Industrial relations in the public sector
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Right to collective bargaining
The right of collective bargaining is in several countries subject to more restrictions than the right to constitute and freedom to join trade unions, especially for career civil servants or sub-groups of them. In some cases this also applies to the all central government (if not all public sector) employees. The EU Member States can by and large be divided into two sub-groups.
Regulating employment conditions through bargaining
In about half, or just fewer, of the EU27, collective negotiations represent the only or the main method of regulating the terms and conditions of employment of the vast majority (or all) of central government employees (wages and salaries included). This group includes Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UK, with qualifications in several cases.
In the Netherlands the negotiations do not lead, from a legal perspective, to real collective agreements, since the law on collective agreements does not apply to the government sector. However, since 1984 and more particularly 1993, the employer – the Minister of Internal Affairs – cannot unilaterally change the terms of employment of civil servants, but has to reach an agreement with a majority of the four trade unions in the Sectoral Consultation Committee for Government Employees (Sectorcommissie Overleg Rijkspersoneel, SOR). If no agreement is reached, the issue can or should be referred to the Committee for Advice and Arbitration (Advies-en-Arbitragecommissie, AAC), which between 1998–2002 issued two sets of recommendations for the central government sector.
In Italy, the armed forces and police (about 460,000 individuals) are formally excluded from collective bargaining, but these employees have forms of negotiations to determine at least part of their terms and conditions of employment, albeit using separate procedures from those of other central government and public sector employees (the agreements must be transposed into a decree of the President of the Republic). Judges, diplomats and prefects (about 12,000 persons in total) are excluded entirely from collective bargaining.
In the UK, the salary increases of the approximately 3,850 senior civil servants are determined through the pay review body system, and not through collective bargaining. Something similar occurs for senior civil servants in Ireland. In Finland, as well, a few special categories of staff in the state sector are outside the collective bargaining system, like directors, permanent secretaries and others, amounting to about 5,000 people out of a total of 124,000 central government employees. On the whole, however, the terms and conditions of service for both civil servants and employees under contract are agreed within a unitary agreement at central level (the Collective Agreement for State Civil Servants and Employees under Contract) and in separate agreements for civil servants and contractual employees at agency level.
In Denmark, where pay in the central government sector is regulated only by collective bargaining, statutory civil servants and contractual staff have two separate collective agreements. Civil servants’ working conditions and wages are subject to negotiations between the employers and trade unions, although the basic conditions and pension schemes are regulated by statutes. In Malta limitations exist for the police force, the army and a few other categories, which are also excluded from the right of association and the right to strike. In Slovenia, the Public Sector Wage System Act, which was passed in 2005, includes several provisions that require implementation through collective agreements. This, in turn, makes collective bargaining compulsory in the public sector (SI0212101F). The act has not yet been implemented in practice, however. In Slovakia, both civil servants and employees performing work in the public sector have their conditions of employment determined through collective bargaining, which since 2001 and 2003 has become similar to the private sector system. Firefighters and police have their own separate agreements. In June 2006 the Civil Service Office was abolished (SK0605019I).
Limited or no right to bargaining
In a similar number of countries (maybe even more), on the other hand, either the right of collective bargaining is denied to career civil servants (which in some cases are quite a large proportion of central government employees, as in Germany and Austria), or it has a weak and uncertain status, not leading to real, legally binding collective agreements, at least on pay issues (which is the case in France, Belgium and elsewhere). In other cases, even if it is formally allowed, it is rare or not practiced at all because unions are too weak or totally absent, as in most former communist countries of central and eastern Europe.
Germany is probably the best-known example of the first sub-group. As noted, Beamte (career civil servants), which amount to more than 40% of total central government employees, do not have the right of collective bargaining nor the right to strike. Another example is Austria, where almost all public employees, not only career civil servants, are excluded from the right to conclude collective agreements; their terms and conditions of employment are unilaterally determined by the responsible authorities, although informal negotiations take place. In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, collective bargaining is restricted or excluded for civil servants, but it is also very limited or totally absent for central government contractual employees because of the great weakness or absence of trade unions in the sector. In Bulgaria and Romania, there is also no bargaining over pay in central government; wage levels and increases are established by government regulations. In the Czech Republic, the existing legislation provides very limited scope for collective bargaining over pay in the central state administration. In Hungary the strict letter of the law rules out collective bargaining in the public administration, although there are several consultations between government and the unions, at central (including on pay increases) and local levels, which can lead to agreements. These depend, however, on the political disposition of the government in office. In Greece collective bargaining is allowed, but pay for public servants under public law is determined annually by law, while in Portugal collective negotiations over pay are important but, if no agreement is reached, the government can decide wage increases by administrative procedure.
