Trade unions, collective bargaining and social dialogue in Local and Regional Government

A report for the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
by the Labour Research Department, November 2008

Part I

Introduction

This report looks at trade unions, collective bargaining and social dialogue in local and regional government in the 27 EU member states, as well as the EEA states of Norway and Iceland and the candidate countries, Croatia and Turkey. It aims to establish the current position and identify both common features and areas of difference.

The report shows that while social dialogue / collective bargaining is a central feature of the local and regional government sector in the majority of countries, more can be done to strengthen cooperation between employers and trade unions in the sector at all levels.

The information is drawn from a questionnaire circulated by European Public Service Unions (EPSU) to its affiliates in 2007 but it has also been supplemented from information from other sources, in particular the study on the ‘new’ member states and candidate countries undertaken in 2005 on behalf of both EPSU and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). In addition a number of individuals, primarily from the unions, but also from the employers, have provided very useful information and comments.

The Labour Research Department and EPSU is very grateful to the 27 EPSU affiliates who completed the questionnaire or otherwise sent material and all those who have helped in this study in other ways. Details of respondents and the main sources used are set out in Appendix 1. Other sources are included in the individual national reports.




Part II: National Reports