The territorial social dialogue: challenges and prospects for the trade unions

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Jobert
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
State Changes

Forms of territorial social dialogue are developing at the regional or local level in most European countries. This article looks at the challenges facing the trade unions, particularly in France, as a result of this development. The first part examines the reasons for it - decentralisation of the state, changes in local government as well as in production systems - and the reasons why the trade unions are becoming increasingly involved. A second section focuses on a number of different instances of territorial social dialogue that reveal the diversity both of aims and of subjects treated, the wide-ranging public and private players involved and the highly diverse outcomes. The third part asks how these forms of social dialogue affect the unions. Do they represent a means whereby trade unions can extend their influence and strengthen their traditional areas of activity or do they contribute to weakening collective bargaining insofar as they offer less formalised methods of negotiating social outcomes that may detract from the role of the social partners to the benefit of government actors? The view put forward in this article is that the trade unions may well, under certain conditions, stand to gain from involvement in the territorial social dialogue.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF SOCIAL DIALOGUE FOR IMPROVING THE SYSTEM OF EMPLOYEE'S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
I. Sakharuk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Continuous Training ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners

The article is examining the role of social dialogue and its subjects in promoting the concept of lifelong learning for employees. It has been proven that the development and implementation of lifelong learning systems is a shared responsibility of the social partners – government officials, employers and employees. The bilateral or tripartite social dialogue will ensure a truly integrated approach, that takes into account the interests of all parties and promotes more effective implementation of lifelong learning programs. The main documents of the International Labour Organization about the professional development of employees have been reviewed. Based on their analysis, the author identifies the main tasks and directions of influence of trade unions and employers to ensure continuous training of employees. It is emphasized that the ILO regulates the need for strengthening the social dialogue on professional development, including involvement of the social partners in the development of national strategies in the field of education and training, monitoring trends in competencies etc. Legal basis for the participation of social partners in the formation and implementation of state policy on adult education in Ukraine was determined. Proposals were made to improve national legislation and draft laws in the sphere of professional development of employees to increase the role of trade unions and employers' organizations in promoting the lifelong learning.

Vakbonden en sociaal overleg in het laatste kwart van de XX° eeuw

Res Publica ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-117
Author(s):  
Willy Peirens
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Economic Democracy ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
The Government ◽  
Role Of The Government

The unique character of the socio-economic negociations in Belgium has lost much of its glamour and prestige during the last quarter of the 20th century.  While before 1975, there was more or less agreement among the social partners to redistribute welfare to the whole society, after the first oil crisis employers tended to see themselves in competition with other employers, with the trade unions and with the state. Both employers' organisations as trade unions wanted to safeguard their own priorities, respectively the competitiveness of the enterprises and the system of indexation. As a consequence, it became very difficult to reach agreements and hence, there have been no or only very small interprofessional agreements signed since 1975.The role of the government in this period evolved from the role of host for the negociations to that of co-actor and finally to director. When no agreement was possible between the social partners, the govenrment itself took the initiative and both trade unions and employers' organisations tried to lobby the government rather than being partners in negociations. The measures of the government, especially those taken with extra-ordinary powers, were often beneficial for the employers. Despite the emphasis by the trade unions on employment, their efforts beared not much fruit. The first priority of both the government and the employers was the enhancement of the financial and the economic situation of the country. Since the interprofessional agreement of 1999-2000, a new period bas begun. Trade unions and employers' organisations are constrained by what happens in the rest of Europe. Between these constaints, they can negociate and conclude agreements on the basis of freedom and responsibility.The level of negociations shifted in this period from the interprofessional level to the level of the sector or even to the level of the enterprise. Another trend is the creation of an institutional framework for social talks on the Flemish level.The challenges for the future are the installation of a European or even an international world-wide institutional framework for social negociations and the development of themes as permanent education, quality of life and work and the enhancement of the socio-economic democracy.

scholarly journals Volte-Face on the Welfare State: Social Partners, Knowledge Economies, and the Expansion of Work-Family Policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232922110143
Author(s):  
Øyvind Søraas Skorge ◽  
Magnus Bergli Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Knowledge Economies ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Welfare State

To what extent organized employers and trade unions support social policies is contested. This article examines the case of work-family policies (WFPs), which have surged to become a central part of the welfare state. In that expansion, the joint role of employers and unions has largely been disregarded in the comparative political economy literature. The article posits that the shift from Fordist to knowledge economies is the impetus for the social partners’ support for WFPs. If women make up an increasing share of high-skilled employees, employers start favoring WFPs to increase their labor supply. Similarly, unions favor WFPs if women constitute a significant part of their membership base. Yet the extent to which changes in preferences translate into policy depends on the presence of corporatist institutions. These claims are supported with statistical analyses of WFPs in eighteen advanced democracies across five decades and an in-depth case study of Norway. The article thus demonstrates that the trajectory of the new welfare state is decisively affected by the preferences and power of unions and employers.

scholarly journals The Social Dialogue as a Source of EU Legal Acts—Past Performance and Future Perspectives

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aukje A.H. van Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Past Performance ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
The Status

