New public sector union confederation

On 1 February 2006, five Slovenian public sector trade unions founded the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KSJS). With 81,000 members, KSJS is now the second largest confederation in Slovenia. Its establishment comes at a crucial time, prior to the launch of comprehensive economic and labour reforms, which will have an impact on the legal and social security rights of public sector workers.

In Slovenia, a large group of strong and autonomous, mainly white-collar, trade unions represents the public sector, including social services (such as healthcare and education), transport, financial services, and other specific sectors and occupations. Many of these are breakaway unions from the Union of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (Zveza svobodnih sindikatov Slovenije, ZSSS) – the largest trade union organisation in Slovenia (SI0210102F).

Unions comprising new confederation

On 1 February 2006, the representatives of five public sector trade unions founded the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (Konfederacija sindikatov javnega sektorja, KSJS). The five unions are:

• the Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia (Sindikat vzgoje, izobraževanja, znanosti in kulture Slovenije, SVIZ);

• the Trade Union of Health and Social Services of Slovenia (Sindikat zdravstva in socialnega varstva Slovenije, SZSVS);

• the Police Trade Union of Slovenia (Policijski sindikat Slovenie, PSS);

• the Nursing Workers’ Trade Union of Slovenia (Sindikat delavcev v zdravstveni negi Slovenije, SDZNS);

• the Independent Trade Union of Workers at the University of Ljubljana (Neodvisni sindikat delavcev Ljubljanske univerze, NSDLU).

Founded in 1990, SVIZ has 40,000 members and is the largest independent trade union in the public sector. It has been the founding member of Educational International (EI) since 1993, and is a member of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE).

SZSVS was set up on 7 December 1990 as a non-partisan organisation, independent from the ZSSS. It has 20,000 members in the health and social services sectors. The union is a member of Public Services International (PSI).

PSS was established on 23 June 1990. Its members are employed in the Ministry of the Interior (Ministrstvo za notranje zadeve, MNZ) and in the Slovenian police force (Policija); the trade union represents 75% of all employees working in both institutions. PSS is a member of the European Council of Police Trade Unions (Conseil Européen des Syndicats de Police, CESP), and is a full member of the European Confederation of Police (EUROCOP) since 2002.

SDZNS was founded on 19 April 1994. It represents nurses and health technicians, and has 9,000 members in total.

Founded on 5 April 1990, NSDLU organises employees from the University of Ljubljana (university teachers, researchers and other employees). It had 1,200 members in December 1998 and is a representative trade union in the sector of higher and university education.

Defending member interests

KSJS is now the second largest confederation in Slovenia, with 81,000 members representing more than half of all workers employed in the public sector. At its founding congress, Branimir Strukelj, SVIZ Secretary General, was elected President of KSJS. The confederation has a governing body composed of one representative from each member union.

KSJS President, Mr Strukelj, outlined that the new confederation aimed to defend more effectively the interests of their members, particularly regarding pension and disability insurance, health insurance, employment relationships, employment policy, pay and other issues. He also emphasised that KSJS was founded at a crucial time, prior to the launch of comprehensive reforms that would reduce the legal and social security entitlements of 150,000 public sector workers (SI0601303F). These reforms include the introduction of a flat tax rate, amendment of labour market policies, introduction of market principles into university education, privatisation of the healthcare system, and other measures.

Towards ESSS membership

KSJS also aspires to become a member of the Economic and Social Council of Slovenia (Ekonomsko socialni svet Slovenije, ESSS) (SI0207103F). According to the governing rules of the ESSS, all interest groups (government, employers and workers) must be adequately represented by five members for each of the three social partner groupings. However, the abovementioned public sector trade unions do not have a representative on the ESSS. So far, they have been organised through a Coordination of Public Sector Trade Unions, which is not a trade union organisation and serves only for coordinating negotiations at national intersectoral level. Since only confederations can have members on the ESSS, the previous coordinating structure was not a full member, but its representative has been invited to participate in the ESSS sessions.

For topics that are of common interest to all trade unions, it would be useful for public sector unions to be represented on the ESSS. However, this can be problematic when the interests of public and private sector trade unions may diverge. Furthermore, the question of KSJS membership in the ESSS remains uncertain if the quota of five representative members is already met by other trade union organisations.

Štefan Skledar, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD), Ljubljana