AN ATTEMPT TO REVITALIZE SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SYSTEMS IN SOME OF THE CEECS LESSON LEARNT AND BEST PRACTICES IN THE WAY OUT OF THE CRISIS FINAL REPORT 2016 The project was partially financed by the European Union.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary...3 Introduction....5 List of abbreviations...7 Background: objectives, methodology and implementation of the project...8 Commonalities and differences in the social dialogue systems in the selected countries.... 11 Legislation....11 Institutional settings...11 Participation rights...12 Representativeness...13 Representative bodies at the national level....14 Coverage....15 Financing....16 Benefits....17 Recent development and trends... 18 Impact and challenges of the financial crisis since 2007... 21 Economic downslide, unemployment and decreasing public revenues....21 Employment rights...22 Membership and representativeness of social partners....24 Social dialogue...24 Collective bargaining and agreements...25 Financing....25 Practices of social partners to manage challenges caused by the crisis... 27 Membership....27 Collective bargaining...27 The power of agreements achieved...28 1
Financing....29 Other....29 Outcomes of the project events... 30 International seminar in Vilnius...30 International seminar in Sofia...31 International seminar in Riga...32 Recommendations to trade unions to redesign industrial relations and social dialogue practices... 34 Conclusions... 40 Sources.... 42 Appendix: Statistical figures... 43 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The project An attempt to revitalize social dialogue and national industrial relations systems in some of the CEECs - lesson learnt and best practices in the way out of the crisis is aimed at collecting more information, joint learning and exchange of best practices among representatives of social partners of the involved CEECs Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, as well as within the CEECs and more developed countries (France). In the project, the concept of revitalisation is focused on a variety of problems social dialogue is faced with rather than quantitative measures (membership density, bargaining coverage). The main findings were as follows: Loss of membership is seen as a serious problem of trade unions. Low financial and organisational capacity caused by declining membership, adds to the problem of interest definition, aggregation and protection in negotiations with employers and state organisations. Both external and internal reasons cause the decline in membership. These reasons are permanent (remaining after crisis) or are caused by the world financial crisis. In several countries, the crisis has triggered institutional changes leading to a reduction of the power of social dialogue (expanding the scope of participants, shifting from negotiations to consultations, lowering the level of responsibility for the operation of social dialogue institutions so that they are not able to achieve implementable decisions). In some countries, there are attempts to reduce the national representation of the social partners by tightening the criteria of national representativeness. Minimum standards of workers protection have decreased in almost all participating countries. Best practices were identified for the revitalisation of social dialogue after the financial crisis in participating countries. It appeared that trade unions activities depend to a great extent on the government s approach to economic, social policy and social dialogue issues. Since the mid 1990 s, attention has been focused on self-preservation of trade unions more than ever before. 3
Recommendations to trade unions to redesign industrial relations and the practice of social dialogue were structured in eight clusters: organising members, organisational restructuring of trade unions, fundamental trade union activities, partnerships with employers, coalition building with other social movements, political actions, international links and fundamental social dialogue activities. 4
INTRODUCTION The concept of the European social model has not disappeared from the European Union s policy discourse and legislation since the first introduction in the Commission s 1994 White Paper on social policy 1, where it was described in terms of values that include democracy and individual rights, free collective bargaining, the market economy, equal opportunities for all, and social protection and solidarity, up to the latest regulations, where countries were invited to increase activities in promoting social development in order to achieve economic growth. The European social dialogue is a fundamental element of the European social model that is formally recognised by Articles 154 and 155 of the EC Treaty. The European social dialogue needs to further develop in order to reflect and respond to the needs of more diverse economic and social situations in the enlarged European Union. 2 The revitalisation of trade union activities has been debated in the academic literature since early 1990-ies from several aspects: how deep is the decline of trade unions activity; why and to what extent are membership of trade unions eroding; how far are economic, political and societal changes responsible for the decline of trade unions; what causes cross-country differences in the industrial relations systems and how this influences trade union activity, and many others. These issues are analysed in the research by G. Meardi, C.M. Frege, J. Kelly, R. Human, R. Gumbrell-McCormick and others. Researchers have discovered that trade unions and industrial relation systems in Western and CEE countries differ, and there have been attempts to analyse reasons and impacts of such differences, as well as trends in the development of the trade union systems in CEE countries. Within the wealth of research on themes of industrial relations, less attention has been paid to the impact of the global financial crisis and the revitalisation of social dialogue after the crisis. 1 http://europa.eu/documentation/official-docs/white-papers/pdf/social_policy_white_paper_ com_94_333_a.pdf 2 The 2015-2017 work programme of the European social partners Partnership for inclusive growth and employment. http://resourcecentre.etuc.org/work-programmes-42.html 5
The project An attempt to revitalize social dialogue and national industrial relations systems in some of the CEECs - lesson learnt and best practices in the way out of the crisis was implemented within the scope of a call for proposals from the European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. The project aimed at collecting information, joint learning and the exchange of best practices among representatives of social partners in five CEECs Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, as well as within the CEECs and some of the developed countries (France). 6
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation APB BG CEECs, CEE countries CFDT EOs ESC ETUI EU EU 15 Eurofound FR HU IR NEPC LBAS LIGA LPS Solidarumas LT LV NGTT OET OKET OPZZ PL Selected CEECs TU(s) VKF Explanation Sectoral Dialogue Committee (Hungary) Bulgaria Central and Eastern European countries La Confédération française démocratique du travail (France) Employers organisation(s) Economic and Social Council (Bulgaria) European Trade Union Institute (Belgium) European Union EU countries before enlargement in 2004: Austria, Benelux countries, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Sweden European Foundation for Improving Living and Working Conditions (Ireland) France Hungary Industrial Relations National Economic Council (Bulgaria) Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia Democratic League of Independent Trade Unions (Hungary) Lithuanian Trade Union Solidarumas ( Solidarity ) Lithuania Latvia The National Economic and Social Council (Hungary) National level tripartite social dialogue (Hungary) The National Public Service Interest Reconciliation Council (Hungary) Ogolnopolskie Porozumienie Zwiazkow Zawodowych (Poland) Poland Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland Trade union(s) The Permanent Consultative Forum of the Private Sector and the Government (Hungary) 7
