these questions, the project aims to exchange good practices between applicants in order to find common strategies in overcoming the consequences of the restructuring/
closure on local economies. Furthermore, the project will also analyse how well industrial relations systems connect the professional skills of workers and sectoral production with current local economic
needs together with the opportunities - in terms of legislation and available funding - at European, National and local levels.
The research phases of the project will be carried out through quantitative and qualitative analyses The project will last 18 months and will be implemented in seven phases (indicated as work packages).
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
CENTRO DI STUDI ECONOMICI SOCIALI E SINDACALI
SRL IMPRESA SOCIALE
VIA DEL VIMINALE, 43 00184 ROME
IT - Italy
Action title
EU grant (€)
Social Partners Boosting Youth Employment
(SOPAYOUTH)
Co-financing rate (%)
139 924.12
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0115
Page 6 of 9
Summary of the action
Youth unemployment has been historically more vulnerable than the adult one, but this disadvantage has further aggravated since 2008. Unemployment is not the only worrisome reality for young people:
the significant level of precarious work and the relevant rates of young people in unemployment who are not following any type of formal education or training program (NEETs) represent urgent concerns
throughout the European countries.
Among other initiatives, the European Union has boosted the Youth Guarantee which implies an entitlement to a job, training or education for a defined group of young people seeking employment and an
obligation of public employment services or another public authority to provide the services and/or implement the programmes within a given period of time. In April 2013, the Recomendation was adopted
by the Council of Ministers and in 2014 all Member States presented their own Youth Guarantee Implementation Plans.
This context represent a challenge to social partners and good practices should be taken into consideration. First, it is interesting to know the role social dialogue in the development of social policies as it
is a key instrument to strengthen employment and social policy. Secondly, looking into the running of collective bargaining in every country and the promotion of decent labour conditions for young
people. The role of social partners is crucial thus, from the design until the evaluation is especially relevant to ensure a successful implementation of the European Youth Guarantee.
In line with the objectives of the call for proposals 2015, this project aims to address the role of social dialogue and the collective bargaining in promoting youth employment and ensuring decent work and
life conditions for young people.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
Fundación Cultural 1º de Mayo
Calle Longares, 6 28022 Madrid
ES - Spain
Action title
EU grant (€)
Strategic but vulnerable. Industrial Relations and Creative
Workers (IR-CREA)
Co-financing rate (%)
277 928.12
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0121
Summary of the action
The project focuses on industrial relations in creative industries. Creative workers are a highly heterogeneous group, which is internally highly differentiated. On the one hand, there are workers employed
in large enterprises with high wages, good employment conditions and stable contracts. On the other, there are vulnerable workers who contract out their skills to various organizations in project-based
labour markets, straddling between self-employment and economically dependent conditions, with medium-low wages and a professional environment characterised by a high level of uncertainty. The
research project regards the latter, namely highly skilled workers that play a key role in the knowledge economy but that are also more vulnerable.
The action has three main goals: a) providing a general overview on industrial relations in creative industries across Europe; b) investigating practices in different countries with heterogeneous traditions
in industrial relations and social dialogue; c) disseminating project’s results among social partners, policy makers and other stakeholders at national and international level.
IR-CREA will especially study how trade unions and employers’ representatives include creative workers in collective bargaining activity and what kind of services they provide. The project also aims to
disclose the presence of alternative forms of association of creative workers’ interests (such as informal professional communities and co-working spaces).
