Significance of Industrial relations on print and media sector .

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ON
PRINT AND MEDIA SECTOR
BY
SAKSHI KUBDE

2.  The reduction of the numbers of workers in this sector has run parallel
to other major trends such as outsourcing, off-shoring and the growth
of a typical work
 Major companies have outsourced a large part of the work process and
freelance projects continue to remain robust in Europe
 Workers belonging to the print media sector are categorized in two
main groups:
 printers (who have been traditionally linked to this sector and
include all typographical workers such as typesetters and
compositors)
 journalists.
 Print and paper workers have historically been some of the best
organized workers in the European trade union movement.
INTRODUCTION

3.  UK, for instance, they were the first to
achieve the 40-hour working week
following a six-week strike in 1959.
 They went onto a further secure 37.5-
hour week across the whole printing
industry in 1980 and obtained five weeks
of annual leave in 1986.
 Although this section highlights a few
national conflicts, it is important to note
that six of the responding countries —
the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland,
Sweden, Austria and Slovakia — have not
experienced any major industrial conflict
in the print media sector in the last few
years (none at all in Slovakia).
In Germany, printing and publishing was one
of the most strike-prone industries in the
1970s
This was particularly due to conflicts arising
from the introduction of new technologies.
Strike activity has declined since then, but
both the bargaining round for newspaper
editors in 2004 and in printing in 2005
involved industrial action.
In 2004, according to trade union figures,
about 3,000 workers were involved in strike
actions.
Industrial action took the form of consecutive
waves of short-term strikes.
In the 2005 bargaining round in printing,
15,000 employees in 190 establishments
participated in so-called ‘warning’ strikes.
INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT

4. vin Finland, the employers associations are suggesting changing the copyright legislation
 European regulation for fixed-term employees has been the starting point of
the freelance strategy adopted by the trade unions in Denmark.
 European regulation on the 48 hour maximum working week has also been an
important tool for the Danish trade unions in their negotiations over working
time.
 At present there are also two directives pending incorporation in Spain:
 Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonization of certain aspects of
authors' rights
 Directive 2001/84/EC on the resale right for the benefit of the author
of an original work of art
INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN UNION
REGULATION

5. vin Finland, the employers associations are suggesting changing the copyright legislation
 In Finland, the employers associations are suggesting changing the copyright
legislation .
 The European Federation of Journalists has issued an appeal to national
unions and associations to press for increased intellectual property
protection for journalists under European Union law.
 At present journalists’ copyright is agreed upon in several ways in Finland,
both in the collective agreement and through agreements within companies.
 In Slovakia also implemented Directive 2001/29/CE on 1 January 2004.
 While maintaining national legislation in place.
 The directive’s implementation has had no specific impact on the regulatory
framework of industrial relations system in print media.
EXAMPLES