Bolstering employers’ role in sectoral collective bargaining

Sectoral collective bargaining has enjoyed a consistently strong position in Slovakia. According to surveys, however, employers do not usually have as great a role in sectoral social dialogue as trade unions. Some employers feel that sectoral collective agreements put them at a disadvantage and therefore try to avoid signing them. In order to improve this situation, a project called ‘Social dialogue and strengthening of the employer’s position’ has been initiated in Slovakia. This project, co-financed by the European Union, aims to strengthen the position of employers in sectoral social dialogue. In November 2006, the first seminar was held, with representatives of the employers, trade unions and the government in attendance.

Background

Collective bargaining at sectoral level is a topic which has been discussed by employers for some time. In general, employers in Slovakia consider sectoral collective agreements to be serious barriers to competitiveness. From the employers’ perspective, the agreements decrease employment flexibility and reduce the margin of manoeuvrability of enterprise management, particularly with regard to the remuneration of employees. According to information available from the trade unions, some employers left the employer organisations, because they did not want to be bound by a sectoral collective agreement.

To date, the implementation of sectoral collective agreements is limited, because agreements are subject to consent by the employer concerned. As a result, the number of agreements has declined. However, employers, as well as trade union organisations, are obliged to bargain collectively as stipulated in the act on association. In order to avoid this obligation, some sectoral employer organisations apply the Civil Code, which does not impose this obligation upon them.

New project on social dialogue

Besides the aforementioned attitude of some employers, there is another issue concerning sectoral social dialogue. Surveys conducted in Slovakia, such as the project on Social dialogue capacity building at sectoral and company level, show that the trade unions usually have a greater capacity for sectoral social dialogue than the employers. Employers are not satisfied with this situation and are trying to change it.

In Slovakia, a project entitled Social dialogue and strengthening of the employers’ position which is co-financed by the EU, has been initiated. The Association of Electrical Industry (Zväz elektrotechnického priemyslu Slovenskej republiky, ZEP SR) is managing the project and planning six seminars on different topics dealing with social dialogue.

The first seminar was held on 14 November 2006. Representatives of 10 sectoral employer organisations participated in the seminar and discussed collective bargaining issues, including reaching and implementing sectoral collective agreements. They dealt mainly with the content of sectoral collective agreements and the employers’ objectives in reaching agreement with employee representatives. The main negotiator of the employer Association of the Engineering Industry of the Slovak Republic (Zväz strojárskeho priemyslu Slovenskej republiky, ZSP SR), Mr Juraj Borgula, presented some ideas about the future development of sectoral collective bargaining. Another negotiator from ZSP SR argued that social harmony requires lower production costs for the employers and can lead to increased job satisfaction levels for employees.

View of trade unions and government representatives

Trade union and government representatives, including representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny Slovenskej republiky, MPSVR SR), also participated in the seminar. The President of the Chemical Trade Union Association (Odborový zväz Chémia, OZCH SR), Mr Juraj Blahák, underlined the advantages of sectoral collective agreements for employees. The Director of the Department of Labour Relations and Labour Protection, Ms Mária Buchtová, discussed not only the current legislation, but also the practices used in sectoral collective bargaining. She emphasised the effective resolution of labour disputes concerning collective bargaining issues by mediators and arbitrators.

The next seminar is due to be held in January 2007 and will focus on the techniques and tactics of collective bargaining.

Ludovít Cziria, Institute for Labour and Family Research Bratislava