The project is divided into five work packages (WPs). WP A focuses on industrial relations in creative industries across European countries. WPs B, C, D deal with industrial relations in creative sectors in
three countries (Denmark; Italy and the Netherlands). WP E is dedicated to the national and international dissemination activity in non-academic domains.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
PIAZZA SAN MARCO 4 50121 FIRENZE
IT - Italy
Action title
EU grant (€)
Industrial Relations in Central and Eastern Europe:
Challenges Ahead of Economic Recovery
Co-financing rate (%)
173 069.92
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0124
Page 7 of 9
Summary of the action
The proposed action will attempt to reinvigorate national industrial relations systems in new EU member states and candidate country through evidence-based comparative research and advocacy in
order to achieve higher economic growth and competitiveness. It envisages to up-date and up-grade the current body of knowledge on the development of the existent industrial relations (IR) practices in
6 new EU Member States (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Estonia, Poland, and the Czech Republic) and a candidate country (FYROM) with the aim to provide policy recommendations on how to improve
national expertise in the field. The project partners would like to stimulate the national policy debate between parties actively involved in IR based on evidence-based comparative research and advocacy
so as to boost economic
growth and competitiveness. A central acton component will be foresight workshops which will describe the future of IR in Central and Eastern Europe. The applicants aim at establishing and providing
international platform of exchanging expertise on effective industrial relations practices so as to create network of excellence between parties involved in the national IR systems. The action will also
establish and strengthen the cooperation among policy institutes in new EU Member States and a candidate country and the organisations of social partners for the benefit of all stakeholders. As an
innovative component, the action will acquaint students from economic universities in new EU Member States and a candidate country with the European Industrial Relations Reports key contents,
conclusions and recommendations and the project outcomes.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
FONDACIJA CENTAR ZA IKONOMICHESKO RAZVITIE
CHERVENA STENA 46 1421 SOFIA
BG - Bulgaria
Action title
EU grant (€)
Arbeitsbeziehungen und sozialer Dialog unter dem
Anpassungsdruck der fortschreitenden Digitalisierung der
Wirtschaft und! der Industrie (Industrie 4.0) - Vergleichend
angelegte wissenschaftliche Studien mit Kommunikation
und Ergebnistransfer [SF].
Co-financing rate (%)
260 109.97
Application reference
89.86 VP/2015/004/0129
Summary of the action
Digitale Technologien und die damit verbundenen Digitalisierung der Fertigungstechnik durch intelli-gent vernetzte Geräte und Maschinen sowie die immer stärkere Nutzung des Internets eröffnen der
Wirtschaft und insbesondere der Industrie neue Chancen für eine zeitliche, räumliche und organisa-torische Flexibilität. Dadurch entstehen neue Wertschöpfungsprozesse und neue Arbeits- und Geschäftsmodelle.
Nach dem in Deutschland und in Baden-Württemberg inzwischen stark diskutierten Konzept „In-dustrie 4.0“ sollen in Zukunft Produktionssysteme in der Lage sein, sich weitgehend autonom zu steuern
und zu optimieren. Damit steht als technologische Vision eine „Smart Factory“ im Mittel-punkt: eine vollautomatisierte und intelligente Fabrik, die Logistik und Produktionsprozesse selbst-ständig steuert.
Allerdings handelt es sich hierbei um eine Vision, d.h. die Realität sieht noch anders aus und es existieren auch alternative Entwicklungspfade. Zudem beschränkt sich ihre Umsetzung bislang eher auf
technologische Einzelvorhaben, die aber weit über die Ebene von Arbeitsplatz und Betrieb hinausgehen und auf zusammenhängende Wertschöpfungsketten abstellen.
Die Gegenstände der Maßnahme bilden die wissenschaftliche Expertise mit Kommunikation und Ergebnistransfer zu den künftigen Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung und der Technologisierung der
Wirtschaft in vier exemplarisch ausgewählten Regionen/Länder: Deutschland/Baden-Württemberg, Italien/Lombardei, Spanien/Katalonien und Schweden/Västsverige - Göteborg. Die Auswahl der vier
Länder/Regionen erfolgte aufgrund der unterschiedlichen Systemen ihrer industriel-len Beziehungen bzw. Arbeitsbeziehungen, die sich drei Grundtypen zuordnen lassen: Nordischer Korporatismus,
kontinental-europäischen Sozialpartnermodell und polarisierender romanischen Typ der Arbeitsbeziehungen.