BACKGROUND: OBJECTIVES, METHODOLOGY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT Research on the industrial relations in Europe constantly shows that the situation in the EU-15 and the CEE countries differs 3. The CEECs are characterised by weaker trade unions and a faster erosion of trade union density, the lack of established employers associations and of a tradition of bipartite multi-employer collective bargaining, a lower bargaining coverage and a strong formal tripartism that partly replaces the under-developed collective bargaining systems at the sectoral level. Despite the fact that an extended international academic literature and many other sources are available in relation to national industrial relations and social dialogue (e.g., Eurofound studies, the ETUI website www.worker-participation. eu), it is likely that in everyday practice often even those are unfamiliar with industrial relation systems and practices of social dialogue other than theirs who are involved in social dialogue at national level (trade union leaders, employers representatives, policy makers on behalf of governments). There may be several reasons for this, like an individual and organisational capacity shortage, and language problems. On the other hand, for those who are involved in industrial relations and social dialogue, continuous learning is vital both at the organisational and the individual level. Therefore, the project focused on academics collecting more information and on a joint learning of social partners representatives (primarily, representatives of trade union organisations), as well as on an exchange of best practices of social partners in the involved CEECs and the more developed countries. Their experience is enriched by that of countries with a strong and effective social dialogue. Particular attention is paid to practices of how to cope with the challenges imposed by the crisis. The project aimed at: a collection of and sharing the experience of selected CEECs of strengthening or even trying to revitalise their national industrial relation and social dialogue systems; 3 Eurofound research: Industrial Relations in Europe Report 2012. 8
learning from more developed countries where in spite of trade union pluralism and low trade union density, social dialogue and industrial relations are strong and the labour movement is dynamic; creating a platform for short training measures, exchanging best practices and dissemination based on both research and the analysis of the activities; strengthening international cooperation and solidarity among the national workers organisations through international exchange of experience. In this project, the concept of revitalisation is focused on a variety of problems social dialogue is facing rather than on quantitative measures such as membership density or bargaining coverage. On the basis of this this approach, first, the problems were identified social dialogue organisations (primarily trade unions) are confronted with and then attempts were analysed to tackle and reverse these problems in the light of best practices in participating countries and finally, recommendations were proposed to trade unions to redesign IR or practice of social dialogue. The project focused on trade unions because these organisations have the mission of acting as initiators of discussions on working life and social protection issues within the social dialogue. The impact of the crisis was identified as follows: the economic downslide, unemployment and decreasing public revenues, a cut of employment rights, declining membership and representativeness of social partners, social dialogue, collective agreements and financing. Best practices were identified as follows: in the area of membership, collective bargaining, the power of agreements achieved, financing and others (such as changes in legislation). The project was implemented within 23 months, it started 15 th of November 2014 and ended 15 th of October 2016. In the first phase research and analysis (March 2015 August 2015), external experts wrote separate country studies on all involved countries. In the second phase education and training, the country studies were presented at the international level in three international seminars in selected participating countries in Vilnius, Lithuania (1-2 February 2016), Sofia, Bulgaria (10-11 March 9
2016) and Riga, Latvia (4-5 April 2016). In the third phase - final research and analysis -, an external expert prepared this comprehensive summary study. The project activities were closed at a final international dissemination conference in Budapest, Hungary on 19 th and 20 th of September, 2016. 10
COMMONALITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE SOCIAL DIALOGUE SYSTEMS IN THE SELECTED COUNTRIES LEGISLATION In all countries examined, the core principles of the social dialogue are stipulated by the Constitution. Constitutions ensure the freedom for the establishment and operation of voluntary organisations, or, more specifically, of trade unions and set forth the general living and working conditions to be provided to anyone in the country. These norms are further specified in the labour legislations. In some countries, main normative regulations providing for social dialogue are incorporated in the general Labour law (HU, LV), in other countries in several special legislative acts. The operation of trade unions and employers organisations, as well as the procedure of industrial actions are regulated by special normative acts (LV, PL) or such organisations are established and operated as ordinary non-governmental / non-profit organisations (BG). In Hungary, trade unions are non-profit civil society organisations. Special laws regulate the organisation of industrial actions (for instance: law on strikes [BG, HU, LV] and law of labour disputes [LV]). Some countries adopted programmatic documents (guidelines, principles, rules, etc.) on social dialogue. Establishing social dialogue infrastructure may be based on law (HU, PL), or on an agreement among social partners and the government (LV). The operation of social dialogue institutions at the national level may be regulated by law (PL) or by other normative regulations (regulation of the cabinet of ministers, statutes [BG, LV]). Three countries (BG, FR [after the reforms] and LV) reported on legislative norms that ensure the involvement of social partners in the negotiation and decision making processes. INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS Trade unions and employers organisations exist in all examined countries. Trade union systems usually include organisations at the national, sectoral and enterprise level, but they may be established also along other principles (according to regions, professions or particular societal groups, such as youth or students trade union [LT]). The largest sectoral trade unions and employers organisations are usually united by representatives at the national level. Employers organisations are organised by branch or sectoral affiliation. 11
The role of works councils is very limited in the CEECs. In all companies in Latvia and in smaller companies in Hungary, workers may be represented also by an elected employees representative. All countries operate social dialogue institutions at the national level, but the models and functions differ. Two typical models might be distinguished: the national level institution includes three parties employees representatives (usually trade unions), employers representatives and representatives of the government, and focuses on negotiation (mostly on social and economic issues); the national level institution with a broader representation (includes more NGOs as full-fledged partners); with or without the involvement of the government and focuses on consultation, mostly on economic issues (National Economic and Social Council [HU]). Depending on tasks and rights, the impact of national organisations differs, as well. The number of representatives in social dialogue institutions at the national level differs, too. In the participating countries, there are not more than seven representatives from each party at the national level. The absolute exception is Latvia, with a single employees and a single employers representative (the latter was established specifically for social dialogue purposes). The government is usually represented by a minister responsible for the relevant sector or/and by sectoral ministers. The organisation of parallel social dialogue institutions or those at lower levels also differs. In Poland, social dialogue organisations are established by law, also at the regional level. In some countries, sectoral and regional organisations are part of the main organisation (BG, LV), while in others, they are fully independent (HU). National organisations may set up sub-commissions and monitoring bodies. PARTICIPATION RIGHTS In all countries reviewed in the project, membership in trade unions and employers organisations is voluntary. The law may also provide for the right of no affiliation to unions (LV). Eligibility for trade unions membership differs. In some countries, only working people (LT, BG) or working people and self-employed (PL) are eligible for membership, while in other countries it is free to join trade unions regardless of one s occupation, employment status or other conditions (LV). 12