Perhaps the clearest example of the uncertain legal status of the right of collective bargaining for government and public sector employees, at least over pay issues, is that of France. Since the 1983 Law on the Rights and Obligations of Civil Servants, trade unions are recognised as capable (ont la qualité) of conducting preliminary negotiations with the government at national level over pay increases, but these negotiations are not compulsory (they can be held or not). If these negotiations do take place, they may lead to an agreement, but not necessarily. Ultimately, the government may use this (possible) agreement when determining wage increases, but is also free to disregard it. Since the law was passed, all scenarios have in fact occurred: in some cases negotiations were not held, in others they did not lead to any agreement, in others still the agreement was disregarded, while only in a few cases was it translated into wage determinations. Despite this weakness of the legal basis of collective bargaining, important negotiations have taken place over the last twenty years, leading to the following agreements: namely on the reform of the civil service pay scale (‘Durafour agreement’, signed in 1990); on vocational training (signed in 1989, 1992 and 1996); on an early retirement scheme (1996); and on the reduction of precarious employment conditions (1996, 2000 and 2001). The situation is similar in Belgium: although negotiations and consultations take place between government and trade unions over pay and other issues, the agreements (protocols) are not legally binding and the government can act unilaterally. The pay system in the federal public sector, moreover, contains an automatic wage indexation, which weakens the parts of agreements relating to pay.
| Special status | As % of central government employment | Right of association | Right of collective bargaining | Right to strike | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | |||||
| AT | Beamte | 60%–66% | Yes | No | No | |
| BE | Statutory civil servant | 70%–75% | Yes | Uncertain status (protocols not legally binding) | No | |
| BG | Career civil servant | 55% | Yes | No | No | |
| CY | Public servant | 55%–65% | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | |
| CZ | No | - | Yes, with restrictions for armed forces, police | Yes, but limited scope for paybargaining in central administration | Yes, with restrictions for the courts, state prosecution service, the armed forces and security forces | |
| DE | Beamte | 40%–43% | Yes | No | No | |
| DK | Statutory civil servant | 35% | Yes | Yes | No for civil servants | |
| EE | Public servant | 90%–100% | Yes | No | No | |
| EL | Public servant | n.a. | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | Yes | Yes, regulated by special rules and with restrictions for judges and armed forces | |
| ES | Career civil servant | 46%-48% | Yes | Yes | Yes, except for judges, magistrates, public prosecutors, police and military personnel | |
| FI | Career civil servant | 83% | Yes | Yes | Yes, but commitment to labour market harmony, and special mechanism for dispute resolution | |
| FR | Fonctionnairepublique de l’Etat (titulaire) | 100% | Yes, with restrictions for armed forces and judges | Uncertain status | Yes, with restrictions for armed forces and judges | |
| HU | Career civil servant | n.a. | Yes | No | Yes, regulated by special rules and with restrictions for armed forces | |
| IE | Career civil servant | n.a. | Yes | Yes, but Pay Review Body for senior civil servants | Yes, with special mechanism for dispute resolution | |
| IT | No | - | Yes, with special rules for armed forces and police | Yes, with restrictions for judges, diplomats and prefects, armed forces and police | Yes, with special rules for essential public services | |
| LT | Career civil servant | 90%-100% | Yes | No | Yes, regulated by special rules | |
| LU | Career civil servant | 67% | Yes | No for civil servants and clerical workers | Yes, with special mechanism for dispute resolution and ban for some civil servants | |
| LV | Career civil servant | 34%–35% | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | No | No | |
| MT | Career civil servant | n.a. | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades and some other public servants | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades and some other public servants | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades and some other public servants | |
| NL | Career civil servant | n.a. | Yes | Yes | Yes, with restrictions for armed forces | |
| NO | Embetsmenn | n.a. | Yes | Yes | Yes, but no for senior civil servants and military | |
| PL | Civil service official | 3%–4% | Yes | No | No | |
| PT | Public servant | 74% | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces and police | No | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces and police | |
| RO | Career civil servant | n.a. | Yes | No | Yes | |
| SI | Career civil servant | n.a. | Yes | Yes | Yes, with special mechanism for dispute resolu-tion and minimum service provision | |
| SK | Career civil servant | 68% | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | Yes, with restrictions for judges, armed forces, police, fire brigades | Yes, but no for top civil servants, fire brigades and police | |
| UK | No | - | Yes | Yes, except for the approx. 3,850 senior civil servants, for which the Pay Review Body system applies | Yes | |
Source: EIRO, National contrbutions, 2006
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