Co-ordination of Workers’ Education and Consultation about the Labour Market Regulations and Organising with a Special Focus on Nordic Companies in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Project Partners Main partner organisations: ICFTU – International Confederation of Free TU; LO/TCO Bistånsnämnd (Sweden); LPSK – Lithuanian TU Confederation; LBAS – Latvian TU Confederation; EAKL – Estonian TU Confederation; TALO – Estonian TU for Professional Employees. Other possible partner organisations: ETUC, GUF, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish TUs, other labour movement NGOs.

Project Co-ordination Office ICFTU Vilnius Bureau Jasinskio 9 Vilnius, Lithuania Tel.: Fax:

Target Sectors Commerce; Finances; Services; Printing; Media; Telecommunication; And other interested areas having Nordic investments.

Expected Results Trade unions have better skills in reaching out to the unorganised workforce in the targeted sectors; The workforce in the targeted sectors have a better knowledge and understanding of their rights in working life; Informational network for economical migrants / potential migrants developed; Better co-ordination in the Nordic-Baltic trade union family; Trade unions have better skills in assisting in forming EWCs; EWC information co-ordination network for employees from the Baltic states.

Indicators Increasing trade union membership; Better interrelations in organising; Better EWC participation in target sectors; Many unions from targeted sectors openly sharing information (update of the data base); Further development of Number of EWCs being established, rising interest/request from local (company) trade unions for information on EWCs.

Project Activities – Work plan PhasesDatesVenuesEvents PreparatorySept 5Stockholm, SE Baltic Co-ordination meeting for Swedish TUs Sept 15-16Riga, LV Project Working Group meeting Nov 10-11Tallinn, EST Introduction conference for Nordic- Baltic partners Main eventOct 27-29Vilnius, LT “Workers’ Information” – seminar for trainers Jan 20Jurmala (?), LV TU leadership meeting with EWC representatives April 14Palanga, LT Seminar for TU activists in TransBaltic companies Follow-upIn June 3 meetings – Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn Evaluation meetings of national working groups Aug 24-25Druskininkai, LT General evaluation conference for Nordic-Baltic partners Aug 26“ Project Working Group meeting

Background Information (LT) Total population of Lithuania million; Lithuanian labour force million; over two-thirds employed in the private sector; Lithuanian employee skills - 42% with higher education, 24% with specialised education Lithuania's labour costs are among the lowest in the European Union; Since July 1, 2005, the minimum monthly salary is 550 LTL (€ 160); the minimum hourly salary is 3,28 LTL (~ € 1); the average gross monthly wage in the 4th quarter of 2004 was 1,331 LTL (€ 385).

Background Information (LV) GDP growth (2003)7.5% Inflation (2003)2.9% Inflation annual average over 5 years2.46% Accumulated FDI (2003)2.8 billion Gross wages (LV) In the public sector Private sector Minimum wages - 80 lats (115 euros)

Background Information (EST) Total labour force (thous., 2004)659.1 Employment rate (%)56.8 Unemployment rate (%)9.7 Minimum wagesEUR 172 Average monthly wage (gross)EUR 462 The highest gross wage is in financial intermediation and the lowest in agriculture and hunting sector.

Countries having investments in the Baltic States (LT) Top 10 Foreign Investors in Lithuania, 2004 Telia/Sonera (SE/FI) SEB (SE) TDC(Tele Danmark A/S) (DK) Yukos (RU) Statoil ASA (NO) Phillip Morris (USA) Baltic Beverages Holding (FI//DK/SE) Hansapank/Foreningsparbanken (EST/SE) Vattenfall (SE) DFDS Tor Line (DK) Lithuania's Top Five Investors (%), Denmark15,8 Sweden14 Germany9,3 Finland8,6 Estonia8,4 Most popular sectors: manufacturing, trade, communications, finance.

