The research project “Negotiating return to work in the age of demographic change through industrial relations” (REWIR - VS/2019/0075) will inform the discussion. Its findings will show how different industrial relations and social dialogue practices contribute to the shape of return-to-work policies and extend working lives in the EU member states.

The seminar will be the culmination of a two-year international research project, "ARTUS-CEE "Articulation of the Trade Unions' Strategies on upward convergence of social standards in the enlarged European Union - voice of CEE countries” (VS/2019/0070) implemented by the Institute of Public Affairs (the Project Leader) together with partners: Central European Labour Studies Institute (a co-organizer of the seminar), University of Ljubljana, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Public Policy, Centre for Economic Development.

The webinar discusses two major indices developed by the WageIndicator Foundation: the Minimum Wages Database (196 countries) and the Labour Rights Index (115 countries).

We are pleased to invite you to the final conference of the Project “Closing the gender pay gap in public services: Unions’ actions” that will take place online on 14 January 2021 (from 14 :30 to 17 :00 CET). The project started in February 2019 and was initially designed to last 18 months. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic an extension of 6 months has been granted.

"CELSI is excited to partner with the ETUI to establish the ETUI-CELSI COVID-19 Observatory. Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe and with an effective vaccine or treatment still afar, enhancing our understanding of the causes and impacts of the pandemic, producing policy-relevant evidence, and disseminating this knowledge to the relevant stakeholders through the Observatory is an important step towards effective policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis," says CELSI's co-founder and Scientific Director Martin Kahanec.

CELSI team started to implement BARMIG, a project shedding light on constraints, opportunities and challenges for industrial relations actors stemming from the increased presence of migrant workers in the CEE countries.

We are delighted that Brian Fabo, CELSI Research Fellow and former Senior Researcher, and his colleagues have published their study on "Fifty Shades of QE: Conflicts of Interest in Economic Research" in the prestigious NBER Working Papers series. The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other prominent media outlets have covered the study extensively.

What is the current structure of trade unions, professional associations and NGOs active in labour rights in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine? What are the steps to avoid fragmentation of the labour movement in these countries?

Today the CELSI team said goodbye to our colleague Mária Sedláková and wished her good luck in her new job at the ILO in Geneva.

While a part of the CELSI team continued working on research projects or enjoyed a new life in the family, the rest of us took a trip to Bradlo and honored the memory of M. R. Štefánik with a bouquet with the tricolor.