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Low labour costs in emerging countries threaten labour markets in the more developed part of the world. A recession in the economy or the introduction of new technologies may also lead to a rise in unemployment. Government has a double task of both preserving jobs and reducing unemployment.
Low labour costs in emerging countries threaten labour markets in the more developed part of the world. A recession in the economy or the introduction of new technologies may also lead to a rise in unemployment. Government has a double task of both preserving jobs and reducing unemployment.
Low labour costs in emerging countries threaten labour markets in the more developed part of the world. A recession in the economy or the introduction of new technologies may also lead to a rise in unemployment. Government has a double task of both preserving jobs and reducing unemployment.
The labour market There are two main features determining the labour market: the supply of labour and the demand for labour. The quantity of labour available in a society depends on the size of the population, the age distribution and attitudes concerning who should work, over what period and for how long each year. Employers, by increasing wages and offering fringe benefits, can influence peoples willingness to enter the labour market. At the same time low labour costs in emerging countries threaten labour markets in the more developed part of the world. A recession in the economy or the introduction of new technologies may also lead to a rise in unemployment. Governments have a double task of both preserving jobs and reducing unemployment.
Types of unemployment There are several types of unemployment, each caused by different circumstances: seasonal, frictional, structural, conjunctural and voluntary unemployment.
Some ways of reducing unemployment
Providing retraining schemes for those who have been dismissed and are willing to study in order to adapt to the changes in the labour market Offering tax allowances and subsidies to companies to set up businesses and create jobs in areas of high unemployment. They can also be attracted by investment in public infrastructure. Improving teleworking opportunities to overcome long distances and increase labour mobility Lowering unemployment benefits Giving incentives to companies which employ long-term unemployed Establishing efficient channels for informing people about vacancies
Trade unions These organisations of workers, especially in a particular trade or profession, have been created to act on behalf of the employees. They represent their interests by serving as a communication channel between them and the management.
The black economy People working in cash-in-hand jobs are employed illegally. The grey economy also constitutes a substantial part of the economy.
The labour market in the EU In certain countries of the EU the free movement of labour is temporarily restricted for citizens of the new member countries, out of fear that cheap labour will raise unemployment. Therefore in these countries foreign job-takers are obliged to apply for a work permit. In countries which have fully opened their labour market, there is a large number of people who have chosen to work there for the sake of better job opportunities and career prospects. The new member countries are increasingly suffering from a brain drain i.e. the loss of highly-qualified workers.
Vocabulary exercises based on the introductory text
A. Match each item in the left-hand column with one similar in meaning from the list opposite
1. employers a. perks, such as the use of a car
2. fringe benefits b. employment involving working at home
3. prospects c. for a limited time
4. seasonal (unemployment) d. resulting from an economic recession
5. frictional (unemployment) e. rewards, inducements
6. structural (unemployment) f. chances, possibilities
7. conjunctural (unemployment) g. resulting from many people being made redundant in one industry 8. teleworking h. people providing work for others
9. incentives i. occurring at a particular time of year
10. temporarily j. affecting people who are between jobs
B. For each item listed below, find in the text a word or phrase given in bold that is similar in meaning
1. need 2. money paid to blue-collar workers 3. keeping in existence 4. teaching the skills of a different job ... 5. fired 6. money given to the registered unemployed (two words) 7. unfilled positions 8. act officially for 9. undeclared (job) (three words) 10. make a formal request for (two words) II. Hungarian text Exercise 1 Cover the English words and expressions given on the right and try to guess the English equivalents of the underlined parts of the Hungarian text.
Exercise 2 After checking your guesses against the equivalents listed on the right, give an oral summary of the text in English.
48 rnl is tbbet dolgozhatunk Vilggazdasg 2006. jnius A 48 rs heti maximlis munkaid tllpsnek 1 a lehetsgt tovbbra is biztostan 2 az EU- tagllamok szmra az osztrk elnksg 3 munkaid-irnyelvrl szl javaslata 4 . A tervezet 5 a maximum 48 rs heti munkaid betartsa alli felments 6 , az n. opt-out feltteleknt azt szabja meg 7 , hogy a tlmunkt vgz 8 dolgoznak lehetsge legyen az ves munkaszerzdsben 9 arra, hogy elutastsa 10 az ezt a mennyisget meghalad munkavgzst. Emellett a foglalkoztatnak 11 meg kell magyarznia a hosszabb munkaid szksgessgt 12 .