In many countries (LV, PL, HU), employee groups in the public sector (usually state officials and civil servants in some sectors critical to national security, such as defence, police and justice) are eligible for affiliating organisations, including the right to establish trade unions, but have limited possibilities for collective bargaining (BG) or do not have the right for industrial actions (HU) or strikes (LV). In some countries, only trade union members are entitled unrestrictedly to benefits provided by collective agreements (BG, PL, LT). REPRESENTATIVENESS There are two typical models of stipulation of rights to represent employees and employers at the national level: strong criteria and even a kind of competition for the justification of representativeness (BG, FR, PL, HU); representativeness is based mainly on traditions and/or supported by just some legal norms or agreements on a mutual recognition of the partners (LT, LV). In all countries, the national representative bodies of employees and employers are entitled to negotiate with the government. Representatives at the national level have different negotiation powers. National representative bodies have the right to prior access to project plans and drafts of normative acts prepared by the government (including the draft budget law), to submit requests to the competent ministers and to initiate legislative processes. At the sectoral level, sectoral representative bodies of employees and employers bear responsibility for social dialogue. In all project countries, a poor match between the parties is the reason for a weak social dialogue at the sectoral level. National representative bodies may have certain exclusive rights regarding sectoral negotiations. For instance, in Poland the Council for Social Dialogue has the right to conclude supra-institutional collective labour agreements, or the right to request the Minister of Labour to appoint a team independent from the Council in order to support sectoral dialogue. Contrary to this, sectoral representative bodies of employers and employees in Hungary are not fully empowered to conclude collective agreements on their own. Under the act on the operation of APBs only entitled representatives are to conduct collective and other agreements at the sectoral level, and to request the minister in charge of social dialogue related matters officially (Minister of National 13
Economy) to extend an already existing agreement to the entire sector. This practice, however, did not prove to be beneficial, as sectoral bargaining remains weak. Experts from Hungary reported that there are no real guaranties in respect of an extension of collective agreements to the sector level. The creation of more comprehensive multi-sectoral industry groups leads to a system where the owners interests increasingly ruin the possibility of a conciliation of sectoral interests. REPRESENTATIVE BODIES AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL National representative bodies were established approximately at the same time in most of the countries examined in 1994 (Bulgaria is an exception). In almost all countries (except for Lithuania), representative bodies at the national level were reformed several times. The reforms were initiated either by social partners (LV, PL [2013]); or are the result of a decreasing trust in the quality of social representatives (FR [2008]); or of other reasons (HU [2011]). While the defined purpose of such reforms was a better representativeness of social partners and an increase in the power of the decisions taken through national negotiations, there are certain special trends to be observed: an improving representativeness of the partners (introducing more drastic representativeness criteria [FR]); an independence from the government (PL [2013]); higher level of institutional affiliation (LV, from the Ministry of Welfare to the Cabinet of Ministers; PL from the ministerial level to the Marshal of Sejm); voluntarily or under the pressure of the government more nongovernmental organisations are included in the social dialogue platforms ( LT, LV, HU, PL); a widening scope of issues discussed and simultaneously, a shift from negotiations to consultations (HU). It was admitted by the Hungarian expert that the fact that the institutions of consultation were widened resulted in a false perception that there is no need for trade unions. In contrary to this, employers side in Latvia considers that more partners may increase the negotiation power. The models of the institutions reformed differ, yet all of them have lost their tripartite nature through a wider scope of participation. 14
COVERAGE In comparison to the early 1990s, the trade union membership and density decreased dramatically. The data of the European Observatory of Working Life (Eurofound) show that the process still continues (Table 1). Table 1. Trade union membership and trade union density in terms of active employees 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Source Members in 1000s Bulgaria 464 No data 361.1 1 No data No data OECD/Visser 2014 BICA, 2012, Fulton, 2013 France 1823 1830 1835 No data No data OECD/Visser 2014 Latvia 2 120.1 110.3 108.4 No data No data Lulle and Ungure, 2016 Lithuania 112.6 108.9 102.3 95.3 No data STD data on membership organisations Hungary 420 410 380 360 No data OECD/Visser 2014 Poland 1738 1635 1540 1571.3 3 1927.6 3 OECD/Visser 2014 Density in terms of active employees, % Bulgaria 19.8 4 No data 21.9 No data No data OECD/Visser 2014 BICA, 2012, Fulton, 2013 http://www. uva-atas. net/207 France 7.7 7.7 7.7 No data No data OECD/Visser 2014 Latvia 15.0 13.6 13.1 No data No data Lulle and Ungure, 2016 Lithuania 10.1 9.7 9.0 8.4 No data Authors calculation based on STD data Hungary 12.5 11.4 10.6 11.3 No data OECD/Visser 2014 Poland 14.6 13.5 12.5 10 5 12 5 OECD/Visser 2014 1) Census data, 275.8 (CITUB), 88.3 (Podkrepa); 2) Total number of employees who are members of trade union; 3) Authors own calculation based on the CBOS report BS/62/2013; 4) CBOS report BS/62/2013 and BS/106/2014; 5) 21.2 (NRS, WCI) Source: Working life country reports (Eurofound Observatory of Working Life) (2014); Annul Review of Labour Relations and Social Dialogue. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania national reports, seminar outcomes (2016). Statistical reporting on the activity of social dialogue organisations is not properly organised in any of the countries and the data reported are far from being perfect 15
or internationally comparable. As Table 1 shows, in Bulgaria, the evaluation may differ depending on the source of the information. In Latvia, trade union membership data are only collected by the private data base of LBAS, where reporting is voluntary and the data is not verified. With few exceptions, employers organisations are able to provide data on their organisations, but not on persons employed. Collective bargaining is most active at the company level (Table 2). The extension of collective agreements is regulated by law. There are two ways of extension to non-members: 1) they are included in the agreement through extension clause; 2) they participate voluntarily but pay contributions, in function of the administrative costs of the negotiations (LT) or as set by the union (BG). Table 2. Most important levels of collective bargaining 1 principal or dominant level; 2 important, but not dominant level; 3 existing level National level Sectoral level Regional level Company level Wages Working time Wages Working time Wages Working time Wages Working time Bulgaria 3 3 2 2 3 3 1 1 France n/a n/a 1 3 n/a n/a 2 2 Latvia 1* 1* 3 3 3 3 2 1 Lithuania 3 1 n/a n/a n/a n/a 1 3 Hungary 2 n/a 3 3 n/a n/a 1 1 Poland 3 n/a 3 3 n/a n/a 1 1 *Social dialogue. Source: Working life country reports (Eurofound Observatory of Working Life) (2014); national reports, seminar outcomes (2016). FINANCING The main sources of funding of trade unions are membership fees, the revenue from economic-commercial activities, EU Structural Funds and external funding from other organisations. Direct funding from the state budget is available in France and in Hungary. Social dialogue organisations may be supported from the state budget by co-financing through the Structural Funds. 16
Membership fees and economic / commercial activities are an independent part of the financial resources of the social dialogue institutions. Other sources, such as EU funds and other external funding are to implement certain goals. In some countries, trade unions collect fees from non-members who want to be covered by the collective agreement (LT, BG). BENEFITS It was emphasized during the international seminars, that the benefits (product) offered by social dialogue organisations are crucial for their operation, membership and trust. Based on the national reports and seminar discussions, the following typical trade union benefits were identified: collective bargaining, achieving better conditions for living, working and income and improving information and consultation at the workplace; legal assistance, protection of workers collective rights through public actions and individual rights; legislative initiatives leading to the protection of the right to be employed and a general improvement of the living and working conditions; social protection in case of emergency or aging (strike funds, pension funds); social assistance (saving banks, mutual assistance systems). 17
RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND TRENDS Besides the institutional changes described in the previous chapters, country reports and international seminar discussions highlighted other recent developments and trends. Unfortunately, without the positive impact of the EU Structural Funds, experts reports and the discussion referred mostly to negative tendencies. The socio-economic environment: an overall deterioration of the economic situation due to delayed reforms (BG, LT, LV, HU); structural changes in the economy (sectoral changes, increasing share of small enterprises, increasing share of services) (all countries); repeated attacks on the employment system, social security, social rights and social protection; the legislative amendments limit labour, insurance and social rights; relaxation of employment protection (BG, LV, PL); introduction in practice of the notion of flexicurity (LT, BG); new forms of employment (temporary employment agencies, day-work and zero-hour contracts, remote employment, freelancing entrepreneurship) make labour relations complicated and labour markets less transparent (all countries); emergence of precarious groups (unsecured and working poor) (BG); focus of public attention shifts from the values of solidarity and social justice to the values of individualism and efficiency (BG). Social dialogue: in general, EU structural funds contribute to the capacity building of social dialogue institutions and social dialogue, but not in all countries (LT) social dialogue loses importance, is abolished, or is of a demonstrative nature formal institutions are in place, but the dialogue itself is limited to the voluntary exchange of views what may not necessarily lead to the achievement of mutual concessions and constructive solutions (BG, HU, LT ); at the national level, social dialogue institutions are supplemented by other social dialogue bodies with wider representativeness, thus losing framework for negotiation (BG, HU, PL); high level government representatives are substituted by lower level officials who are not entitled to take decisions; highest level state 18
representatives rarely attend the meetings and negotiations cannot be concluded (LT, HU); attempts to reduce the national representation of social partners by tightening the criteria for national representativeness (BG, HU [after 2010]); trade union officials are not to be considered to be the employees representatives (HU); commissions (committees) under the national level forums are not efficient (HU); restricted rights for negotiations on certain issues (for instance, social partners can not consider anything that needs additional assignment from the state budget) (LT, LV); sectoral social dialogue remains weak due to insufficient skills, poor match of partners, insufficient funding or inefficient supervision (e.g.: poor work of special Sectoral Dialogue Committees in Hungary) (BG, LV, LT, HU); pay issues are not included in sectoral negotiations (LT, LV); the creation of more comprehensive industry groups in several sectors led to a situation where the owners interests increasingly ruin the possibility of a conciliation of sectoral interests (HU [after 2010]) regional social dialogue forums are weak or do not exist (LT, LV); international cooperation and cooperation with international organisations is not sufficiently explored (LT); overall, the emphasis on the conclusion of collective agreements go parallel with a weakening of trade union rights and instruments of (e.g.: social model concept in Lithuania, HU [after 2010]); attempts to eliminate the right for industrial actions (amendments of the Act on Strike) hinder the organisation of strikes in general (BG, LV, HU [after 2010]); centralisation trends - the government is not willing to consult all social partners but seizes the role of representing everyone, negotiations with social partners are not respected (BG, LT, LV, HU [after 2010]); multinational companies do not help strengthening of social dialogue (BG, LV); lack of unity among social partners, personal conflicts, structural problems, envy and lagging behind in the trade union front (HU), disagreements among social partners (LT); the classic rights of trade unions strengthening their negotiation power are either restricted of transferred to the works councils (HU [after 2010]); trade unions are too remote from the people they represent (HU); 19
unwillingness to accept changes and innovation (LT); employers reluctance to support social partnership, they are not involved in associated structures, do not pay fees; employers organisations do not receive assistance from external resources therefore they are weak (LT); rights and obligations, as well as representativeness criteria of employers organisations are not defined (LT). 20
IMPACT AND CHALLENGES OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS SINCE 2007 ECONOMIC DOWNSLIDE, UNEMPLOYMENT AND DECREASING PUBLIC REVENUES The level of the economic development of the project countries is similar, yet with the exception of France, all belong to the less developed EU member states (Figure 1 and Figure 2, see Appendix). The financial crisis brought negative GDP growth in all participating countries except in Poland (Figure 3). The economy recovered within short period of time, but after 2012 it was of a low rate in all countries. As Figure 2 shows, GDP per capita income in PPP decreased during the crisis, however, the general trend of the income per capita went upwards in all countries during the whole reference period (2006 2013). Moreover, it increased stronger in the CEE countries than in France. 2009 2012 the deficit of the government was high (Figure 4), and the government debt also increased (Figure 5) a signal of the limits of government resources. Unemployment was reduced before the crisis and it remained low at its outbreak (Figure 6). As Figure 7 shows, labour costs continued to increase despite of the first symptoms of the crisis in 2007, and just after 2012 the increase came to a halt in all examined countries. Emigration also slowed down the increase of the unemployment rate. The Gini coefficient shows that inequality is higher in economically less developed countries than in rich countries (Table 8) and minimum wages in these countries increase welfare for poorest only moderately (Figure 9). It is worth remarking that the crisis had more or less similar impacts in all countries examined, be them rich or poor, but negative effects were much stronger in the poor countries. The economic crisis forced social dialogue partners to revise their economic, labour and employment policies. In most of the countries, the situation became worse when the economic crisis turned into a government debt crisis and top priority of the national policies was the consolidation of public finances and the reduction of debts. 21
In all countries examined, governments prepared and implemented anti-crisis strategies to secure the stability and development. These strategies were discussed in the national trilateral institutions. In the negotiations, trade unions were sceptic because the proposed actions for the protection of jobs and income were insufficient or even deteriorating. Employers pushed for more flexible working hours and lower wage guaranties. Not only the crisis but also the euro convergence exerted pressure on the socioeconomic development (impact of the convergence program, strict state budget discipline, public finance consolidation, reforms of pension systems). EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS In some countries, anti-crisis strategies for stability and development were proposed to support employees and employers in overcoming with difficulties caused by the crisis. Financial assistance was granted to working people to partly compensate their lost income and to be able to pay training fees and social contributions (PL). Other countries did not aim at securing workplaces and supported only those who left the labour market (LV). A broad spectrum of financial and training assistance was provided for the unemployed. The crisis triggered changes in the labour legislation in several countries (BG, LV, LT, HU) (Table 3). In Latvia, the Labour law was amended in 2014. In Lithuania, changes to the labour legislation were initiated in 2014 but the final decision on its direction has not yet been made. In all countries, amendments increase flexibility in the labour market regulations. The crisis had an even greater impact on social legislation. Social benefits (pensions, social insurance and social assistance and unemployment benefits) were cut in many countries. 22
