The great decline of collective bargaining in the EU in the last 20 years
Collective bargaining is decreasing considerably in the European Union since 2000. According to the latest figures from the University of Amsterdam, at least 3.3 million workers stoped benefiting from a collective bargaining agreement compared to the beginning of the century. Its coverage has decreased in 22 of the EU’s 27 member states -an average of a 20%-, with the biggest fall registered in Romania (100% to 23%), Greece (100% to 25%) and Bulgaria (56% to 23%). This also leads to a huge disparity across Europe, with just 7% of workers benefiting from collective bargaining in Lithuania compared to 98% in Austria.…