Eva Duran wrote:
> I think Norway was able to cut unemployment and had no negative
> change in working hours, because it had large oil/gas revenues from
> the north sea, and these were put back to the economy.
>
> You'll find that in most other places no such chance occured, in the
> US and in the UK working hours/week have grown longer, same as
> overtime, paid or unpaid.
My point was that many European trade unions go for a shorter
work-week, and some have been able toreduce the workweek
substansially, to reduce unemployment. Here is a press release from
ETUC - The European Trade Union Confederation.
*************************************
Unions still firm behind shorter workweek
Unions still firm behind shorter workweek
Any suggestion that the European Trade Union Confederation
discussion conference called with its research institute, the ETUI, on
2 and 3 October in Brussels on New paths in working time policy
signals a ditching of the demand for the 35-hour week would be jumping
to simplistic conclusions.
The reality is anything but. The negotiated 35-hour week was
reaffirmed at the ETUCs Brussels Congress. It was, is and will remain
a priority for European trade unions.
But today mass unemployment mean that the
reduction/reorganization of working time must be tackled in different
and even more ambitious ways.
So the 35-hour week has acquired new dimensions, like action to cut
overtime, bring in continuing vocational training throughout working
life, opportunities for phased retirement,....
The common aim of all these things must be to create the extra new
jobs needed.
The ETUC stands united with all its national and industry affiliates
in their struggle for these aims, most immediately its French members
with respect to the National Conference on Employment taking place on
10 October in Paris.
The ETUC insists that the employment guidelines due to be discussed at
the European Employment Summit of 21 November must call clearly and
forcefully on the Member States to support the development and
organization of the negotiations on the reduction of working time.
Brussels, 6 October 1997
PR 23-97
*********************************************
In several European countries a shorter work week is reality. And I
think that in Netherlands this is a reason that the unemployment rate
has been reduced considerably. (Anybody from Netherlands here?
Correct me if I am wrong)
>
> Employees have in fact less and less control - if they ever had any -
> over the structure of their working hours, and it is the same if they are
> self-employed in a small business.
>
> I wonder how you think you are able to achieve any change within the
> capitalist framework that needs to make more and more profit, which
> means, that cut in working hours and funds for education of employees
> leaves less money for the shareholders.
>
> Eva
>
In some countries trade unions are considerably stronger than in
other countries, f.ex I guess that The Confederation of Trade Unions
in Norway has greater impact upon things here than trade unions in
England and USA, and they are in fact able to do something.
>
> Hello!
> I have been away for a long time now.
> And I will go on writing about the things that I used to write about.
> I have written several times about the plans to transform at least
> 10% of the paid working hours of everybody into education. There is
> now a study or report about this work on the web, for those who read
> Norwegian. It is to be found at URL:http://odin.dep.no/nou/. It is
> nou1997:25, and called "Ny kompetanse. There is a paper version of
> this report too. The report is made by a group established by the
> government. I have got it, but I have not yet read it. Among other
> things must new types of pedagogy be developed that is different from
> those used in traditional school. The leader of the Confederation of
> trade unions, Yngve Haagensen, says that this will be one of the most
> important issues at the collective bargainings this spring.
>
> In many European countries they go for shorter work weeks.
> In Norway the trade unions say that only parents with children and
> other persons that take care of people who cannot make it on their
> own ought to have shorter work weeks.
> The ordinary thing shall be that the workers take more and more
> control over their own working time by transfering it to time for
> education and development according to their own wishes.
> Looks nice to me! What do you think? Should the workers go for
> shorter workweeks or try to take control over their paid working
> hours and use them for their own learning and development?
>
> This will be coming slowly. The idea about this came at a time when
> the unemployment rate in Norway was up to 10%, but today the
> unemployment rate is hardly 4%. One reason to this idea was to create
> new jobs for the unemployed, but today they are rather few. But that
> does not mean that this idea is put away, only that the
> implementation might be a bit more slowly.
>
> My old email address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] is gone. It was a BBS
> that I was running as a hobby to learn about Linux, but today I only
> see that computer a few times each month, so I have closed that BBS
> down.
All the best from
Tor Forde
email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
