Mission accomplished Reflections on labour relations and working environment in the Baltic States'

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Mission accomplished? Reflections on labour
relations and working environment in the Baltic
States.

• Charles Woolfson
• Marie Curie Chair
• 17 April 2007

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A word on my sponsors
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What is the Marie Curie chair?

• An action under the Marie Curie FP6 programme
• Forty awards in total 2002-2006
• Covering sciences at a European Union level
• About 6 Chairs in social sciences
• Total budget 20m Euros.
• Average budget 0.5 millon Euros

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1 May 2004 Latvia joins Europe and the Chair
mission begins
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Who is a Marie Curie Chair?

• The chair holder shall be a world-class
  researcher of any nationality, with outstanding
  past achievements in international collaborative
  research.
• A researcher wishing to carry out transnational
  mobility or come back to a Member State, or
  Associated State.
• Subjects to be taught - of a leading edge and/or
  multi-disciplinary nature and correspond to
  directions in research relevant for Europe.

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Marie Curie Chairholder duties

• Teach interdisciplinary research courses to
  students at postgraduate levels in three Baltic
  States
• Supervise Doctoral thesis work
• Carry out an individual research programme
• Participate in events designed to publicise top
  level research - via academic and practitioner
  conferences, media presentations.
• The Chair should demonstrate the attractiveness
  of research careers

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Marie Curie Chair mission (impossible?)

• To promote excellence in teaching and research
  on
• Social Dialogue industrial relations between
  employers and employees
• Working environment occupational health and
  safety, regulation and enforcement of labour
  protection laws.
• Key aspects of the European Social Model and a
  requirement of the EU acquis (body of EU law)

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The main themes of the Marie Curie Chair Project

• Working Environment
• Labour Relations
• Consequences for Baltic States and for the wider
  European Union (Social Model?)
• Issues of harmonisation, integration, labour
  standards, labour migration, human resource
  development and planning

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Take me to your nearest labour relations
expert...
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Ranking of ease-of-doing business 2006

• The top 30 economies in the world in terms of
  the reports ease-of-doing-business index are
  New Zealand, Singapore, the United States,
  Canada, Norway, Australia, Hong Kong/China,
  Denmark, the United Kingdom, Japan, Ireland,
  Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania 15, Estonia
  17, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Thailand,
  Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Mauritius, the
  Netherlands, Chile, Latvia 24, Korea, South
  Africa, Israel, and Spain.

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Real GDP Growth Rate (2005)
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Latvia growth of GDP compared to previous year
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General government consolidated gross debt as a
percentage of GDP
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Social benefits (other than social transfers in
kind) paid by general government 2005 ( of GDP)
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GDP per person purchasing power standard 2006 (EU
25100)
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Inequality of income distribution (income
quintile share ratio) 2005
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Gini co-efficient Latvia 1996-2004
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Relation between income inequality and life
expectancy Source HEALTH STATUS AND LIVING
CONDITIONS IN AN ENLARGED EUROPE Report prepared
by European Observatory on the Social Situation
LOT 4 Health Status and Living Conditions
Network for the DG Employment, Social Affairs,
and Equal Opportunities, European Commission
Final Report December 2005 p.64
http//ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_situa
tion/docs/sso2005_healthlc_report.pdf
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Male life expectancy at birth 2005
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Population projection 2005-2050 Latvia (source
Eurostat)
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Labour productivity per person employed (EU 25)
2006
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Gross Domestic Expenditure on RD (Percentage of
GDP) 2005
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Lifelong learning (males) percentage of adult
male population 24-64 (2005)
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Balance of international trade in goods as of
GDP
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Balance of international trade in goods as GDP
1994-2005
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Source (Yves Jorens,Enlargement a common
European social model?, Social Europe after
Enlargement,Ghent 13, 14 May 2004)
Catch-up estimates
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Baltic Working Environment and Labour (BWEL)
Survey
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Severe and Fatal Accidents (per 100,000) 1995
2005
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Latvian employers view of social dialogue
BWEL survey 2006
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Professor R. KarniteLatvia A failure of social
dialogue

• The situation in the labour market would not be
  so strained if social dialogue was activated in a
  timely manner with regard to issues of salary and
  working conditions.
• At present, people resolve remuneration issues
  unilaterally

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Labour exit

• Labour force exit - individualistic resolution
  of workforce discontent over unsatisfactory wages
  and working conditions
• This makes even more difficult the development of
  social dialogue between employers and employees
• The current failure of social dialogue makes the
  prospects for harmonization of labour standards
  more difficult in the future

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Labour outflow since EU accession in 2004 first
18 months

• Baltic States and Poland are high mobility New
  Member States
• Lithuania (3.3) and Latvia (2.4) registered
  outflow of working age population.
• In Slovakia, Poland and Estonia, the scale of
  outflow about 1
• LABOR MIGRATION FROM THE NEW EU MEMBER STATES
  World Bank, EU8,Quarterly Economic Report, PART
  II Special Topic, September 2006,World Bank
  Report p.22

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Source European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions
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Source European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions
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Source European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions
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Source European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions
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World Bank

• The outflow of workers has already a visible
  impact on these economies and could slow growth
  in the medium term.
• Moreover, shrinking work forces will face greater
  burden caring for their nations rapidly ageing
  populations.

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Average gross yearly wages in EUR PPS in Health
Care and Social Work and General Government
Expenditure on Health ( of GDP), 2004
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Source EMN Synthesis Report Managed Migration
and the LabourMarket The Health Sector
European Migration NetworkNovember 2006
(http//www.ocma.gov.lv/images/documents/emt1.pdf)

• Doctorsa severe shortage in healthcare workers,
  which is becoming more and more pronounced each
  year, as current workers change their profession,
  retire, or take up positions outside Latvia, and
  because fewer young people are studying medicine.
  With the existing rate of training and licensing
  of new doctors, it is estimated that it would
  take some 200 years to replace the 400 practising
  general practitioners who are close to retirement
  (20 are currently over 60 years old).

