More than fifty per cent of workers in Europe think working conditions in their respective nation has worsened over the last five years, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey.
Eurobarometer is a series of public opinion surveys conducted on behalf of the European Commission.
With working conditions being a ‘key area’ covered by European Law, the survey was requested by the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. The aim was to explore the real experiences of Europeans’ working conditions.
László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion stated:
"Protecting and promoting working conditions in the EU is about taking care of our human capital. We have a remarkable heritage of law and policies to ensure good working conditions that allow for high levels of satisfaction among European workers. But there is a fear also, and a real risk, that working conditions will suffer in the wake of the economic crisis. Together with Member States and employee and employer organisations, we need to renew our efforts to preserve and improve working conditions"
This survey was carried out by TNS Political & Social network in the 28 Member States of the European Union from 3-5, April 2014. 1000 interviews were conducted in the United Kingdom alone, while 26.571 interviews were conducted total across Europe.
For carrying out this survey, ‘working conditions’ were defined as ‘working time, work organisation, health and safety at work, employee representation and relation with the employer’.
Key findings include:
• 8% of respondents said working conditions in their country were ‘very good’;
• 45% described working conditions as ‘fairly good’;
• 28% believe working conditions to be ‘fairly bad;
• 15% think they are ‘very bad’; while
• 4% didn’t know.
More concerning, the survey shows 57% of respondents believe working conditions have deteriorated over the last five years, 27% think conditions have stayed the same, while 12% said conditions have improved.
The European Commission highlighted the importance of the information obtained through this survey:
“The results of the Eurobarometer will feed in to discussions on current and future prospects for EU action in the field of working conditions in Brussels on 28 April. The conference will provide an opportunity to discuss how to further develop a consistent and forward-looking approach to working conditions in the EU, to ensure high levels of quality, safety and equity at work”.
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