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Employee 'voice' and working environment in post-communist New
Member States: An empirical analysis of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Charles Woolfson, Dace Calite and Epp Kallaste
'Employee 'voice' and working environment in post-communist New Member States: An empirical analysis
of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania'
Charles Woolfson, Dace Calite and Epp Kallaste
International seminar on Worker Representation and Workplace Health & Safety
Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre10th October 2007
1.7 million
2.4 million
3,4 million
Main themes• Baltic Working Environment and Labour (BWEL)
survey of 800 employers and 1200 employees conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in the second half of 2006 and early 2007.
• A first estimate of the current state of the working environment, social dialogue and labour standards following accession to the EU, focussing on the issue of workforce representation and participation in health and safety.
• Implications for workforce ‘voice’ in health and safety are explored in terms of broader issues of convergence and divergence of post-communist states within a wider European framework.
Perception that health and safety is at risk because of work
(European Foundation 2005 survey)
European Foundation Fourth Working Conditions Survey, (2005)
• With regard to the Baltic States, European Foundation data reveal 49.1% Latvian, 43.4% Lithuanian and 39.4% Estonian respondents claiming their health and safety at risk because of their work.
Work intensification
18.2
19.2
23.2
36.9
34.7
29.8
30.4
36.6
36.3
4.51.3
1.7
9.9
3.7
5.83.4
3.7 0.9
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
LithuaniaWor
k in
tens
ity, w
orki
ng p
ace
%
Considerably increased Slightly increased Remained the same
Slightly decreased Considerably decreased Hard to say
"Compared with one year ago, how has working pace changed during last 12 months?"
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
Work intensification
• A total of 55.1% of respondents in Latvia, 53.9% in Estonia and 52.7% in Lithuania reported that their work intensity/working pace had increased ‘considerably’ or ‘slightly’ in the previous twelve months
Working at high speed and to tight deadlines
12.5
21.6
22.5
37.8
49.2
28.7
53.5
55.5
48.7
43.2
32.9
33.6
21.9
15.0
15.3
10.9
10.2
19.3
12.1
7.9
13.6
7.7
18.5
8.1
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
%
All of the time About half the time Never Hard to say
"Does your job involve...?"
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
Working at
very high speed
Working to
tight deadlines
Working at very high speed and to tight deadlines
• working at very high speed ‘about half the time’ or ‘all of the time’. Two thirds (66.0%) of Latvian respondents, and around three-quarters of Lithuanian (71.2%) and Estonian (77.1%) respondents reported affirmatively.
• working to tight deadlines ‘half the time’ or ‘all of the time’, four out of five Latvian (81%) and Estonian (82.1%) and nearly two-thirds of Lithuanian respondents (62.3%) agreed.
Working physical effort
7.6
6.7
10.2
21.8
18.7
20.7
55.8
61.9
56.4
4.71.4
1.3
10.6
6.7
7.9
2.9
3.6
1.3
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Wor
king
phy
sica
l effo
rt
%
Considerably increased Slightly increased Remained the same Slightly decreased Considerably decreased Hard to say
"Compared with one year ago, how has working physical effort changed ... ?"
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
Working physical effort
• While physical intensity of work is still increasing especially in Lithuania, it is possibly doing so at a slower rate than in previous years, indicating that some kind of physical effort ‘ceiling’ has been reached.
• Respondents reported that physical effort had ‘considerably’ or ‘somewhat’ increased as follows: Latvia 29%; Estonia 21%; Lithuania 31%
Working mental effort
13.8
12.4
11.2
31.7
30.2
21.8
41.3
48.0
51.3
3.30.9
1.6
9.5
5.1
8.8
3.1
5.3
0.6
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Wor
king
men
tal e
ffort
%
Considerably increased Slightly increased
Remained the same Slightly decreased
Considerably decreased Hard to say
"Compared with one year ago, how has working mental effort changed ... ?"
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
Working mental effort• When asked to say if working mental effort had
‘considerably’ or ‘somewhat’ increased, a larger proportion of BWEL survey respondents reported intensification of effort in the previous year: Latvia 46%; Estonia 43%; Lithuania 33%.
• High levels of reported stress in the three Baltic States is comparable with data from the European Working Conditions Survey (stress factors particularly acutely present in the Baltics).
