49 per cent of Lithuanian citizens see labour legislation as the means of achieving balance between employee-employer interests while 33 per cent claim that it is an employee and 7 per cent that it is an employer who should be defended by labour laws, LFMI’s survey shows.
“Public opinion is of major significance in the debate on the Labour Code. Our survey revealed that despite the persisting effort to set employees and employers against one another, the majority of citizens consider the Labour Code to be the means of achieving balance between the two”, – says Žilvinas Šilėnas, LFMI president.
This is also apparent from the fact that only 20 per cent of respondents expressed positive views towards trade unions, mainly because they see them to promote employee-employer dialogue and agreement. On the contrary, 22 per cent stressed negative aspects of trade unions and expressed a concern that trade unions are more likely to protect the interests of their leaders than the needs of workers.
To add, 44 per cent indicated that a stronger oversight of the current legislation would positively affect their working conditions and 38 per cent stressed the importance of higher competition in the labour market. 29 per cent of the surveyed expressed the need for tighter regulation while 24 per cent claimed vice-versa and believed that labour relations should allow more flexibility.
Although there is a heated debate going on the forms of labour relations, working hours and overtime pay, the survey revealed that it is not a concern for the majority. Overtime work was indicated by 31 per cent of the respondents, 8 per cent claimed that they are not paid for overtime work and 23 per cent indicated vice-versa.
“The survey shows that people are interested in working rather than having an argument with their employers. They see a relationship between the economic situation, a company’s success and their own well-being. As a result, current protests do not reflect the opinion of the majority”, – concludes Žilvinas Šilėnas.
Read the whole survey (in Lithuanian) here.