Table 3. Impact of crisis on employment rights in the countries examined Impact of crisis Powerful legislative changes: wage cut in the public sector, freezing of minimum wage cut or reduction of social benefits, including pensions abolishment of the benefit for job seekers (HU); tightening the conditions for eligibility of job seekers allowance easing and abolishing any liability for changes in the welfare regulations for workers liberalizing industrial relations (reduction of the working time schedules, cutting the holyday time, reduction of severance payments [LT], increasing working time flexibility [BU, HU]; extending the calculation of summarised working time [BU]) Rules to protect workers from dismissal were reduced and weakened, lay-off procedures simplified No legal sanctions for not observing regulations regarding collective rights of the employees Restrictions in the employment relationship with certain public employers that are untypical to the private sector; the scope of collective agreements restricted or limited or revised for budgetary savings; regulations introduced on government officials, employees of the energy sector and others to limit their right for free association and collective bargaining The efficiency of the consultation mechanisms declined due to austerity measures imposed by the government Minimum protection for workers decreased, the employer s right for not paying the full amount of wages (only at least 60%) is legally guaranteed (BG) Strengthening of a private law approach by encouraging the use of collective bargaining and the conclusion of collective agreements Before the crisis (until 2012) the principle of flexicurity was dominant, after it the principle of flexibility overruled security Introduction of minimum insurance income (a mandatory payment that employees must pay even if received pay is less than the full amount) Source: national reports, seminar outcomes. Country LV BG, LV, LT LV, HU BG, LV BG, LT, LV, HU BG, HU (after 2010) BG, HU (after 2010) BG, LV, HU (after 2010) LT, LV BG, LV, LT, HU HU LT BG (2003) 23
MEMBERSHIP AND REPRESENTATIVENESS OF SOCIAL PARTNERS Decreasing membership was identified as a problem in all participating countries and there are several causes for it: structural changes in the economy (sectoral changes, increasing share of small enterprises and services); low support and power of trade unions in the society; lack of attractive services; anxiety over employers attitude to TU membership of their workers; no involvement of youth; enterprises closed down; temporary firing of workers a measure used by enterprises to prevent financial difficulties caused by the crisis; declining population due to emigration. SOCIAL DIALOGUE In the crisis period, especially at its beginning, the cooperation between governments and social partners varied from a full involvement of the social partners in the decision making process (LV) to the ignorance of their opinion (LT, BU). Centralising tendencies also increased (HU, BG, PL). Recently, governments created additional social dialogue bodies with wider representation (BG [ESC, NEPC]; HU [NGTT]). In extreme cases, social dialogue organisations were transformed from negotiation platforms to consultation platforms with obviously less or no power of decision (HU). However, other policies pointing in an opposite direction were also observed. In France, a law was enacted in 2007 that granted representatives of social partners (employers and employees) consultation rights in relation to any government project or prior to any draft bill on reforms in the area of labour relations, employment or vocational training. In some countries, institutional changes led to an increase in the role of social partners in the management of labour funds (in Poland in 2014, the Labour Market Council replaced the Supreme Council of Employment with this purpose) while in other countries institutional changes decreased the role of social partners in the management and control of such funds (BG). 24
The activity of social partners did not increase during the crisis there were no strikes, no other campaigns (LV, LT). Shrinking economic activities and decreased profit of companies reduced the manoeuvring space for negotiation between employers and employees. The closure of large enterprises also had negative influence on social dialogue. An extreme case in this respect is Hungary, where social dialogue at the national level was abolished soon after the government change. The tripartite social dialogue institution (OET) was dissolved. The National Economic and Social Council (NGTT) a multiparty civil dialogue consultative forum (of six constituents) was established with a much wider role, however, this body cannot be seen as the replacement of the OET: the government is not a member in this body, while the institution of tripartite interest reconciliation consisted of members who met the legal criteria of representativeness. The overall system became complicated it included three main organisations: the multipartite NGTT, the tripartite VKF, for the private sector and OKÉT, for the public sector. Moreover, in Hungary, changes in labour legislation marked a new process in the development of labour legislation they strengthened the private law approach. The new labour law decreased the level of minimum standards of the protection of workers, presumably in order to increase the use of collective bargaining and collective agreements. At the same time, trade unions rights were narrowed and their position weakened. Similar developments were reported from Lithuania. The law on strike legislation was also revised (HU, BU). COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND AGREEMENTS Countries where austerity measures were introduced ignored collectively agreed decisions in the public sector in order to secure budgetary discipline. Profits of state owned commercial companies were transferred to the state budget and the organisations were not able to comply with the stipulations of the collective agreements so they amended them by a mutual agreement. FINANCING Within the project, experts did not provide financial data on the activities of social dialogue organisations during the crisis period and after crisis. However, the deteriorating financial conditions of social dialogue organisations were mentioned as a negative consequence of shrinking membership and trust in trade unions. 25
On other hand, the crisis period coincided with the period when social partners organisations intensively used the EU Structural Funds. External funding compensated part of the loss of shrinking membership contribution - and the financial capacity of social dialogue organisations even increased at least in some countries, after 2007 (ex: Latvia). Experts did not analyse the significance of external resources during and after crisis, but expressed some criticism on external and state funding since the independence of TU organisations can only be guaranteed through membership contributions. In Latvia, external resources were used for capacity building of trade unions and employers organisations, training and research. 26
PRACTICES OF SOCIAL PARTNERS TO MANAGE CHALLENGES CAUSED BY THE CRISIS MEMBERSHIP The most popular activities national social partners used to counteract the decline in membership were: diversification and explanation of benefits of trade unions membership; improving the financial and organisational capacities of trade unions at all levels; increasing publicity of trade union operations, application of targeted dissemination strategies (orientation on top events [BG], cooperation with particular media [BG[, organisation of discussions with media participation [LV]); providing free of charge information and legal assistance on employment rights and rights of trade union members; improving recruitment strategies and tactics (more targeted and better recruitment talks with potential members) more focus on the involvement of youth (work in schools, targeted competitions, games and other events); opening to individual members from other sectors, self-employed, nonstandard workers, those who often change jobs, non-working people; direct involvement of members and non-members in trade union activities (industrial actions, social events, public competitions, public work). COLLECTIVE BARGAINING According to the experts, there were no substantial changes in the practice of collective bargaining, but the subject of negotiations changed. Wages were cautiously included in the agreements (Eurofound study). The arrangement of negotiation levels did not change. The representativeness of social partners, especially of trade unions was questioned due to the financial difficulties, the pressure of austerity measures and the contradiction between trade unions demanding guaranties for workers on the one hand and employers demanding more flexibility on the labour market, on other; and because of falling membership. 27