Unis diplomatk szerint 13 elkpzelhet, hogy az osztrk kompromisszumos 14 javaslat nem lesz elgsges azoknak a meggyzsre 15 , akik az opt-out megszntetst kvetelik 16 rja a Financial Times. Az Eurpai Bizottsg 17 foglalkoztatsi gyekrt felels 18 tagja, Vladimr Spidla azt is el szeretn rni 19 a munkaid szablyozsnl 20 , hogy az j llsba kerl 21
dolgozknak a kezdst kvet egy hnapig legyen lehetsgk arra, hogy tgondoljk 22 : akarnak-e heti 48 rnl tbbet dolgozni.
Spidla emellett akkor is rgzttetn 23 a heti maximlis munkaidt, ha a munkavllal beleegyezik 24 a maximlist meghalad munkaidbe. London mg az elz flvben mint soros unis elnk jelezte 25 : szmra a 65 rs plafon 26 elfogadhat 27 lenne. Nagy-Britannia mellett 28 jelenleg tbb tagllamnak, kztk 29 Magyarorszgnak is van valamifle opt-outja; tbbsgk az egszsggyben alkalmazza 30 a heti 48 rs munkaid tllpst.
Magyarorszgon a teljes munkaid jogszablyban rgztett 31 mrtke napi nyolc, heti negyven ra. A foglalkoztat s a dolgoz megllapodsa alapjn 32 azonban a munkaid hossza legfeljebb napi 12 33 , maximum heti 60 rra emelhet, ha a munkavllal 34 kszenlti jelleg munkakrt 35 (pl. biztonsgi r, ports) lt el, vagy a munkltat, illetve a tulajdonos kzeli hozztartozja 36 . 1563n
1 Exceeding the maximum working time 1 ensure 1 Austrian presidency 1 proposal 1 draft bill 1 exemption from observing 1 set a condition 1 doing overtime 1 annual labour contract 1 refuse 1 employer 1 explain the necessity for 1 according to Union diplomats 1 compromise 1 to persuade 1 demand elimination 1 European Commission 1 commissioner in charge of employment affairs 1 achieve 1 regulation 1 hired in a new job 1 think over 1 fix 1 agrees to 1 present Union chairman indicated 1 ceiling 1 acceptable 1 besides 1 among them 1 applies in health care 1 prescribed by law 1 on the basis of agreement 1 12 hours a day 1 employee 1 does standby work 1 close relative
III. English text
GM reveals union deal will cut new employee costs by two-thirds By Bernard Simon in Toronto Financial Times Oct 16, 2007
1. General Motors will cut the cost of employing new blue-collar staff in the US by two-thirds compared with existing workers, under a labour contract agreed with the United Auto Workers union. GM, which yesterday revealed details of the deal agreed with its main union last month, also aims to reduce substantially the number of workers who currently cost the carmaker $78.21 (55) per hour, as part of a drive to improve its competitiveness against Asian rivals. 2. The company estimated new recruits, or so-called tier 2 workers, would cost it $25.66 an hour under the deal. Fritz Henderson, chief financial officer, said the company had started talks with the UAW on a new buy-out and early retirement drive. About three-quarters of GM's 74,500 blue-collar workers are eligible to retire over the next four years, clearing the way for a major infusion of cheaper labour. 3. The centrepiece of the new contract is a union-managed healthcare fund, known as the Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (Veba), which will take over GM's $46.7bn in liabilities to its blue-collar workforce. The carmaker will contribute $35.7bn to the Veba, of which $31.9bn will be new funding, equal to 68 cents for each dollar of current liabilities. The contribution will include a $4.3bn convertible bond, which could make the UAW GM's biggest single shareholder, with a 16 per cent stake. 4. Toyota and other foreign carmakers with plants in the US pay roughly the same wages as the Detroit-based companies. Yet their healthcare and pension benefits are far less generous. GM expects to reclassify about 16,000 positions as tier 2 largely staff who do not work on the production line. GM will continue to push some workers to the tier 1 level, covering mainly staff who work on the production line. They earn the same wages but do not enjoy the same benefits as existing workers. 5. Himanshu Patel, analyst at JP Morgan, estimated the savings from these workers at over $10 an hour. The combination of retirements and buy-outs indicates the company "expects a wide conversion of its existing wage structure into a combination of less expensive wage and benefit levels". 1812 n
Important terms
blue-collar staff workers who perform physical rather than managerial or administrative work labour contract agreement between an employer and a trade union regarding wages and hours worked (collective agreement) recruits new workers buy-out money given to employees to persuade them to leave the company liabilities money owed to its employees convertible bond bond which can be converted into a companys common stock reclassify positions change an existing position rather than create a new one benefits extras offered to employees in addition to their regular pay
Extended vocabulary
substantially: significantly, i.e. by a large amount drive: special effort, campaign eligible to retire: qualified to withdraw from active working life clearing the way for: making possible infusion: inflow, addition centrepiece: the main feature roughly: approximately