• Negative impacts on employees’ health resulting from stress are reported at more than 10 percentage points higher in the Baltic States (Latvia 36.9%; Lithuania 31% and Estonia 32.4%) as against the EU average (22.3%).
Legislative compliance with the acquis but uneven implementation• Health and safety committees mainly in
the larger enterprises (more than 50 employees).
• Employers resistance to any form of worker representation especially in new private sector
• Trade unions opposed to development of forms of non-union workforce representation but have few resources to develop in this area
Employer view of extent of OHS representation
56.8
53.8
31.1
13.3
25.3
17.8
28.6
20.9
50.9
1.3
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Lithuania
Estonia
%
Yes No I don't have such need/ small company Hard to say
"Does a workforce elected Safety Committee and/ or Safety Representatives exist in your enterprise?"
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=842; Estonia: n=800; Lithuania: n=805
Employee view of extent of OHS representation
29.9
31.5
22.0
13.4
14.7
12.5
56.7
53.9
65.5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
%
Yes Hard to say No
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
"Do you have a safety and health workforce representative and/ or a health and safety committee member elected from the workforce in your workplace?"
OHS representation in workplace
‘Practical’ irrelevance of ‘voice’ in OHS
26.7
29.1
22.3
9.5
8.7
22.8
4.2
1.7
1.6
7.4
7.2
4.2
41.8
41.9
43.2
51.4
53.6
49.4
10.5
6.7
5.1
15.2
15.7
22.0
13.9
24.1
30.5
20.1
18.3
35.4
40.0
48.8
31.7
31.7
41.6
2.9
7.1
3.5
8.1
2.8
43.5
38.1
35.3
38.6
31.1
32.3
6.6
8.0
6.9
6.5
9.6
6.8
6.4
13.4
9.3
7.1
14.3
11.010.9
2.1
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
...yo
ur s
uper
viso
ron
the
job
...fe
llow
wor
kers
…tr
ade
unio
ns
…sa
fety
com
mitt
eere
pres
enta
tives
%
Yes regularly Yes sometimes Never Do not exist in my w orkplace Hard to say
"Do you normally receive health and safety advice from ... "
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
Underlying ‘consensualism’ in OHS
44.2
43.9
52.7
28.2
29.6
31.2
24.6
16.3
21.2
20.1
19.7
24.7
28.8
37.4
27.2
44.3
47.9
43.1
39.9
51.9
41.2
45.1
51.0
41.0
27.0
18.7
20.2
27.5
22.6
25.8
35.5
31.8
37.7
34.7
29.4
34.3
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Mor
e co
-op
erat
ion
betw
een
man
ager
san
d w
orke
rson
hea
lthan
d sa
fety
Mor
e tr
aini
ngon
hea
lthan
d sa
fety
issu
es w
ithre
gard
to m
yjo
b
Str
onge
r tr
ade
unio
n in
fluen
ceon
hea
lth a
ndsa
fety
que
stio
ns
Mor
e po
wer
for
safe
tyre
pres
enta
tives
or s
afet
yco
mm
ittee
s to
rais
e is
sues
with
%
Yes No Hard to say
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
"What improvements in health and safety would you like to see in your workplace?"
Employer resistance to workforce participation on OHS
8.5
2.0
4.0
21.7
5.8
17.7
60.4
90.7
71.2
9.3
1.5
7.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
%
Would you consider inviting your w orkforce to elect representatives?
Would you rather appoint someone w ho you knew w ould be reliable in this task?
Would you rather keep things the w ay they are now ?
Hard to say
"If there are no workforce health and safety representatives in your enterprise ... "
Base: respondents in whose enterprise there is neither Safety Committee nor Safety Representatives elected by workforce, Latvia: n=364; Estonia: n=551; Lithuania: n=372
Trade unionisation in the Baltic States
• Latvia –15% of workforce (EIRO report. 2005)
• Lithuania – 10% of the workforce (EIRO report, 2005)
• Estonia – 9% of the workforce (LFS, 2006)
Workforce attitudes to trade unions• ‘Trade unions are a necessary protection for
employees against employers’. Latvia 51.4%, Lithuania 42.1% and Estonia 42.9% respondents ‘completely’ or ‘rather’ agreed
• ‘Trade unions are a threat to successful business’. Estonia (10.1%), Latvia (9.1%), Lithuania (5.7%) supported this view
• ‘Trade unions are too weak to be of much help to workers’. Latvia 44.2%, Estonia 42.7% and Lithuania 44.6% respondents ‘completely’ or ‘rather’ agreed.
