Further steps towards co-ordination
Over 100 participants from 24 countries gathered in Brussels last week for the fifth EPSU conference on collective bargaining and social dialogue. The main debates focused on developing draft policies on migrant workers and the recruitment and retention of young workers. However, the conference also provided delegates the opportunity to discuss issues around older workers and work-life balance.
The conference began with an overview of intersectoral social dialogue presented by ETUC deputy general secretary Maria Helena Andre followed by the main findings of the ETUC’s annual collective bargaining survey introduced by Maarten Keune of the ETUI-REHS research institute. Maria-Helena described the difficulties facing the ETUC in making progress in a very difficult environment while Maarten looked at two important themes - “flexicurity” and transnational collective agreements.
Participants then had a session on collective bargaining in the public services, considering in particular a number of central issues for EPSU - negotiating for the low paid, outsourcing and restrictions on the collective bargaining process itself.
There were lively discussions on how collective bargaining could be used to improvement the recruitment and retention of young workers. Detlef Raabe, responsible for collective bargaining within the ver.di service union was the main speaker and challenged the idea that collective bargaining could make a real difference to union recruitment of young workers. He argued that unions needed to undertake specific initiatives aimed at young workers and try to reach them at an early age, at school and in their first jobs. Nevertheless delegates agreed that it was useful to identify the key elements of a collective bargaining policy that could tackle some of the problems facing young workers.
Participants then had an initial debate on older workers in order to highlight the main issues that EPSU would investigate over the coming year in developing a more detailed policy. One important point to emerge was the need to ensure that policies on younger and older workers didn’t create any conflicts between the generations. It was agreed that a useful first step in this research would be the collection of collective agreements with specific policies on older workers.
On the second morning of the conference three working groups discussed work-life balance in the light of the European Commission’s recent consultation over reconciling work with private and family life. Although parental leave and working time flexibility were dealt with in different was across Europe, the debate underlined the need for action at European level in terms of legislation and information from affiliates would form a useful part of EPSU’s response to the next stage of consultation.
Wiebke Warneck of the ETUI-REHS research institute introduced the next session which provided participants with a review of progress in an EPSU-commissioned project on trade union rights in the public services across Europe. Wiebke was using a range of sources to find out the extent to which there are restrictions on the rights to association, assembly, collective bargaining and strike action in the 25 EU Member States and four candidate countries. Participants were encouraged to contact her with the practical challenges they are facing. A final report would be ready in the summer of 2007 and this would include recommendations for action where there were clear restrictions on trade union rights in specific countries.
The final main theme of the conference was migrant workers and there was a short debate on a draft policy covering ways in which affiliates could negotiate collective agreements to help address the challenges facing in migrant workers in integrating themselves into their new job and new society.
The conference concluded with a brief round-up of EPSU’s work on collective bargaining in the coming year. This would involve further developing the range of policies discussed at this and previous conferences. Participants were also alerted to the need to begin considering the longer term and taking the first steps in outlining a strategy on collective bargaining that would form the basis of debate at the EPSU Congress in 2009.
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