Experts identified in the reports three different situations: 1) the government questioned the representativeness of the social partners and introduced drastic requirements (BG [2011]); 2) social partners themselves demanded more drastic requirements on representativeness in order to increase their power (FR); 3) requirements to representativeness did not change (LT). To improve representativeness was especially important in countries where the representation rights of trade unions and their right to conclude and extend collective agreements was challenged (FR, HU). In other countries, the decrease in membership led to the revision of representativeness so that unions are prepared to respond to the challenges. Representatives from France presented a valuable experience on how to provide for incontestable representativeness even in case of low union density. In France, the system of representativeness of trade unions was reformed in 2007 2013. Since 2014, measures have been adopted to reform the representativeness of employer s organisations, as well. The reformed system will come into effect in 2017. THE POWER OF AGREEMENTS ACHIEVED After the crisis, there were three versions at the national level: social dialogue returned to its pre-crisis form (LV), remained moderate (LT) or was changed significantly (HU, PL). Compared to pre-crisis model, also the power of the achieved agreements increased or decreased accordingly. Much depends on the activity of trade unions per se. Within the current project, this issue remained open since experts could not specify precisely how to increase the power of the agreements increased. It was admitted that the best way to increase the power of the agreements is to have stronger organisations through more members, to improve the image of trade unions and get more support from the society and respect from opposition, to strengthen the internal unity and to cooperate with local and international power structures to have a say not only in taking decisions but also in their implementation. During the discussions in the international seminars, trade union members 28
stressed that poor internal communication hampers the unity of the trade union system and common representativeness, thus making the unions weaker than they actually are and unable to enforce the implementation of the agreements. The government bears great responsibility for agreements to be respected. In countries, where the government supports social dialogue, agreements adopted by all parties are also implemented (PL, LV). FINANCING In line with the experts information, the main tool to improve financing was to increase the membership. None of experts proposed to increase membership fees. OTHER The Lithuanian expert referred to the creation of the Labour Dispute Commissions under the State Labour Inspectorate as the best practice in the area of industrial relations in Lithuania. The protection of industrial rights has become faster, more effective and unbiased. These Commissions were established on the basis of the amendments to the stipulations of the Labour Code on the procedures of individual labour dispute, which came into effect on 1 January 2013. He admitted that big changes in labour relations in Lithuania can come after 2016 - depending on the changes the newly drafted labour code will bring, which is intended to introduce the new social model. 29
OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT EVENTS INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN VILNIUS The target group of the first seminar in Vilnius was trade union leaders and education and IR experts of trade unions. The following topics were put on the discussion: embeddedness of trade unions in state bodies; trade unions and financial support (membership fees and other sources) and communication strategies. The discussion covered four important questions: the recognition of trade unions, collaboration with trade union members, financial support (membership fees and other sources), trade union activities in enterprises with more than one trade union. The round table discussion led to several suggestions: First: lack of effective services, weak representativeness, changing structure of national economies and labour markets contribute to decreasing membership and human and financial capacity of trade unions, and, these are important reasons for trade unions loosing importance in the society and in the communication with the state institutions. Several examples of effective trade union services were mentioned, such as the creation of the mutual assistance fund for the renovation of apartments (FR all enterprises with more than 10 workers contribute to the fund), employment promotion measures, social insurance elements, social benefits, information and legal services (less effective in some countries). The French reform of the trade union representativeness system was discussed in depth. It is a good example of how strong representativeness can be achieved with low trade union density. Second: communication within the trade union system is not sufficient. High level trade union structures participate more often in externally funded capacity building projects, however, the skills obtained are not always transferred to lower levels and to individual members. Third: financial issues are important in all participating countries. In some countries, trade unions receive money from the state budget in this case, the conditions of funding are important in view of the independence of the union. In Bulgaria and Lithuania, workers who are not trade union members have to pay for the benefits the extended collective agreements provide. 30
Fourth: in some countries, it is difficult to regulate the collaboration of trade unions is if there is more than one union in an enterprise. INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN SOFIA The target group of the second seminar, held in Sofia, was trade unions representatives from the national level. The following topics were put on the discussion: industrial relations in public companies; social dialogue at the national and sectoral level (including wages) in the public sector; organisation and capacity building affairs including the financial sustainability of trade unions. During the seminar, Bulgaria s experience was presented in detail. Participants focused on three main questions in the discussion: raising awareness for TU work, media and trade unions, the right for strike in the different sectors. The round table discussion led to several suggestions. First: there is an increased need for the unionisation of self-employed. Second: practice has shown that both the employers and the state try to comply with the minimum requirements of labour law and there is no real social dialogue. Third: trade unions must reach out for the younger generation. More attention should be paid to free-lance entrepreneurs (e.g. musicians, actors, artists). When selecting the media it should always be considered what age group is addressed as elder cohorts might not have access to the new media or might simply not like to use them. However, the message sent is more important than the carrying media. Fourth: the organisation of strikes is restricted in Hungary and Latvia. Fifth: in some countries, like Hungary, military workers have basic trade union rights. Sixth: the Polish experience has shown that material benefits are also useful in attracting people to trade union activities, for instance sport events, meal coupons and even financial support to employees with new-born children. 31
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN RIGA The target group of the third seminar, held in Riga, was trade union representatives (organizers, youth members, trade union leaders from the company level). The following topics were put on discussion: organization strategies, visibility of trade union work, use of modern technologies and the link between confederations and sectors, as well as branch level trade union work. The round table discussion led to several suggestions: First: the relation between trade unions and the government is an major problem for trade unions. Low membership entails low funding and trade unions may become dependent on the financial support provided by the government, which questions their independence from the state. Second: recent changes in labour legislations are more favourable to employers than employees. For instance, the spread of new forms of employment (temporary agencies, short term employment [for 24 hours], combined working hours), is not advantageous to employees because they increase flexibility but do not provide security in employment and these employees cannot be protected by trade unions. Third: certain ethnic aspects of membership seem to be important in some countries. The involvement of national minorities depends on two conditions the ethnic structure of employees and trade union density in the sector. Ethnic discrimination is prohibited by law in all countries with mixed ethnic structure (LV, LT). Fourth: It is very important to use public events or other situations to speak directly with potential members at their workplaces. Fifth: effective strategies for organising: publishing different materials on trade unions and labour legislation; establishing youth sections at the national level with freedom in their activities (movie and sports events with discussions on trade union activities after the programme); raising awareness in the general public, as well as in particular groups for the real impact trade union activities have (for instance, high school students), increasing the visibility of trade unions by organising events (conferences), discussing issues that are essential for employees (for instance, on decent work, wage issues etc.), recruiting young people to work in trade union organisations so that they can actively connect to trade unions. 32
