Shorter week under review • Moving workers around Europe • Pension help from Washington • Old, married need not apply in Ukraine
Shorter week under review
Paris — The centre-right French government is looking to “renegotiate” the 35-hour work week introduced four years ago by a socialist government. The government blames the shorter week for current economic ills. But supporters of the short week say independent economists doubt the validity of government claims. The economists say the government is ignoring the value of the more than 300,000 jobs created. The government is not asking to repeal the short week, only for the law to be more flexible and encourage more negotiation between employers and unions.
Moving workers around Europe
Amsterdam — The European Commission has launched a new Web site (http://europa.eu.int/eures/home.jsp) to provide information on living, working and labour market conditions, job vacancies, and training and education opportunities in all European Union countries. The aim is to promote job mobility across the EU.
Pension help from Washington
Washington, D.C. — The United States government is offering US $26 billion in relief to companies struggling to meet pension plan payments. The money will reduce pension payments over the next two years by about 10 per cent, at a time when pensions overall are underfunded by about $350 billion. Some 20 per cent of companies with defined-benefit pension plans — the total is now about 32,500 — have either frozen or cancelled plans in the past three years because of the costs.
Old, married need not apply in Ukraine
New York — Women in the Ukraine continue to face serious discrimination based on appearance, marital status and age, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. One recent help wanted ad in a Ukrainian paper read: “Wanted: young woman, 19-35, likeable, slender, attractive, with knowledge of PCs — high salary.” Another ad, stated: “Wanted: waitress with work experience, under 25, attractive.” However, government officials routinely deny discrimination against women in the labour force is a problem.
Paris — The centre-right French government is looking to “renegotiate” the 35-hour work week introduced four years ago by a socialist government. The government blames the shorter week for current economic ills. But supporters of the short week say independent economists doubt the validity of government claims. The economists say the government is ignoring the value of the more than 300,000 jobs created. The government is not asking to repeal the short week, only for the law to be more flexible and encourage more negotiation between employers and unions.
Moving workers around Europe
Amsterdam — The European Commission has launched a new Web site (http://europa.eu.int/eures/home.jsp) to provide information on living, working and labour market conditions, job vacancies, and training and education opportunities in all European Union countries. The aim is to promote job mobility across the EU.
Pension help from Washington
Washington, D.C. — The United States government is offering US $26 billion in relief to companies struggling to meet pension plan payments. The money will reduce pension payments over the next two years by about 10 per cent, at a time when pensions overall are underfunded by about $350 billion. Some 20 per cent of companies with defined-benefit pension plans — the total is now about 32,500 — have either frozen or cancelled plans in the past three years because of the costs.
Old, married need not apply in Ukraine
New York — Women in the Ukraine continue to face serious discrimination based on appearance, marital status and age, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. One recent help wanted ad in a Ukrainian paper read: “Wanted: young woman, 19-35, likeable, slender, attractive, with knowledge of PCs — high salary.” Another ad, stated: “Wanted: waitress with work experience, under 25, attractive.” However, government officials routinely deny discrimination against women in the labour force is a problem.
