The Latvian people have a more positive expectation from the world of work and for the economy than have those who inhabit either of the other two Baltic countries. The trade union membership rate is clearly the highest of the three in Latvia, the workers there being able to exert a greater degree of influence at the workplace, particularly in the more recently established enterprises, than are their counterparts in Lithuania or Estonia. In Latvia the weekly working hours are the highest in the Baltic, and a great deal of overtime is worked. The working pace has become much more intense and half of the Latvians feel that their present workload is too demanding. Redundancies are still fairly common, but at the same time people in general believe that they will be able to find new jobs.

In Estonia the pay levels are the highest of the Baltic countries and the development of the world of work has been more market driven than elsewhere in the area. As a result of this, the differential in the pay of men and women has increased and the development of the country has been uneven in many aspects. Women's wages and salaries are about 37 % lower than those of men. During the last three years the share of trade union members in the workforce has fallen by almost a half, from 21 to 12 percent.

There have been more problems in Lithuania than in the other Baltic countries, and the Lithuanians are the most pessimistic about their employment prospects and about the national economy. The labour market in Lithuania has been built on the basis of the old Soviet traditions and this has led to many difficulties. The threat of redundancies is more widespread here than in Estonia or in Latvia and the late payment of wages has also been more common. Older workers in particular, and workers in those workplaces which have undergone reorganisation during the last few years, have experienced problems. Younger workers have also been affected. There is the least variation here, in terms of employment between the different groups of workers, than anywhere else in the Baltic. Most people work a 40 hour week and the distribution of wealth is relatively even. Collective agreements on the terms and conditions of work are fairly common, regardless of the fact that the trade union membership rate is low. The pace of work in Lithuania is less intense, and workplace conflicts are more common, than in the other Baltic countries.

It is obvious that the crisis in Russia has retarded the development of the labour market in all of the Baltic countries. Comparative data from 1996, relating to Estonia, are available. At that time the Estonians forecast that the labour market in their country would quickly take a positive turn, but their attitude now is a great deal more reserved. Significantly fewer people than was the case in 1996, for example, today think that employment prospects, or the financial situation of their employer, will improve. Although there are no previous data available relating to either Latvia or Lithuania, it is most likely that the situation in those countries is very similar. In all these three countries, morale in the newly established workplaces is clearly more positive than in the older type of workplace.

More than 900 men and women, who are currently employed, were interviewed in each of the Baltic countries. The figures which were collected in these countries are comparable, and comparisons were also made with Finnish statistical data in some areas.

"Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 1999" by J. Antila and P. Ylöstalo.
Published by The Finnish Ministry of Labour; in the Labour Policy Studies Series, Publication Number 214, Helsinki 1999. (Abstracts are available in Finnish, English, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian.)

The criteria for a good, equal opportunities workplace

8. Work and family obligations
Does the employee have the opportunity to enjoy life outside the workplace and is the family respected, or is the family regarded as an interference with the work of the employee? Is family leave for men encouraged, or is it hinted that taking family leave will jeopardise any career development? Is working overtime, or working at weekends, regarded as a sign of dedication to one's work? Are family ties perceived as an asset which could be utilised in the world of work?