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Source EMN Synthesis Report Managed Migration
and the LabourMarket The Health Sector
European Migration NetworkNovember 2006
(http//www.ocma.gov.lv/images/documents/emt1.pdf)

• Nurses .also are in short supply with
  approximately 500 nurses per 100,000 population
  and the need for 700-900 nurses per 100,000
  population in order to provide a quality service.
  The number of foreign nationals employed in the
  health sector in Latvia is very low, constituting
  0.53 or 132 healthcare workers of the total
  number and coming primarily from Russia. (p.13)

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Source EMN Synthesis Report Managed Migration
and the LabourMarket The Health Sector
European Migration NetworkNovember 2006
(http//www.ocma.gov.lv/images/documents/emt1.pdf)

• The Latvia Minister of Health recognises that the
  shortage of healthcare workers is real and that
  the situation will grow worse in the coming
  years, because time is needed to educate and
  train new workers. However, there is not a
  specific policy for addressing this situation
  through immigration, except for the intention not
  to facilitate or encourage the inflow of cheaper
  healthcare workers from, for example, Belarus,
  Ukraine or Russia.

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Wages pressures Latvijas Statistika 01.12.2006

• On changes of prices and wages in 3rd quarter of
  2006
• The data of Central Statistical Bureau show that
  the average monthly gross wages in the 3rd
  quarter of 2006 reached 304.91 lats, which is by
  22.8 more than in the 3rd quarter of 2005. The
  largest wages increase was in private sector
  24.1. The increase in public sector was 21.9.

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Latvia - Vacancies unattractive to jobseekers

• The State Employment Agency (Nodarbinatibas
  Valsts agentura, NVA) is confronted by the
  situation that the offer of job vacancies in
  economically active regions almost equals the
  number of unemployed people.
• The agency suggests that the positions are not
  being filled because of inadequate remuneration,
  unsatisfactory working conditions and working
  environment, employers demanding attitude
  towards employees and other reasons pertaining to
  legal relations at work.

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Professor Raita Karnite

• The main reasons for emigration are low
  salaries, and a sense of hopelessness and lack of
  future vision.
• The fact that many emigrants engage in unskilled
  jobs that frequently do not correspond to their
  level of education, and that they do not wish to
  return home, has never been addressed by the
  government.

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Mission Accomplished?
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• Chair Web site
• http//www.eurofaculty.lv/MarieCurie
• Total hits 1 April 30 June 2005 (1540)

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Countries
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Teaching and Research Outputs

• Teaching courses 22
• Approx 350 Masters/UG students, (200 evaluations
  delivered online to Commission)
• Summer/Easter Schools 3
• Stakeholder/EU mobility presentation 25
• Stakeholder reports/ project evaluation 4
• PhDs supervised (ongoing) 3
• Baltic Working Environment and Labour (BWEL)
  Survey (3600 employees/2400 employers in three
  Baltic States). Data completed Feb 2007 (analysis
  ongoing)

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Publications and Dissemination Outputs

• International refereed journal articles 14
• Non-English refereed journal articles - 6
• Edited book chapters 10
• Non-peer reviewed articles, newspaper and online
  articles, interviews etc 16
• Total Publications 2004 - 2007 - 46
• 30 peer reviewed 16 non-peer reviewed
• International conference papers - 18
• Workshops/research seminars - 13

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Peer reviewed journals

• International Journal of Occupational and
  Environmental Health (USA)
• Critical Criminology (USA)
• Atlantic Journal of Communication (USA)
• New Solutions Journal of Occupational and
  Environmental Health Policy (USA)
• Work, Employment and Society (UK)
• European Journal of Industrial Relations (2) (UK)
  
• International Journal of Comparative Labour Law
  and Industrial Relations (2) (UK)
• Journal of Common Market Studies (UK)
• Policy and Practice in Health and Safety (2) (UK)

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Peer reviewed journals

• Pinigu Studijos (Lithuania) Monetary Studies (2)
• Likums un Tiesibas (Latvia) Law and Justice (3)
• Respectus Philologicus (Lithuania)
• Riigikogu Toimetised, (Estonia)
• Arbeit. Zeitschrift für Arbeitsforschung,
  Arbeitsgestaltung und Arbeitspolitik (Germany)
• European Journal of Public Policy (under review)
  (UK)
• Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (under
  review) (UK)

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Sustainability

• Centre for Human Resources and Labour Migration
• Partners
• Norwegian Work Research Institute
• Norwegian Trades Union Confederation (LO)
• Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
• Budget 1.2 m. euros

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Quantitative Indicators of Outputs
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Student evaluations 2006-2007

• This was really very useful course. Mr. Woolfson
  provided us (students) with really great and
  useful information, which made us to think about
  future possible development of Latvia and which
  helped to understand more current processes going
  on in Latvia.
• This course was one of most educating. Thank you
  Mr. Woolfson for doing excellent job!
• I truly appreciated that the information,
  numbers, charts given was indeed very new.
• The excellent knowledge base of lecturer and the
  attractive style of presenting created a perfect
  preconditions for job and research. Excellent.
• That was a really great course with a really
  great Marie Curie! Thanks.

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The Privilege of Awkward Questions

• Assessment of Chair project successes and
  failures
• Sustainability of Chair outputs
• The Professional Outsider
• The final accolade Latvias Presidential
  Medal of Honour?

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The Years of Living DangerouslyAir Baltics
Most Frequent Flyer Award
1980s Fokker 50 short-range turbo prop
airliner. 210 Built 181 still in service