Agnese Puntuža Latvian Building Workers Trade Union OHS and employee representation in construction...
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Transcript of Agnese Puntuža Latvian Building Workers Trade Union OHS and employee representation in construction...
Agnese Puntuža
Latvian Building Workers Trade Union
OHS and employee representation in construction sector - Baltic statesMalta, 27 – 28 June 2006
Table of contents
Construction sector in Baltic states OHS project in Baltic states and Poland Skandinavian social model OHS situation in Baltic states
Average salary in Baltic states in 2006 (before tax)
Counrty Salary EUR per month
Latvia 351
Lithuania 400
Estonia 500
Average salary in international companies in Latvia in 2006
(before tax)Company name Salary
EUR per month
CEMEX 328
Consolis Latvia 471
Knauf 571
NCC Konstrukcija 654
SVR TERBELAT 714
YIT Celtniecība 1142
European Works Council representatives in Baltic states
Lithuania Estonia LatviaConsolis - - -
Gerb.Knauf Gipswerke
- No operation in country
-
Heidelberg Cement Group
- - -
NCC No operation in country
No operation in country
-
YIT-Huber - - -
Skanska - + -
Paroc + - -
European Commission projectEuropean Commission project Improving Trade Union Health and Safety Capacities in the Construction, Forestry and Wood Working in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
Latvia Lithuania Estonia Poland
Sweden Denmark Finland
OHS and representation problems in Baltic states and Poland Low trade union membership level in branches Lack of regional structures Labour fource migration Branch trade union have no qualified workers in
OHS questions (experts) Lack of workers in trade union office High rate of accidents at work and professional
diseases High rate of unreported accidents
Project activities
Cooperation with the researchers To work on improving legislation regarding
OHS Educating OHS representatives Cooperation with vocaitonal schools in
construction sector Developing educaiton and information
material
Results of the 1st phase Increased trade union membership In total 29 seminars organized, 603 OHS
representatives from factory level participated
Informative campaigns and events about questions regarding OHS organized
Research about OHS situation in each country carried
Cooperation with Labour inspectorate and vocational schools
A Nordic Point of View
old traditions in social dialogue, that means collective bargaining in sectoral level (Sweden) and national collective bargaining (Finland). Also in Denmark and Norway.
unionisation rates 70-95 %, also the same with the extent of collective agreements
World’s best rates in employees’ voice representation, economical security and a national Happiness index (ILO survey 2004)
mutual understanding, that the Nordic ’social model’ may have a positive influence on business productivity as well as well-being in the society
A Nordic Point of View
in the Nordic countries the practice of collective bargaining is not based on rule of law but on the social contract (between employees and employers)
high level of social dialogue and productivity can exist simultaneously – they may even support each other
Problems in Social Dialogue and OHS in the Baltic states
”Private sectors in Baltic states do not, in the main, make use of modern forms of management based on co-operation. Their main priority is competitiveness and profitability, with little scope left for experimentation in the field of industrial relations or new forms of work organisation.” (Industrial Relations in Central and Eastern Europe 2004, 112)
Problems in Social Dialogue and OHS in the Baltic states
In the Baltic societies it is common to rely on the law and power, but in the Western societies more emphasis is put on contract (agreement). (Rein Ruutsoo, Estonian sociologist)
balance of interests
employers’ interest:maximization of profits
employees’ interest:wages and social provisions
Physical working environment
Workers are more exposed to vibrations, noise, heat, air pollution, and, to a lesser degree, to working in painful or tiring positions, than in the “old” EU Countries
based on: Survey of European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin, 2003; www.eurofound.eu.int)
Work organization
less possibilities to chose working days, schedulle, breaks and holidays
it is more hierarchial, with workers having less control over the performance of their work and fewer responsibilities. Work organization is also less geared towards the development of skills and qualifications
the organization of work is relatively more industrial and less market-oriented than in the “old” EU Countries, less open to the outside world and more concerned with internal constrains than external demands Possibility to have days off (%)
CZ SK SL MT LV HU CY RO
PL EE BG LT 12
ACC
15 EU
61
61
60
59
58
57
55
55
52
47
45
45
54
57
Working time
working hours are considerably longer than in the “old” EU Countries: workers, particularly women, have longer working days and weeks
“atypical” forms of work such as night work or shift work are more widespread.
Working hours per week (first row – men, second - women)
LT PL CY LV BG SK HU EE CZ RO MT SL 12 ACC
47.5
47.3
46.1
46.1
45.9
44.8
44.7
44.2
44.2
44.0
42.7
40.8
45.4
42.2
42.7
39.7
42.6
41.7
40.8
40.7
40.6
40.0
49.0
35.1
38.6
43.3
Work and health
the perception that health and safety are at risk because of work is more widespread. The problems most often reported are: overall fatigue (41%), backache (34%), stress (28%) and muscular pains;
Workers reporting work related overall fatigue (%)
BG EE LT CY PL RO LV SK SL CZ HU MT 12 ACC
15 EU
51 46 45 45 43 42 39 39 34 34 31 20 41 41
Workers perception of OHS sittuattion the greatest fear among the workforce is of unemployment!!! OH&S is not seen as a priority by many of workforce; information on OH&S generally comes through the supervisors; most desired improvements in workplace are for better safety
equipment; foreign owned companies generally perform better on all OH&S
criteria knowledge about what safety commitees actually do is insufficient; trade unions are necessary, but too week for workers protection; strong support is evidenced for greater co-operation on OH&S
between management and employees; strengthening of sectoral and regional social dialogue on OH&S is
recommended;
based on: Sociological ECOHSE Survey of Workplace Safety Culture in Pre-Accession Lithuanian
Enterprises (Glasgow,2003; www.gla.ac.uk/ecohse)
Incidence of occupational diseases in Lithuania (National Registre of Occupational diseases,2003)
Most dangerous branches (incidence of occupational diseases,%):
________________________ minning – 1.03; fishing - 0.56; construction - 0.52; agriculture/forestry – 0.45; manufactoring - 0.26; transport - 0.14; energy,water supl. - 0.10; services - 0.05; other - 0.02________________________ Country average: 0.21
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
construction agriculture andforestry
Country average branches
Occupational accidents in Lithuania (Annual Report of State Labour Inspectorate,2004)
________________________________________________________Economical activities All cases Heavy cases Fatal cases n (% from all) n (% from all) n (% from all)________________________________________________________
All sectors 2665 173 90
construction 434 (16%) 50 (29%) 30 (33%) wood processing 276 (10%) 26 (15%) 3 (2%) forestry 60 (2%) 6 (3%) 3 (2%)________________________________________________________
Fatal accidents in different sectors (Lithuania)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2003 21 2 5
2004 30 3 3
construction wood processing forestry
From the perspective of occupational accidents and diseases: Construction is among 7 mostly dangerous branches in
Baltic states; Cases of accidents and diseases in the branche are more
frequent comparing with the Country average; Predominant causes of occupational accidents are
insufficient organizational means (internal control, risk assessment, instructions, training, protective means and oth.);
Predominant causes of occupational diseases are physical hazards (noise, vibration) at work;
Underreporting of occupational diseases remains unsolved OH&S problem in Baltic states
Strenghthening of social dialogue on OH&S at workplace and regional level as well as better connections between workplace stakeholders and researchers can be an added value for the fruitfull prevention actions