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

Countries having investments in Latvia (top five) Sweden Germany Estonia Russia The Netherlands

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

Informative material - Estonia

Informative material - Latvia

Informative material - Lithuania

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