Social dialogue in the candidate countries

Social dialogue and EMU in the Candidate Countries Workshop

Vienna, 22-24 May 2002

Speech abstract - Junko Ishikawa

Senior Social Dialogue Specialist, InFocus Programme on Social Dialogue,
Labour Law and Labour Administration, ILO

ILO and the promotion of social dialogue

ILO's stance on social dialogue

My presentation will introduce the ILO's promotion of social dialogue by elaborating its concept and practice. I will briefly introduce the ILO's overarching work objectives, what we refer to as the 'Decent Work Agenda', with the strengthening of social dialogue being one of the four strategic objectives of our work. The ILO's working definition of social dialogue includes all types of negotiation, consultation or simply exchange of information among representatives of governments, employers and workers on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. For social dialogue to be effective, the influence and capacity of the social partners often need to be reinforced. Hence, the IFP/DIALOGUE at the ILO headquarters provides technical assistance on strengthening representation, capacity and services, governance and institution building of the social partners.

Overview of social dialogue in practice

By comparing different types of social dialogue in Western European countries and elsewhere (possibly Korea and/or South Africa), the presentation discusses new trends and characteristics for tripartite social dialogue in national economic and social policymaking. The benefits of such dialogue are examined as well as some legal, institutional and social preconditions for successful and constructive social dialogue. A brief example of ILO technical assistance is introduced:

1. Country level assistance (e.g. on-going technical assistance related to the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper process for technical and institutional capacity building of social partners to negotiate on macroeconomic issues)

2. Knowledge dissemination (e.g. on-going projects on social dialogue guidebook, social dialogue indicators database)

The presentation ends by asking participants what kind of ILO technical advice/assistance is most needed to effectively promote social dialogue on EMU in their countries.

Junko Ishikawa is currently senior social dialogue specialist in InFocus Programme on Social Dialogue, Labour Law and Labour Administration (IFP/Dialogue) at the International Labour Office in Geneva. She has been working for the ILO in Geneva since 1998 and mainly dealt with analyses of employment and labour market policies. Before joining the ILO she worked as a researcher at the London School of Economics, after having worked for international organisations and a private bank.