Comprehension questions
1. What are the two goals that GM hopes to achieve with its new labour contract?
2. What is GMs motivation behind this new labour contract?
3. What are the issues that GM is addressing in its talks with the auto union in order to achieve its goals?
4. How many of GMs blue-collar workers are qualified to retire over the next few years?
5. What is the main selling point or focus of the new labour contract?
6. What main advantage will GMs creation of a union-managed healthcare fund bring to the union, and thereby indirectly, to the workers?
7. How do the wages paid by foreign carmakers in the US compare with those paid by GM?
8. In what way do foreign carmakers differ from GM in terms of their overall pay package?
9. What is the difference between tier 1 and tier 2 workers at GM?
10. What combined effect does GM hope to achieve through its combined retirement and job buy-out campaign?
IV. Discussion questions
A. Discussion questions related to the text
1. Do you think that GMs new labour contract with the union is a good and fair way to reduce employee costs? Explain.
2. What do you think is the best way for North American carmakers to improve their competitiveness with Asian carmakers?
3. Do you think that a company has an ongoing responsibility to the workers it lays off, buys out or forces into early retirement? Why or why not?
B. Additional discussion questions
1. How have the opportunities of Hungarian job-takers changed with our accession to the EU?
2. How can the government relieve unemployment?
3. Do you think there is discrimination against women in the workplace? If so, what are the indicators?
V. Role-playing exercises
7. Office relocation
Student: As the senior manager at a computer graphics company, you are responsible for coming up with an action plan to relocate your fast-growing company from your small city-centre location to a new suburban development area with bigger offices. The owner of your company meets with you to discuss this plan.
Examiner: You are the owner of a computer graphics company. Your business is expanding and the number of your employees has doubled to 120. You urgently need to move away from the city center to bigger offices in the suburbs. You meet with your senior manager to discuss his action plan for this move and how to make sure it goes smoothly.
8. Corporate Social Responsibility
Student: You are a board member of a manufacturing firm which employs 500 people in a small town in which there are no other major employers. Your company is making a loss, however, and you must cut costs. Youre having a meeting with the mayor of the town to discuss your options.
Examiner: You are the mayor of a small town in which there is only one major employer. Youve heard that the company is making a loss and youre afraid that jobs may be cut, or worse, the company will shut down. You meet with one of the board members to discuss this.
1 exceeding maximum working time 2 ensure 3 Austrian presidency 4 proposal 5 draft bill 6 exemption from keeping 7 set a condition 8 doing overtime 9 annual labour contract 10 refuse 11 employer 12 explain necessity of 13 according to Union diplomats 14 compromising 15 persuasion 16 demand elimination 17 European Commission 18 in charge of employment affairs 19 achieve 20 regulation 21 hired in a new job 22 think over 23 fix 24 agrees to 25 present Union chairman indicated 26 ceiling 27 acceptable 28 besides 29 among them 30 applies in health care 31 prescribed by law 32 based on agreement 33 12 hours a day 34 employee 35 does standby work 36 close relative