Strasbourg Institut du Travail

1. Strasbourg Institut du Travail • Created in 1955 through an agreement between the University and trade-union organisations, the Strasbourg Institut du travail (Labour Institute) is a unique university establishment: • by its mission • by its mode of administration • by its financing • by its teaching

2. Centre d'Études Internationales de la Propriété Industrielle Fédération de recherche Institut de Préparation à l'Administration Générale Faculté de Droit Institut du Travail The Institut du Travail within the UDS L’institut du travail is a colleguim of Université de Strasbourg – There are 9 collegium are part of the UDS

3. Lille Paris I Rennes Toulouse Strasbourg Institut du Travail • First Labour institute created in France and is the only institute, with Paris, to have a national vocation • - militants are recruited from all over France; • - the institute works primarily with the training section of the trade-union confederations. • 8 regional Institutes which • function on a regional basis, • working with the regional levels • of the 3 trade-union confederations. Strasbourg

4. Its mission: higher education for trade-union militants • - through training sabbaticals in economic, social and trade-union fields - through training sabbaticals for specific functions: member of industrial tribunal, member of workers’ councils, member of health and safety committees Complementary missions: • - to develop research in labour sciences. The teaching staff of the labour institutes are involved in research programmes and research networks • - to manage a library on labour sciences

5. Its mode of administration: equal representation • Its Board of directors is equally composed of representatives from trade-union organisations and representatives from the University. • it fixes the general orientations • it votes the budget • it elects the director The institute has 5 employees to ensure administrative tasks, accounting, and trainee hosting and accommodation. The teaching staff comprises of 10 teacher-researchers including 4 at part-time.

6. Its financing • The financing of the institute comes from: • Ministry of Labour: annual subsidy • Ministry for National Education: teaching posts and building • These subventions make possible the running of the institute and the complete coverage of trainee costs: • travelling expenses • subsistence expenses • loss of wages if it occurs

7. Its network • The institute is part of the network of labour institutes. • The teachers are strongly involved with the university to prevent isolation of the institute; they ensure lectures within master programmes • The teachers are also involved in national and European research networks: • Social Law: European network aiming to create a web site dedicated to European social rights • EWL:European Working Groups in Labour law • GEIST: inter university study group in Labour sciences

8. Its network : The teacher-researchers and scientific collaborators from diverse French and European networks work together on the production of the portal through combining their respective skills on national and Community labour law, national and community social protection rights, insurance rights, new information technology rights…

9. Its public: trade-union militants • They come from 3 confederations CFDT, CGT, Cgt-fo being historically related to the institutes of work. Other trade-union organisations have requested entering the institutes of work but this would require an increase in the budget from the Ministry. • The militants are recruited by the confederation on the basis of a training scheme; they come from various professional branches and generally exercise representation mandates.

10. Its teaching: "made to measure" • The training topics and the objectives are defined by the trade-union organisation, depending on current affairs, confederation requests, the interest of professional federations and the profile of the target public. • The contents and the programme are decided jointly by the representatives of the trade-union organisation and the teachers of the Institute. Many training courses are directed towards Europe. • The implementation is jointly assured by teachers from the institute and trade-union representatives. External experts are used for specific themes (trade union experts, teachers, professionals).

11. Teachers of the Institute • They have academic backgrounds and have been recruited following national university recruitment procedures; the relationship between the university and the institute is fundamental in order to obtain suitable teaching profiles in line with the institute’s activities. The competencies of the teachers cover: • labour law • social protection systems • European social law • economic labour sciences and social protection

12. Examples of training topics • Corporate restructuring in Europe • Employment discrimination • Retirement reforms • Teacher training • Collective branch and company negotiations • Security risk prevention

13. Pedagogy The training courses privilege the active participation of trainees, in order to facilitate the assimilation of knowledge and the learning of methodologies. A significant place is left for confrontation of professional experience, exchange and discussion. The sessions cover the: - Analysis of the economic and social environment - Comparison of practices - Integration of new legal and economic competencies - Reinforcement of analytical capacities - Development of strategies for action

14. Pedagogy 2) A reflection is underway to implement distance learning (e-learning). Through e-learning it would be possible to increase the number of trainees in particular when there is a large request for training (change of legislation, new responsibilities) and without requiring travel to Strasbourg. The obstacles for e-learning are however numerous.

15. Research at the Labour Institute Colluquium 24 and 25 February 2005 Information and Discussion Days for Management and Labour: « Working conditions and the fall of retirement age : think ahead and take action »

16. InternationalColloquium 18/03/2005 « Older workers and employment in Europe» (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom) With the support of the European Social funds to reinforce social dialogue

17. Contacts Site : http://www-idt.u-strasbg.fr/ Tel : 00333 88 61 25 21 Fax : 00333 88 60 04 29 E mail : institut.travail@urs.u-strasbg.fr Director : Fabienne Muller