The collective bargaining and representativeness of temporary workers in Europe. Development and reinforcement of Industrial Relations Systems in response to changes in the European labour market

Temporary employment characteristics are changing due the economic crisis. Working conditions of temporary workers are getting worse in many European countries and the percentage of young people with a fixed-term contract is increasing. This project will analyse legislative framework, collective bargaining and representativeness of temporary workers in order to provide a scientific basis and guidelines to consider temporary contracts as "contracts respond, in certain circumstances, to the needs of both employers and workers" (Framework agreement on fixed-term work 18 March 1999). The role of industrial relations to achieve this goal is fundamental. Then, this project aims to increase the protection and representativeness of temporary workers and overcome the disparities between permanent and temporary workers in order to promote the development, reinforcement and adaptation of the European industrial relations systems. Furthermore, the project aims to enrich, develop and promote the European Commission's Industrial Relations in Europe reports using EIRO products in the search for significant agreements and/or experiences in EU and offering a potential contribution to future editions of the above-mentioned EC Reports.