Sixth: it is difficult to increase membership in economies with a large number of small and micro enterprises. New strategies are needed (HU ESA funded project). Seventh: regular media is a suitable means to inform people about trade union activities and the various programs and projects hey organise. In order to attract the attention of mass media it is important to have two or three key words that sound interesting. Eighth: in order to increase membership, the basic restriction that only employees are entitled to trade unions membership should be abolished or special trade unions should be established for those who are not employed by an employer. For instance, in Lithuania, a special trade union was founded for young people. However, such organisations might need financial assistance, since its members are not independent financially (do not have an income). In Poland, there are trade unions for Ukrainian workers. Trade unions for self-employed are also in the pipeline. Ninth: to make it attractive to young people, it is important to have young officials in youth TU organisations (and in others). Tenth: the expert from France argued that strike as a tool which should not be used often. It is not popular and can easily be counterproductive for trade unions. Experts agreed that a comprehensive revitalisation of trade unions is the key solution, and actions should be taken at cross-sectoral level. Trade unions must be more adaptive to the society itself and to the constantly changing social trends. Without this, de-unionization will continue. 33
RECOMMENDATIONS TO TRADE UNIONS TO REDESIGN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE PRACTICES Experts stressed that a decline in trade union activities is a long-term problem that was aggravated, but not caused by financial crisis. They also admitted that, as far as labour movements and working conditions are concerned, trade unions are initiators within the social dialogue. Consequently, strong and modern trade unions are the most important component of an effective social dialogue. The ultimate goal of revitalizing social dialogue is to increase the influence of social partners, primarily of trade unions, in order to create industrial relations that provide for improving living and working conditions that not only satisfy the needs of the population, but stimulate the economy as well. The power of social partners should be increased not only in decision making but also in the implementation. The primary role of trade unions is the normalisation of industrial relations, to safeguard the compliance with the labour regulations ( watchdog role ), but also to initiate necessary changes. In order to be a valuable social partner, trade unions need to understand, promote, implement and update the major changes and become more communicative, more flexible, more integrated and able to cooperate in a network. Based on the project findings, eight clusters of activities are recommended to trade unions to redesign their industrial relation systems and practices of social dialogue (Table 4). Clusters 1-2 are envisaged to strengthen trade unions as organisations. Clusters 3-8 focus on strengthening social dialogue. Indeed, trade unions can only be initiators in social dialogue when they are strong, friendly to partners, have a wide support in the society, are well understood and assisted locally and when they receive and are able to use the assistance of international organisations. The following policy recommendations are drafted for the final project conference. The draft recommendations are to be discussed at the closing event (19-20 September 2016, Budapest). The fine-tuned policy recommendations are to be published on the project website (socdial.eu). 34
Table 4. Clusters for activities of trade unions to redesign IR and social dialogue practices 1. Organising of members Measure Revise trade union mobilisation policies in connection with the transformation (segmentation) of the labour market, to develop a strategy targeting at non-standard groups of employees Extend activities to the youth (work in schools, attractive measures, competitions and training, voluntary work in TU organisations) Broadening the discourse and efforts to influence the public opinion Use the crisis (drastic austerity policies, stingy health, education policy) as an argument to improve impact Result Possibility of TU membership to individual members (employees in SMEs and selfemployed), non-standard groups of workers and non-working members Young people become more familiar with trade unions, understand the theory and practice of unionisation and its need for the society Reach other interest groups and involve them in common actions and platforms Most effective influence proposing and fighting for legislative challenges Overall effect: create and strengthen workplace representation, improve financial and organisational capacity of trade unions, increase collective negotiating and bargaining power of trade unions and improve the unions mobilising capacity and influence. 2. Organisational restructuring of trade unions (modernisation, structural reforms, internal reorganisation, management) Measure Transform the organisations in line with the needs of liberalised labour markets Improve strategic planning of trade unions activities Result Possibility of TU membership for individual members, non-standard workers and nonworking members Precisely focused work, economical use of resources Consider mergers and acquisitions Achieving an economy of scale, Consider cooperation as a means to increase the power of small trade unions consolidating financial and human resources, extending potential membership and avoiding mutual competition 35
Improve internal communication and collaboration within the vertical and horizontal hierarchy of the trade union system (up and down and horizontal information flows) Improve collaboration within the vertical and horizontal hierarchy of the trade union system (common tasks and measures) Develop information services to improve communication with the society, introduction of new forms of communication and interaction Improve interaction with media Diversify and innovate benefits ( product ) provided by trade unions Provide training to improve organisational and negotiation skills and to develop the ability to find compromise Strengthen organization and rationalisation of unions; increase the unionised share of the labour market and the political power by eliminating competition or division among unions Dissemination of information about the idea, benefits and achievements of unionisation. Connectivity and networking Increasing attractiveness of trade unions More effective trade union work. Increasing capacity to mobilise for industrial actions and stronger membership activity Overall effect: more effective trade union work. 3. Fundamental trade union activities Measure Improve collective bargaining at the company level Improve sectoral bargaining, include wage bargaining in the sectoral agenda Improve social services (social funds ex. housing fund, strike fund), employment services, social benefits Industrial actions Result Stronger workplace representation Bargaining elevated to a higher level, stronger impact of decisions adopted Increasing attractiveness of trade union membership Strong voice in extreme cases Overall effect: better protection for workers. 36
4. Partnerships with employers Measure Result Develop common platforms of interests Promoting alliance and collaboration National agreements (2008, 2009 in Lithuania, in Latvia) Cooperate in the creation of employers organisations Common representativeness and mutual considerations before formal and informal negotiations Common social campaigns and measures between the social partners and other players in the social dialogue Social peace and mutual respect Partners for collective bargaining and social dialogue Adoption of decisions at the final steps of social dialogue Strong solidarity between social partners Overall effect: organising support against grassroots resistance, help to protect and develop bargaining institutions and allow them to pursue new kinds of interests, reduce employers and employees aversion to trade unions. 5. Coalition building with other social movements Measure Develop common platforms of interest; establish specific focal points to support interaction at local level Agreements with local government organisations at the national level Cooperation with academic institutions 37 Result Alliance and collaboration between social partners and other players in the social dialogue, such as: NGOs, local governments, science society Support in solving regional labour market problems and access to regional employers and public organisations Expertise with the help of independent experts or academicians, occasionally of social partners Overall effect (Frege and Kelly, 2003): organising support for grassroots resistance, better access to key individuals and networks within specific communities who could assist with organising campaigns; broaden the range of interests and the agendas that unions seek to represent; broaden their appeal to poorly represented segments, increase the perception of union instrumentality among non-union members