• ‘Trade unions should have the right to participate more in decision making in the plant’. Latvia 56.5%, Estonian 49.3%, Lithuania 46.3% respondents ‘completely’ or ‘rather’ agreed.
Source: Baltic Working Environment and Labour (BWEL) Survey, 2007.
14.3
16.2
16.2
1.8
2.0
1.3
12.8
9.1
18.0
19.0
17.2
18.5
37.1
36.7
25.9
7.3
8.1
4.4
33.6
26.6
37.5
32.1
27.8
32.8
20.5
15.9
17.5
10.7
5.0
8.4
7.3
17.1
24.3
4.9
3.2
6.1
1.6
3.4
3.4
33.9
32.9
43.0
39.0
40.0
49.5
35.1
36.6
38.7
36.9
38.9
43.0
31.4
32.6
9.0
10.7
10.9 3.8
19.3
3.5
5.9
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
Tra
de u
nio
ns a
re a
necessary
pro
tectio
n for
work
ers
again
st
em
plo
yers
Tra
de u
nio
ns a
re a
thre
at
to s
uccessfu
l busin
ess
Tra
de u
nio
ns a
re too
weak to b
e o
f m
uch h
elp
to w
ork
ers
Tra
de u
nio
ns s
hould
have
the r
ight to
part
icip
ate
more
in d
ecis
ion-m
akin
g
in r
ela
tion m
atters
in the
pla
nt
%
Completely agree Rather agree Rather disagreeCompletely disagree Hard to say
"Next statements relate to trade unions. Please say to what degree you agree or disagree with every statement?"
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
Workforce ambivalence
• This ‘realistic’ perception of current low level of trade union capacities hence workforce’s ambivalent evaluation of trade unions
• As significant as ongoing ‘contamination’ effect arising from union role in the previous social system
• This ‘realistic’ perception predisposes workers to seek an individualistic rather than collectivist response to wage and conditions bargaining issues at workplace level.
Individualism in wage bargaining
73.4
86.8
79.9
10.9
5.9
7.6
8.6
2.4
2.6
7.1
4.9
9.9
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
%
Individually betw een you and your employer
Betw een w orkforce representatives in the w orkplace and employer
Collectively at national level betw een trade unions and employers
Hard to say
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
"Do you feel that the SALARY issues are best of all discussed ... "
Less ‘individualism’ on OHS
47.3
62.3
57.2
33.6
23.1
23.7
11.2
8.2
5.3
7.9
6.4
13.8
0 20 40 60 80 100
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
%
Individually betw een you and your employer
Betw een w orkforce representatives in the w orkplace and employer
Collectively at national level betw een trade unions and employers
Hard to say
Base: all respondents, Latvia: n=1236; Estonia: n=1201; Lithuania: n=1200
"Do you feel that the EMPLOYEES' SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK issues are best of all discussed ... "
EU policy on workforce involvement in health and safety
• Cornerstone of the European Union’s previous occupational health and safety strategy (2002-2006) has been the attempt to promote a ‘culture of risk prevention’ in the workplace.
• ‘strengthening social dialogue at all levels, particularly in firms’
• Successful OHS integration - one of the ‘key challenges of enlargement’
New Community Strategy 2007-2012
• Claims success for previous strategy in significant reduction in workplace fatalities 2002-2006 but no objective assessment offered
• New Strategy seeks 25% reduction in injuries and illness across member States by 2012
• No mention of New Member States and their (qualitatively?) poorer working environment
• No mention of social dialogue as pathway to improvement
• Dominated by neo-liberal Lisbon agenda concerns of competitiveness and growth (legislative simplification, easing of ‘burdens’ etc)
Main findingsOur study suggests:- • a comparatively poor working environment exists
in Baltic NMS• Ineffective implementation of EU health and
safety consultation requirements• Underlying but unrealised ‘consensualism’ on
OHS• Lack of employee ‘voice’ in the workplace health
and safety management, due to the absence of social dialogue in the workplace in Baltic NMS
• new EU strategy for occupational health and safety for 2007-2012 takes no account either of the deteriorated working environment in the NMS or the need to strengthen social dialogue