Sectoral social dialogue has proved its value over the last 12 years, the European Commission said, while recognising that there is also room for improvement. On 23 July, it published a working document to take stock of the progress made in the area of sectoral social dialogue, be it discussions, consultations, negotiations or joint actions that include organisations representing the two sides of industry (workers and employers) in specific sectors. The assessment highlights a number of landmarks since the creation of sectoral social dialogue in 1998: almost 40 sectoral social dialogue committees have been set up since then, representing 145 million workers and key sectors, such as transport and energy. These have produced about 500 texts of different kinds.

“Despite the overall success of these committees, there is still room for improvement. The Commission intends to encourage the European and national sectoral social partners to make full use of their capacity to negotiate, reinforce their administrative capacity and representativeness and create synergies between sectors. It will continue to foster integration of new players as well as better participation of new member states’ representatives,” concludes the working document, which calls for the role of sectoral social dialogue not to be neglected, above all in times of crisis. The Commission supports sectoral social dialogue in terms of legal and logistic assistance (organising meetings, reimbursing fees for experts and interpretation).

CONCRETE ACHIEVEMENTS

At present, member states are subject to five directives as a result of legally binding agreements negotiated by the social partners in the social dialogue committees. The first aims to prevent injuries and infections to health care workers from sharp objects; the second seeks to improve working conditions for maritime workers, estimated at 300,000; the third aims to guarantee satisfactory conditions for people working in cross-border rail services. The last two set minimum standards for working hours and rest period for aircraft crews and maritime workers.

In addition to these framework agreements, the social partners also have the possibility to respond to consultations or to form joint opinions. They can also take concrete measures to raise awareness and support social dialogue at a national, regional or even company level. For example, they drew up recommendations to combat bogus self-employment in the construction sector and edited a handbook for fishermen to help prevent accidents at sea.

The working document is available at www.europolitics.info > Search = 277378