Countries having investments in the Baltic States (LV) Latvia's Top Five Investors (in mln. LVL) 1.Sweden - 243,5 2.Germany – 203,2 3.Denmark – 158,9 4.Finland – 156,3 5.USA – 123,2

Countries having investments in the Baltic States (EST) FDI by country in 2005 (%) Sweden54,5 Finland19.9 United States 4,2 The Netherlands 2,8 Norway 2,4 Companies Eesti Telecom (SE/USA); Eesti Uhispanka/SEB (SE); Hansapank (SE); Kinda Nordic Tsement (SE/NL) Sampo Pank (FI)

Sectors & Biggest Companies SERVICE SECTORS Finances: SEB – Vilniaus Bankas (LT; ~1600), Eesti Uhispank, Latvijas Unibanka; Föreningssparbanken/Swedbank – Hansa Banks in LT (~2500 employees), LV (~1200), EST (~2300). Nordea - LT (100 employees), LV (117), EST (142). Commerce: ICA RIMI – one of the leading retailers in the Baltics; Kesko (FI) – in Latvia and Estonia; JYSK – all 3 countries; Narvesen (NO). Hotels: Radisson SAS, Scandic, Reval Baltics;

Sectors & Biggest Companies SERVICE SECTORS (cont.) Security: Group4 Falck, Securitas – 50 % of the market in the Baltic states. Telecommunications: Tele2, Ericsson, TDS Mobile International (DK) – all 3 countries; Telia/Sonera – Lithuanian/Estonian/Latvian Telecom; Omnitel GSM (LT) % of GSM companies are owned by Nordic. MANUFACTURING SECTORS Building: NCC; Constructus. Textile & Wood: Many small enterprises producing for Nordic companies (e.g. IKEA).

General TU membership in the Baltic countries LV - ~15 % ES - ~12 % LT - ~12% TU membership in the Nordic companies ~ members in the Baltic states: –ES - ~8.000; –LV - ~4.500; –LT - ~ % of these members are in the telecommunications sector.

Main sectors and membership in 3 Baltic countries

Web Page -

Project Results Web Page - Information on: Nordic-Baltic co-operation - links to trade unions, commont projects (including ), etc.; Data base on Nordic companies in the Baltic countries and trade unions; Migration - information for migrant workers prepared by Nordic unions and governments; Events in the framework of the project - calendar and reports/photos from activities.

Project Results - Local Activities There were different activities organised in: Estonia meetings with employees in Falck Security; meeting with the employer in Falck Security; meetings with employees in Kesko Food AS; meetings with employees in Rimi; Skanska shop steward took part at Skanska EWC as an observer; information material prepared and printed.

Project Results - Local Activities (2) There were different activities organised in: Latvia meetings with employees in Rimi; meetings with the management of Rimi Latvia and ICA Baltic; meetings with employees in Kesko Food AS; meetings with employers and employees in Nordea Bank protest campaign against outsourcing in the telecom sector; information material prepared and printed; Meetings planned in the building, industry and food sectors.

Project Results - Local Activities (3) Lithuania meetings at workplaces organised by Lithuanian TU of Textile Workers and TU of Forestry Workers; distribution of organising leaflets in Rimi; meetings with employees in Falck Security; meetings with employers and employees in Nordea Bank; representative from Lietuvos Draudimas (Danish Codan) took part in EWC; collective agreement signed for subcontracting companies in the building sector (in co-operation with Danish SID). Trade unions established in: Falck Security Lithuania (DK) Texdana; textile enterprise (DK) Hansa bank Lithuania (SE) Hair and Beauty sector (in co-operation with Danish DFKF)

Challenges (1) sectoral competition; not clear which union should organise new sectors; different regional division to GUFs (Baltic countries are in different sub-regions); necessity of structural changes (strengthening of regional structures, individual membership, flexible membership schemes); necessity to have closer co-ordination with Nordic TU secretariats; campaigning should be organised both in Nordic and Baltic countries at the same time;

Challenges (2) necessity of sub-regional (Nordic-Baltic) framework agreement; 90 % of membership in Nordic companies are from past times; little/no membership in new sectors; outsourcing; subcontracting; call centres; migration.

Sources