BEtter REPresentation of White-Collar Employees (BEREP)

White-collar workers in the manufacturing sector are growing in number and share throughout Europe. Today, about 41% of the workforce in Europe’s manufacturing sector are white-collar workers; in some countries their share has already outpaced that of blue-collar workers who have traditionally formed the majority of the workforce in this sector. Many trade unions in manufacturing industries find it difficult to recruit, mobilise and represent white-collar members

The BEREP project aims to:

• Enhance knowledge about white-collar workers’ working conditions and priorities across Europe.
• Find out what trade unions in European manufacturing industries are currently doing to organise white-collar workers
• Find out how white-collar workers in European manufacturing industries perceive trade unions and what topics, needs and interests are pertinent to this group of employees
• Develop materials for industriAll Europe affiliates to attract and represent white-collar workers

BEREP consists of a research and a practical component. It combines desk research (literature review, data analysis), a survey of white-collar workers in Finland, France and Germany, and workshops with trade union experts from eight different countries. We will develop a toolbox based on the survey and the workshops to help trade unions recruit and represent white-collar workers.