Documents Gradev, Grigor 14 results

"The Stability Pact for south-east Europe was signed in early June 1999 in Cologne. Less than a month later, at the 9th ETUC Congress in Helsinki, a special statement was adopted which supported the establishment of the Pact and pointed to the significance of democratic trade unions in the democratisation and reconstruction of the region. Since the text of the Stability Pact did not devote adequate attention to social issues and the role of trade unions, the task force undertook to define trade union views concerning the implementation of the Stability Pact. The article reflects the efforts of trade unions in both South Eastern Europe and on European scale in order to enhance the social aspects of stabilisation in these countries. The authors try to summarise the results of these efforts and to define future objectives for the trade unions."

"This article provides an overview of the main trends of social and economic developments in the western Balkans. The contribution originates from member inputs from the network of south-east European trade union economic experts operating under the umbrella of the International Trade Union Confederation's Pan-European Regional Council (ITUC-PERC). 1 The contribution focuses on the main social and economic challenges faced by the western Balkans region at a period marked by enduring crises and framed by the prospect of EU accession. In spite of these difficulties, this contribution strives for a comparative overview of economic trends, public finances, unemployment, employee compensation and income inequality in the countries of the western Balkans. The aim is to identify the major challenges for individual countries, but also for the region as a whole in the course of postcrisis consolidation and in the process of European integration, among others, with particular concern for trade union experts and decision-makers. "

"Current workplace relations in central and eastern European candidate countries are strongly influenced by the legacy of fragmented workers' interests and at best undeveloped semi-autonomous forms of collective interest representation. In addition, most trade unions have been unable to develop adequate strategies to cope with the pressures of radical marketisation and to forge collective identities. In this environment the mechanical implementation of social dialogue institutions could trigger opposition from the trade unions, conflicts between unions and works councils in companies where autonomous trade unions exist, and even serious damage to the unions. The social dialogue institutions will only have the desired effects in CEE companies if they are developed on the basis of trade unions that have been strengthened, or even, in the case of non-unionised companies, created. This article draws on empirical research into the operation of trade unions and works councils in the CEE countries, in particular Hungary and Slovenia. "