COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: TRADE UNION REPORT WARNS OF RISKS OF SOCIAL AND TAX DUMPING.

Summary: A report on collective bargaining in 1997-98 by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) warns against the risk of social, wage and tax dumping in the wake of the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), scheduled to begin on January 1, 1999. The warning issued by the research institute of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) stems from awareness of the fact that the countries of the Euro area will no longer be in a position to use exchange rate adjustments as a means of boosting competitiveness.

The ETUI report advocates stronger coordination of collective bargaining at European level, referring as a positive example of such coordination, to the Agreement concluded in September by representatives of German, Belgian, Luxembourg and Dutch trade unions at Doorn, the Netherlands, and to the collective bargaining proposals issued by the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) and the European...