Work-Life Balance: joint seminar in Brussels

FIA, FIM, Uni-MEI and IFJ held a joint seminar on “Promoting Work-Life Balance in the Live Performance and Audiovisual Sectors” in Brussels on January 20^th and 21^st 2014. The event was the conclusion of a joint trade union project, funded by the European Commission, aimed at sharing experience, identifying difficulties and drawing on good practices in this field.

The seminar opened on Monday 20^th with a presentation by project researcher Laurence Cuny of the results of her research on Work-life balance. Commissioned by the four federations, the study covered 8 countries, with a specific focus on Romania, France, Sweden and Germany, where one-day workshops on this theme took place between March and September 2013. Based on analysis and good practice presented by Ms Cuny, delegates were invited to discuss a potential charter on Work-life balance as a basis for further engagement of the four federations on this important issue.

On the second day of the seminar, guest speakers Cinzia Sechi (ETUC) and Guillaume Cravero (Business Europe), representing the social partners of the cross-industry level European social dialogue, presented the legal and institutional framework in which Work-family balance and Gender equality issues are addressed at EU level. Specific topics covered include working time arrangements as well as care and leave arrangements (maternal, paternal, parental or adoption leave).

The presentation was followed by a training session on building the issue of Work-life balance into collective bargaining. Trade union trainer Bob Hayes conducted the workshop session and encouraged participants to pool experience and reflect strategically on how to approach this challenge.

Presentations and other resources from the seminar can be requested from the secretariat.