50 years of the National Labour Council

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Belgium's bipartite National Labour Council celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2002, and we take this opportunity to examine its history, composition, role and future challenges. The Council has extensively demonstrated its importance in the field of social dialogue and concertation over the years, and is now facing new challenges as the state attempts to make its mark on the social dialogue.

The National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/Nationaal Arbeidsraad, CNT/NAR) was established by the law of 29 May 1952. It thus celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2002, holding a special commemorative ceremony on 5 June.

Composition

In order to guarantee its autonomy, lawmakers gave the CNT/NAR the status of a body governed by public law when it was established in 1952. The members of the CNT/NAR are divided equally between representatives of the most representative workers' organisations and representatives of the most representative employers' organisations. The 13 workers' seats on the Council are currently distributed as follows:

• Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV) - six seats;

• Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) - six seats; and

• Federation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (Centrale Générale des Syndicaux Libéraux de Belgique/Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België, CGSLB/ACLVB) - one seat.

The 13 employers' seats on the Council are currently distributed as follows:

• Federation of Belgian Enterprises (Fédération des Entreprises de Belgique/Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, FEB/VBO) - eight seats;

• Union of Small Firms and Traders (Union des Classes Moyennes, UCM) and Union of Independents (Unie van Zelfstandige Ondernemers, UNIZO) - three seats;

• farmers' associations (UPA and Boerenbond)- one seat; and

• the Confederation of Not-for-Profit Enterprises (Confédération des Entreprises du Non Marchand, CENM) - one seat.

The Minister of Employment and Labour determines which of the most representative organisations may sit on the National Labour Council, although this practice has been subject to criticism from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Role

The 1952 law gave the CNT/NAR, a consultative body, two areas of competence:

1. the provision of opinions and the formulation of proposals for the government and/or parliament on various social and employment issues concerning employers and employees; and

2. the issuing of opinions when disputes relating to competence arise between sectoral joint committee s.

Fresh responsibilities were allocated to the Council by the Collective Labour Agreements and Joint Committees Act of 5 December 1968. Under this legislation, intersectoral agreements (BE0101337F) and other national collective agreements (conventions collectives de travail/collectieve arbeidsovereenkomsten, CCTs/CAOs) are concluded within the CNT/NAR.

Furthermore, certain specific laws have given the CNT/NAR the task of issuing opinions and proposals prior to the adoption of executory decisions - for example this is the case for legal texts relating to individual and collective employment relations, and social security.

Origins and actions

The birth of the National Labour Council was the outcome of a long historical process. After bloody uprisings by workers in 1886, the Belgian government decided to set up 'industry and labour councils' (Conseils de l'industrie et du travail) in the following year. These were made up jointly of workers and employers, and were consulted by the government when social legislation was being drafted. Then, in 1892, a national body was established to coordinate the industry and labour councils: this was the Higher Labour Council (Conseil supérieur du travail), a tripartite body made up of 16 employers' representatives, 16 workers' representatives and 16 experts in socio-economic matters. All were appointed by the executive power.

As a consultative body, the Higher Labour Council helped to draw up legislation on contracts of employment, work regulations and workplace accidents, but in 1935, it was succeeded by the Higher Council of Labour and Social Welfare (Conseil supérieur du travail et de la prévoyance sociale). After the Second World War, a General Joint Council (Conseil paritaire général) was established, based on the principles of a social solidarity agreement that had been concluded between employers' and workers' representatives. The General Joint Council gave way to the National Labour Council in 1952.

The last 50 years have seen the CNT/NAR turn into a key player in matters of social and employment legislation, having produced numerous national collective agreements dealing with such issues as: the status of union delegations; the functioning and competence of works council s; collective redundancies; guaranteed monthly pay; compensatory payments for older workers who are dismissed, the guaranteed average monthly minimum income; part-time work; information and consultation for workers on the social consequences of the introduction of new technology; and the introduction of the 'time-credit' scheme, allowing workers to reduce their working time in various ways (BE0108360F).

Issues for the future

The National Labour Council president, Paul Windey, believes that the world of work has changed enormously over the last 50 years. Among the factors behind this change, he points to the 'knowledge society', globalisation, migratory flows, the rapid growth of technology, and the appearance of new services in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.

As far as industrial relations are concerned, Mr Windey highlights new issues such as: the sustainable development of enterprises; reconciliation between family and working life; mobility; stress at work and relations between workers; flexibility and security; investment in training; a higher labour force participation rate; and the use of new technology. The consequences have been, on the one hand, the importance of lifelong learning for workers to adapt to technological change, and on the other, the more or less regular need to restructure enterprises.

With regard to social dialogue, Mr Windey emphasises the end of 'face-to-face' confrontations between workers and employers: 'We believe that the role of the latter has been split up: the employer, to whom the worker is linked by a contract of employment, no longer combines the three employer functions in one person – that is to say owner of the enterprise, head of human resources and the person responsible for organising the work.' The CNT/NAR president also stresses the introduction of new ways of organising social dialogue.

At the anniversary ceremony in June 2002, Professor Maxime Stroobant referred to a number of shortcomings in the make-up of the National Labour Council: for example, the ILO has criticised the fact that only the most representative trade unions and employers' associations may sit on the Council. However, he acknowledged that adjustments have been made to represent managerial staff on the trade union side, and to allow representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the not-for-profit sector to sit on the employers' side. Among future issues, Professor Stroobant identified the Europeanisation of legislation and the globalisation of a number of sectors of the economy, but nonetheless argued that concertation between the social partners and public authorities on matters concerning working conditions is vital: 'The distribution of tasks between the social partners and the state affects both the range of interests that have to be taken into consideration, and the ability of employers and workers themselves to reach reasonable agreements.'

On this matter, the Federal Minister of Employment and Labour, Laurette Onkelinx, acknowledged the social partners' autonomy with regard to collective bargaining, but she also stressed the state's role as arbiter: 'This autonomy, which is expressed in a number of ways, including intersectoral and collective agreements, is complemented by the additional role of the executive power in social dialogue. In many areas of social legislation, when the employers' associations and the trade unions reach a consensus, the government provides the legal structures that are needed for their agreements to be implemented. However, when inevitable discord arises, the government is the guarantor of the general interest, and has to intervene to ensure that it maintained. The government sometimes plays the role of conciliator, and sometimes that of arbiter, depending on the circumstances.'

Commentary

The National Labour Council's 50th anniversary was an opportunity to ponder the role of the state in negotiations between the social partners. Professor Stroobant stressed the CNT/NAR's joint composition (ie with seats for workers and employers), making it clear that it is not a tripartite body (ie one consisting of representatives of workers, employers and the state). On the other hand, Minister Onkelinx in her speech talked of 'tripartite dialogue'. The state's desire to intervene in social dialogue is not new. It is true that the role of the government can be useful in this field, but this intervention must not encroach upon the social partners' autonomy that is written into the law of 1952 and ILO Conventions. Social concertation is above all the business of the social partners. (Baudouin Massart, TESA-VUB)