A new study by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows that reducing working time through collective bargaining is a powerful tool to tackle burnout, improve work-life balance, and to address labour market challenges – all without reducing pay or productivity. The study, titled ‘Bargaining for Working Time Reduction’, analyses 119 collective agreements from across Europe and finds that shorter working hours are already being won by unions in sectors ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to public services and finance. The agreements are delivering real benefits: improved mental and physical health, higher job satisfaction, better staff retention, and increased productivity. In some cases, such as in Germany and Italy, working time reduction is also being used to support job security during the green and digital transitions.
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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.