6. Political actions Measure Legislative initiative on industrial relations issues: Taxation and insurance reforms desirable proportional (progressive) taxation depending on income Abolish unfair and ineffective legislative norms, such as minimum insurance income (BG), legal right to be paid wages in full (BG), limitation of rights for repeated violation (BG); solidarity tax (LV) Introduction of sectoral minimum wages Restrict the use of accumulated calculation of working time Provide for proportionate and dissuasive sanctions Set up special labour courts Institutional setting of social dialogue Binding nature of social dialogue Increasing role of social partners in inspection Result A fair distribution of income and tax burden in the society Better living and working conditions. Provide for an effective legal environment for social dialogue Overall effect (Frege and Kelly, 2003): access to power resources resulting in more favourable labour legislation 7. International links Measure Improve language skills of trade union officials Increase efficiency of membership in international organisations Create the position of an international coordinator within the TU organisation Result Access to international organisations and networks and efficient participation in discussion at international level Reduced costs of formal participation in international meetings and events Explicit division of responsibility, coordinated actions focused on result Overall effect (Frege and Kelly, 2003): improve the exchange of information about multinational corporations, enhancing unions bargaining power; facilitating the 38
mobilisation of members in campaigns, enhancing political power through the lobbying effort of international union bodies. 8. Fundamental social dialogue activities Measure Result In countries where social dialogue was Social dialogue in accordance with ETUC most hit by the crisis or was even abolished goals (HU) - return at least to the former (before crisis) model Improve criteria and procedures for the Increase power of representatives (example selection of representatives; set clear of France) criteria of representatives of employees and employers at all levels Find a new generation of social partners Agree with partners on precise order and Efficient social dialogue schedule of meetings Set exact goals and areas of social dialogue Define issues and areas, where social partners have negotiation potential (legislation on gambling is probably not an issue for social dialogue) Organise platforms for the pre-discussion of issues so that the main meeting is able to take decision in time Sign national and sectoral agreements Take national situations and traditions into account. Consider the right of national organisations Improved sectoral collective bargaining to conclude sectoral collective agreements Overall effect: more and efficient social dialogue 39
CONCLUSIONS Loss of membership was identified as a serious problem for trade unions. The impact of declining membership was: problematic or contested representativeness in social dialogue, declining financial and organisational capacities, less independence due to a declining share of funding collected from membership contributions and weaker collective bargaining. Both external and internal reasons cause a decline of the activity of social partners. This project focused on lessons learnt and best practices on the way out of the crisis, specifically. However, the phenomenon of trade union decline was already perceived before the crisis, therefore permanent reasons (remaining after crisis) need to be distinguished from impacts of the financial crisis. Permanent external reasons are: economic, political and societal changes caused by globalisation (changes in the structure of industry; declining share of industry - traditional environment for trade unions and labour movement; increasing role of services and of small and medium size enterprises). Permanent internal reasons are: inability of trade unions to present themselves as modern and useful organisations; loss of trust in the ability of trade unions to protect workers rights, unwillingness to share efforts for unpaid activities and pay membership contributions, internal disagreements and the lack of a common ground in negotiations. The financial crisis also reduced the economic activities and the revenues in the private sector; it caused a decline in public funding and in wages of workers in the public sector; a closure of enterprises, an increase in the role of small and medium size enterprises and self-employment; shrinking resources for trade unions to recruit; austerity measures based on reduced social expenditure and the ignorance of collective agreements and agreements with social partners. In several countries, the crisis has triggered institutional changes and reduced the power of social dialogue (broader scope of participants, shifting from negotiations to consultations, lowering the competence level of social dialogue institutions so that they are not able to make implementable decisions, attempts to reduce the national representation of the social partners by tightening the criteria of national representativeness). Minimum standards of workers protection decreased in the participating countries. 40
Recommendations to trade unions to redesign industrial relations and social dialogue practices were structured in eight clusters: organising of members; organisational restructuring of trade unions; fundamental trade union activities; partnerships with employers; coalition building with other social movements; political actions; international links; and fundamental social dialogue activities. 41
SOURCES Carola M. Frege and John Kelly (2003). Union Revitalization Strategies in Comparative Perspective. European Journal of Industrial Relations. 2003 SAGE (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi) ISSN 0959-6801 Volume 9 Number 1 pp 7 24 European Social Policy - A Way Forward for the Union. A White Paper. Commission of the European Communities. OM(94) 333 final Brussels. 27. 07. 1994. http://europa.eu/documentation/official-docs/white-papers/pdf/ France: New rules on the representativeness of employer organisations. European observatory of working life. Eurofound, reported by Frédéric Turlan, published: 28 July 2015, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/articles/ Industrial relations and working conditions developments in 2013, Eurofound Industrial relations report in Europe 2012, European Commission Industrial relations report in Europe 2014, European Commission Lulle A., Ungure E. Annual Review of Labour Relations and Social Dialogue. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 2015. The 2015-2017 work programme of the European social partners. Partnership for inclusive growth and employment. See on http://resourcecentre.etuc.org/workprogrammes-42.html The European Social Model. https://www.etuc.org/european-social-model The European Social Model. http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/ eurwork/ Trade union strategies to recruit new groups of workers. European Foundation of living and working conditions. 2010. http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/ eurwork/ Working life country profile. Actors and institutions. Collective employment relations. http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ (Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland) Country reports of the project (available only online): http://socdial.eu/page/2679/html/expert-materials.html Country report Bulgaria by Adrian Iliev, 2015 (ed: Melinda Kelemen) Country report Lithuania by Arvydas Guogis, 2015 (ed: Melinda Kelemen) Country report Latvia by Raita Karnite, 2015 (ed: Melinda Kelemen) Country report Poland by Małgorzata Bogdanowicz (ed: Melinda Kelemen) Country report Hungary by Balázs Rossu, Kepesné Szabó Ildikó, 2015 (ed: Melinda Kelemen) 42
APPENDIX: STATISTICAL FIGURES Figure 1. Gross domestic product at market prices, thsd. EUR per inhabitant Source: EUROSTAT. Figure 2. Gross domestic product, Purchasing Power Standard per inhabitant (thsd) Source: EUROSTAT. 43
Figure 3. Real GDP growth rate - volume, percentage change on previous year Source: EUROSTAT. Figure 4. General government deficit (surplus), % of GDP Source: EUROSTAT. 44
Figure 5. General government gross debt, % of GDP Source: EUROSTAT. Figure 6. Total unemployment rate Source: EUROSTAT. 45
Figure 7. Hourly labour costs annual data Source: EUROSTAT. Figure 8. Gini coefficient Source: EUROSTAT. 46
Figure 9. Monthly minimum wages - bi-annual data, EUR per month Source: EUROSTAT. 47