One in four workers covered by new private sector agreement

Notes: Details of the content of agreements reached in various sectoral joint committees are available online on the website of the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue [SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale/FOD Werkgelegenheid, Arbeid en Sociaal Overleg] in French and Dutch.

Source: Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, 2007

Wage standard respected

The national intersectoral agreement set the so-called ‘wage bargaining standard’ at a maximum of 5% pay increases for the two-year period 2007–2008. Almost all of the new sectoral agreements have respected this standard, and only a few sectoral agreements slightly exceeded this provision. For example, the social partners in quarrying agreed on a pay increase of 5.5% for the period in question.

Belgium still uses a system of automatic indexation which adjusts wages automatically to correspond to the increase in living costs. This system of automatic indexation is practised in different ways within the various sectors. In previous bargaining rounds, an increasing number of sectoral joint committees had been concluding so-called ‘all-in agreements’, whereby the agreed pay increase included automatic indexation and other increases. If the indexation was higher than expected, the pay increases had to be reduced by the same amount, in order to guarantee that the actual wage increases never exceeded the agreed wage norm of 5%. An evaluation of the first agreements concluded in private industry sectors was undertaken. The evaluation showed that this all-in agreement was not applied in any greater number of sectors in the current bargaining rounds than in previous ones. This is despite the fact that such all-in agreements are considered good practice in the national intersectoral agreement.

A large number of sectoral joint committees are revising their so-called youth wage categories and have announced a revision of job specifications. These specifications determine the wage level of a particular job based on age categories; traditionally, this has affected white-collar workers in particular. In accordance with EU Directive 2000/78/EC on equal treatment in employment and occupation, such age-related discrimination should be eradicated as a criterion in collective bargaining. Several joint committees have promised to do so before 2009, as advised by the Belgian Minister of Labour and the intersectoral agreement.

Early retirement provisions

The 2005 Generation Pact (Pacte de solidarité entre les générations) (BE0602304F, BE0510303F) changed the regulations relating to early retirement, especially in terms of career requirements. All new sectoral agreements have to follow these new labour law rules. Therefore, the joint committees cannot continue to extend the provisions for the sector-specific systems of early retirement. However, the Generation Pact also provided for exemptions with regard to so-called heavy and stressful occupations, but the social partners are still discussing how to determine what these occupations are.

Several of the smaller joint committees representing blue-collar workers have stipulated in their new sectoral agreement that they want to strive to be recognised as a sector of ‘heavy’ occupations; these include the joint committees of the quarrying industry, cement works and tobacco manufacturing.

New training actions

For several years, lifelong learning and vocational training have been high on the bargaining agenda of the Belgian social partners (BE0610039I). However, little progress had been made in this area. The intersectoral agreement thus urged the bargaining parties of the sectors to take action in this regard. Looking at the initial results of the various sector bargaining rounds, it appears that the sectoral social partners have taken the request seriously. Employers’ contributions to the sector training funds have been raised and, in some instances, even doubled from 0.10% to 0.20%. In a number of sectors, formal measures have been taken to increase the proportion of workers participating in training each year. Moreover, the individual right to participate in a training programme of one or more days on an annual basis has been recognised. Procedures to establish company training plans are being further developed, and trade union training funds are also being raised.

The joint committee No. 111 of the metalworking industry, which is an important sectoral bargaining committee, has decided to introduce a ‘training passport’. All blue-collar workers will receive such a passport, which will outline the jobs they have done and the formal and informal training they have received throughout their career in the sector. Both the employer and employee will validate the information provided in this passport, and the employee will obtain a copy of the passport on termination of their employment contract or career.

Flexicurity measures

The national intersectoral agreement stipulated that the sectoral bargaining parties had to develop new regulations on the following issues:

1. if a temporary worker receives a permanent employment contract following several temporary contracts, the seniority built up as a temporary worker in the job has to be taken into account in order to calculate the worker’s wage level correctly;

2. probation time – a normal procedural step when hiring somebody on a permanent employment contract – does not apply to workers who have been transferred from a temporary to a permanent employment contract in a job;

3. establishing criteria to determine whether people are working on the basis of a so-called ‘false’ self-employed statute in their sector, thus being economically dependent workers.

Several sectoral joint committees have taken up these issues in their agreements. For example, the chemicals industry (joint committee No. 116) has introduced provisions in their collective agreement in relation to point 1 and 2, while the metalworking industry agreed to cancel the probation time when temporary workers are taken on permanently. The bargaining parties of the hairdressing and beauty care sector (joint committee No. 314) promised to tackle the issue of economically dependent workers in the near future.

Overtime regulations

Several sectoral agreements have adopted the new rules on overtime and its pay from the intersectoral agreement. These new rules relate to overtime ranging from 66 to 130 working hours a year. According to decisions of the 2005–2006 intersectoral agreement, which the social partners never officially signed, compensation for overtime of this amount cannot only be arranged by additional time off, but also by paying a bonus to the worker in question.

From a flexibility perspective, the ban on Saturday work in the construction sector has been partially lifted (BE0107355N) so that it will now be allowed under the following conditions:

• for specific types of work;

• for a maximum of 64 hours a year and paid at a rate of 150% of the normal wage;

• with the consent of the workers involved and in agreement with the trade union at the workplace.

Social benefits and outplacement

A lot of the sectors are raising their sector-specific social benefits. The premiums for example cover temporary unemployment, plant closure or retirement. These premiums are financed by sector-specific welfare funds (Fonds voor bestaanszekerheid/ Fonds de sécurité d'existence). A few sectors also agreed to expand their pension schemes, which are complementary to the state pension plan.

The international trade sector has extended the right of outplacement (reclassement professionnel) to all the workers in the sector and not only to those aged 45 years and older as prescribed by the Generation Pact.

Innovative economy

Although urged by the intersectoral agreement to develop new initiatives relating to innovation as industrial policy, diversity management and environmental issues, these questions are only dealt with to a limited extent in the sectoral agreements (BE0610019I).

However, it is worthwhile noting some exceptions, namely:

• the agreement of joint committee No. 214, which covers white-collar workers in the textiles industry – this contains a recommendation asking the employer and employee representatives to pay more attention to the issue of diversity and discrimination in the workplace;

• mobility premiums in relation to home-to-work traffic arrangements, which have been raised in many sectors;

• the joint committee No. 118 which represents the food industry and which has extended its arrangement to allocate 0.05% of the wages to a specific sector fund, which finances development cooperation projects in the Third World.

Commentary

In light of these initial results, the sector bargaining round 2007–2008 can be defined as normal: agreements were reached, the wage standard was respected, the usual issues of wage increases and working time flexibility were tackled, the debate focused on finances and percentages, and bargaining-related strike actions were rare.

However, it still remains difficult to include provisions in these sectoral collective agreements related to an innovative and sustainable economy – a concept frequently referred to in the declarations of national social dialogue.

Guy Van Gyes, Higher Institute for Labour Studies (HIVA), Catholic University of Leuven