EU law recognizes the regulatory role of social partners—the bodies representing management and labour—but provides neither a legal nor a fully developed conceptual framework. An output analysis of the texts produced by the social partners demonstrates that they fulfil a variety of functions, both as stakeholders and co-regulators. However, only a small percentage of the documents produced in the European social dialogue have the status of EU collective agreements. It is the latter group which is most interesting from the point of view of regulation. A further analysis tracks the different interactions between EU law and EU collective agreements and highlights the tension between horizontal and vertical subsidiarity created by the REFIT agenda.

scholarly journals The Characteristic Features of Social Dialogue in the Baltics

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (16) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Dvorak ◽  
Raita Karnite ◽  
Arvydas Guogis
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
National Level ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The Baltic

This article analyzes the characteristic features of social dialogue in the Baltic states. The methodology of the current research is based on an intensive analysis of literature and statistical data. The aim of the present research is to address some gaps that were identified during the literature review. Firstly, why does the social dialogue develop so slowly in the Baltic states? Secondly, what was the role of social partners in that process? We find that the main achievement in social dialogue have been reached by social partners on the national level and, despite the painful austerity measures, the Baltic states showed the benchmark of advanced crisis management.

Towards a Europeanization of indirect employee participation: Polish experiences

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Skorupińska
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Employee Participation ◽  
Works Councils ◽  
Participatory Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
New Institutions

This article reports the difficult path of developing works councils as new institutions of employee participation in Polish industrial relations and the atmosphere among the social partners surrounding this process. Analysis shows that the Europeanization of legislation on indirect employee participation does not always translate into effective functioning of participatory institutions in practice. Despite the fact that the initially reluctant attitude of trade unions and employers towards works councils has become more positive in Poland, the role of these institutions in Polish industrial relations remains negligible. The amendment to the Act on Informing and Consulting Employees of 2009 has led to a reduction in the already small presence of works councils in Polish enterprises to a marginal level of about 2%.

Social dialogue in Hungary and its influence on EU accession

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 416-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorottya Boda ◽  
László Neumann
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Candidate Country ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
East European ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
Social Council ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level

The paper reviews the positions of the Hungarian social partners on the labour issues relating to EU accession. In addition to the topics dealt with in the 'Social Policy and Employment' chapter in the accession negotiations, the paper also discusses unions' and employers'views on labour migration, as well as how the adaptation of EU regulations in various sectors is likely to affect employment prospects. The paper argues that, on the one hand, social dialogue on EU accession can become more meaningful if employers and unions develop a co-ordinated strategy. On the other hand, appropriate back-up by experts is also required, because social partners ought to influence the complex system of negotiations being conducted, by experts of both the EU Commission and the Hungarian government, behind the scenes of high-level political negotiations. The authors also analyse the operation of social dialogue fora dedicated to EU accession issues. Hungary was the first East European candidate country to establish a joint committee with the Economic and Social Council (ESC), and within the country labour-related issues of accession have been delegated to the newly founded European Integration Council. In these fora the behaviour of trade unions is largely a consequence of the frustration over the fact that the current right-wing coalition government does not wish to go any further than formally observe the unions' consulting rights on major issues. At the same time organisational weakness and internal divisions still exist on the trade union side.

The Employers: the hidden face of European industrial relations

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Arcq ◽  
Anne Dufresne ◽  
Philippe Pochet
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Voluntary Agreement ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Work Programme ◽  
The Cross

The first section of this article recalls the most important organisational features of the cross-industry players in the European social dialogue (UNICE, UEAPME, CEEP). Four sectoral employer federations (WEM, Euratex, FIEC, EuroCommerce), selected on grounds of the specific nature of their profile, are also analysed here in view of the increasing importance currently taken on by the sectoral social dialogue. The second part of the article reports on the achievements of the social dialogue as seen by the employers. This dialogue has seen at least two salient events: in 1991, when the cross-industry social partners signed an agreement laying down collective bargaining practices; and more recently when a first voluntary agreement on telework was concluded. This agreement represents for the European employers, as for the trade unions, a radical change in terms of affirming their autonomy in drawing up their work programme and in the way that negotiated solutions are implemented. This has also been a period of consolidation for UNICE as a body representing Europe's employers, while CEEP has embarked on new – territorial – forms of representation. As for UEAPME, a peripheral body in the early 1990s, it has gradually asserted itself as a fully-fledged protagonist in the social dialogue.

Schwäche der Tarifautonomie und Legitimitätsfragen im Arbeitsrecht und im Sozialrecht

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-236
Author(s):  
Stephan Seiwerth
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
System Change ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Security Administration ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners

AbstractSocial partners have played a privileged role in German social security administration since Bismarckian times. In 2014, a new legislation empowered the social partners to set the level of the statutory minimum wage and to demand the extension of collective agreements. This article examines the interdependence of the trade unions’ and employer organisations’ membership numbers and their involvement in state regulation of labour and social security law. In case the interest in autonomous regulations is not going to increase, the state will have to step in with more heteronomous regulation. This would incrementally lead to a system change.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document