Transcript Mid-term review

EMF and collective
bargaining
ETUI/EPSU seminar,
Erlend Hansen
Out-line
Our structure
Key decisions
Cooperation with
ETUC and others
2
Committee
 Has recently been expanded to cover also social
policy issues which are related to collective
bargaining, e.g. working time and pensions.
 Around 65 members and turnout of 35-40.
 Two meetings per year, up till 2012 one of them
in a new member state.
 Each meeting lasts one and a half days.
 Draft decisions circulated before meetings.
 Minutes taken and written in EN, GE, FR.
3
Select Working Party






Consists of about 18 committee members
High turnout
Important steering group
Prepares committee meetings and summer school
Chair and vice-chair from affiliates
Normally five meetings per year, not always in
Brussels. Try to be practical.
4
White collar group
 Subordinate to regular select working party
 Either pure engineer unions (Nordic) or
representatives of more complex unions
 Influences work programme, but it is not very
visible in our federation.
 Key political issues are long working hours, lack
of regulations and unpaid overtime.
5
Summer college
 In cooperation with ETUI, financed by
Commission
 Annual event in September, held in Southern
Europe, popular.
 Cross between seminar and think tank
 High level participation
 Informal, but important, looks into the future
 Focus on economic policy, Eucoban and common
demands. Sometimes with external experts.
6
CB conference
 Normally held every four years.
 Biggest event between congresses
 EMF had 250 participants in Madrid 2009.
7
Common demands - 1
 2005: EMF common demand on training
 ETUF:TCL common demand on training
 2009: EMF evaluation of CD on training and
adoption of new CD on precarious work
 2011: EMCEF and ETUF:TCL common demands
on precarious work. Slightly different.
 2012: Decisions to be merged. One campaign
until next conference, possibly in 2014.
 No plans of a next CD yet.
8
Common demands - 2
 Broad democratic processes, decisions taken by
CB conference.
 Critical to get a good start, we use “road-maps”,
questions are not academic
 Continuous evaluation in special surveys and
annual Eucoban report. Special web site.
 Important to show European employers that we
stand together
 Our affiliates refer to European decisions in
national CB and political lobbying
9
Temp agency work
Special focus on this challenge
Most important issue within precarious work
Our sectors are highly affected
We see hiring as extraordinary solution,
permanent employment should be normal
 Wish to reduce hiring in different ways
 Uncertain of new directive. Little knowledge of
implementation so far.




10
Eucoban
 Stands for “European Collective Bargaining
Network”.
 Annual report on macroeconomic development
and collective bargaining. Participation
satisfactory, but could have been better.
Questionnaire and report in EN, GE and FR.
 Day-to-day reporting system. Majority of items
on CB rounds, immediately circulated to more
than 100 correspondents. Search by country in
web site.
 Direct communication/questions between
member organisation.
11
Regional networks
 8 networks existed in the EMF
 Some were active, others not
 Evaluated after last CB conference
 Secretariat of European federation offers
assistance to self-organisation
12
Wage coordination
 Wage coordination rule first adopted in 1998
 Unions should demand compensation for inflation
and productivity
 Reassessed and slightly reworded in 2011
 Didn’t work in crisis years due to falling
productivity (and inflation in some cases)
 Future Eucoban reports will be more forwardlooking and analyse trends.
 Decisions of three former federations will be
merged.
13
Coop with ETUC
 ETUC follows and influences economic policy of
EU
 We are represented in their CB committee and in
social policy working groups.
 Steering group about to be set up
 Also important for us to have dialogue with other
federations like EPSU
 New ETUC initiative called “European Social
Contract”.
 ETUC has applied to Commission for funding of
CB coordination project.
14
Thank you for your attention!
15