Weitere Darstellung in der ausführlichen Projektbeschreibung.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAT TUBINGEN
GESCHWISTER-SCHOLL-PLATZ 72074
TUBINGEN
DE - Germany
Action title
EU grant (€)
New European Industrial Relations (NEIRE): Mediation
system effectiveness for collective organizational conflicts:
A comparative study in Europe.
Co-financing rate (%)
353 753.03
Application reference
89.55 VP/2015/004/0145
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Summary of the action
Social dialogue is an essential instrument within the EC to prevent and regulate relations between employers and employees. Within the EC conflicts at organizational level regularly escalate at high
costs, and therefore member states offer different third party interventions and mediation services to solve these conflicts. The EC promotes mediation and other forms of non-judicial conflict resolution.
However, there is a lack of knowledge about a) the actual functioning of these services; b) the conditions to promote the use of mediation; c) the antecedents of effective mediation interventions.
Especially for collective labor conflicts, the structuring of third party support and mediation services in itself are important elements of social dialogue. Partners feel the need to innovate social dialogue.
One of the components for innovation is supporting social partners at organizational level, especially when negotiations are stuck, agreements cannot be reached, or rights are not respected, and conflict
escalation might occur. Different member states have different traditions in providing such mediation assistance. However, actual knowledge on how this functions and how to further develop lacks. Are
the structures adequate, accessible, and acceptable to conflicting parties in collective organizational conflicts? How do the formal structures relate to the use of independent consultants offering facilitation
and mediation services? What are limitations to the use of mediation, and how can ‘preventive mediation’ be used to de-escalate in an early stage conflicts within organizations between management and
labor? These questions are at the heart of further development of social dialogue in Europe, and this study aims to compare the experiences in different member states, in a search for good practices,
inspiring social partners and governments of member states to promote mediation, both as prevention and conflict intervention.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
OUDE MARKT 13 3000 LEUVEN
BE - Belgium
Action title
EU grant (€)
I-WIRE Independent Workers and Industrial Relations in
Europe - The social dialogue between traditional and
innovative forms of collective representation
Co-financing rate (%)
341 914.13
Application reference
90 VP/2015/004/0172
Summary of the action
Within EU Countries the industrial regulation model based on collective bargaining shows a coordination among labour market dynamics, organized interests representatives and public policies (Visser,
2010; Crouch, 2014).
The triangular employment relationship doesn’t reflect the real employment situation of a growing part of dependent workers nor it’s effective in representing their needs (as showed by the Coverage and
index of coordination of collective bargaining), as well as to the self-employed workers ones, who best represent the growing individualization of working conditions.
This state of affairs requires to single out and put into practice the experimental forms of “social dialogue” and governance which characterize in an innovative way the regulation of new autonomous
workers, a growing and widespread phenomena of contemporary labour market (ILO 2015).
In the last decade, these innovative experiences have been supported by new forms of association-based regulation (i.e. «quasi-union», Hecksher e Carrè 2006), as well as by new market-like forms (i.e.
Labour Market Intermediaries, Autor 2008). These phenomena are scantly considered in the socio-economic research, focused instead on Unions revitalization strategies based on “Organizing the
unorganized” (Sullivan, 2010; McCormick e Hyman, 2013).
The research project aims to analyze in a comparative perspective the emergent market-based and association-based regulation regimes of new autonomous workers in EU. The focus will be both for the
protection offered and for the capability to reach these goals through social dialogue. We will map the international experiences and the co-ordination forms and practices, through desk analysis and
country case studies; we also will provide a web-survey to assess the needs of new autonomous workers. The result will be discussed and analyzed with representatives of industrial relations actors, to
spell out analytical results, empirical insights and policy suggestions.
Beneficiary organisation
Address
Country
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO
VIA FESTA DEL PERDONO 7 20122
MILANO
IT - Italy
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