Η Εξέλιξη των Συνθηκών Εργασίας στην Ευρώπη: Οι Συνθήκες Εργασίας ως Αντικείμενο Έρευνας και Κοινωνικής Διαπραγμάτευσης

Abstract

The "working conditions" as a research field and as scope of public intervention become an issue in the major industrialized countries as from the 1960's. At present this is a multidisciplinary area of public and academic interest. The initially narrow approach of working conditions (health and safety conditions) gradually expanded to include topics related to the content of work quality and relationships at work, under the pressure created by the expectations for quality of work, which fueled public policies during the full-time employment period. In the last few decades, with the problem of unemployment dominant, the changes in production systems and the problems they create, bring to the fore the problematic nature of modern workplaces and feed the relevant debate. Of the 15 EU Member States, Greece is the only one lacking large-scale survey on working conditions, while even the unions have shown no interest to develop research in the workplace. This paper seeks to explore the field and emphasize the need for public knowledge and understanding of what happens in the workplace, and for systematic research that will feed the social processes and assist to the elaboration of social public policies.