Director of European Trade Union Institute Tackles the Euro and its Effect on European Trade Unionism, Labour Relations During York U. Seminar

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 1999 -- While the Euro Dollar finds its way in the European marketplace, industrial relations across Europe are changing and trade union membership is declining. European Trade Union Institute (Brussels) Director Reiner Hoffmann will provide analysis and context to these circumstances during a roundtable discussion entitled European Trade Unionism in Transition? at York University's Canadian Centre for German and European Studies (CCGES), Thursday, Feb. 11, 1999.

Hoffmann's lecture will examine the following questions:

How will the introduction of a common currency affect industrial relations and conditions for workers across Europe?

How have workers' conditions changed since the collapse of communism?

What can be done to bolster union membership and give younger workers across Europe a stronger voice?

The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies is a Canada-wide research and teaching resource, focusing on contemporary Germany in its European context. Established in 1997, the Centre is a cooperative initiative of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), l'UniversitÈ de MontrÈal, and York University.

WHO:
European Trade Union Institute (Brussels) Director Reiner Hoffmann
(The Institute conducts research and advocates for a number of European trade union issues ranging from membership to workers' rights)

WHAT:
Talk: European Trade Unionism in Transition?, sponsored by York University's Canadian Centre for German and European Studies (CCGES)

WHEN:
Thursday, Feb. 11, 1999, 11 a.m.

WHERE:
CCGES, Room 230, York Lanes
York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto

-30-

*PLEASE NOTE: Hoffmann is available for interviews by contacting The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies, (416) 736-5695.

For more information, please contact:

Kurt Huebner
CCGES
York University
(416) 736-5695

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
YU/007/99