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Negotiating the Crisis? Collective Bargaining in Europe During the Economic Downturn

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Negotiating the Crisis? Collective Bargaining in Europe During the Economic Downturn Working Paper No. 10 International Labour Office Geneva Negotiating the crisis? Collective bargaining in Europe during the economic downturn Vera Glassner Maarten Keune With support from the European Union March 2010 Industrial and Employment Relations Department (DIALOGUE) Working Paper No. 10 Negotiating the crisis? Collective bargaining in Europe during the economic downturn Vera Glassner and Maarten Keune Industrial and Employment Relations Department International Labour Office • Geneva March 2010 Copyright © International Labour Organization 2010 First published 2010 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected]. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered in the United Kingdom with the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP [Fax: (+44) (0)20 7631 5500; email: [email protected]], in the United States with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 [Fax: (+1) (978) 750 4470; email: [email protected]] or in other countries with associated Reproduction Rights Organizations, may make photocopies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data Glassner, Vera; Keune, Maarten Negotiating the crisis? collective bargaining in Europe during the economic downturn / Vera Glassner and Maarten Keune ; International Labour Office. - Geneva: ILO, 2010 1 v. p. (DIALOGUE working paper ; no.10) ISBN: 9789221233268;9789221233275 (web pdf) International Labour Office collective bargaining / collective agreement / economic recession / EU countries 13.06.5 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: [email protected] Visit our website: www.ilo.org/publns Printed in Switzerland Preface The global economic crisis that unfolded in 2008 has had a dramatic effect on employment and incomes across Europe. In June 2009, the International Labour Conference, attended by tripartite delegates from Government, employers’ and workers’ organizations from ILO member States, unanimously adopted a Global Jobs Pact. This global policy guidance addresses the social and employment impact of the international financial and economic crisis and highlights the role that social dialogue and collective bargaining can play in mitigating the effects of the crisis in the labour market. This working paper examines the role that collective bargaining has played in Europe during the economic downturn in protecting workers and facilitating enterprise adaptability. The paper was presented to the High-level Tripartite Meeting on Collective Bargaining that took place in November 2009 in Geneva, as well as the ITC-ILO/EU Forum on Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations in the midst of Economic Crisis in Europe that took place also in November 2009 in Turin, Italy. 1 As the paper argues, the response to the crisis has been shaped by a number of factors, most notably the nature of the industrial relations system, government support programmes, the particular economic situation of a country, sector or company, and the strategies adopted by employers and trade unions. The involvement of the social partners in economic and social policy has been a feature of the ‘European Social Model’ and made it possible for a number of countries to agree on a package of labour market crisis measures in a tripartite setting which often included increased support for short-time working arrangements. The authors then examine the main provisions in collective bargaining agreements at the national (intersectoral), sectoral and enterprise levels. These typically included measures to introduce more flexibility in pay, work organization and working time in order to save jobs, temporary or partial unemployment, often in combination with training, and measures to increase internal mobility. Where jobs could not be saved, workers and employers negotiated a social plan. The authors point out that collective bargaining systems in Europe have provided the flexibility needed to respond to the crisis and note an increase in negotiation activity at the enterprise level often within a sectoral or intersectoral framework, accelerating the process of ‘organized decentralization’ of collective bargaining. Finally, they emphasize the critical role that governments played in expanding the options that are available to the parties and thus the types of agreements that can be made. I am grateful to Vera Glassner and Marten Keune for undertaking this study and recommend the report to all. March 2010 Tayo Fashoyin Director, Industrial and Employment Relations Department (DIALOGUE) 1 See http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/events/tripartitemeeting.htm and http://forum2009.itcilo.org/en/home for details of these meetings. iii Contents Preface ................................................................................................................................. iii 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 2. The crisis: Increasing uncertainty, changing economic context and expectations for collective bargaining ...................................................................... 2 3. Public policy responses and the involvement of unions and employers .......................... 5 3.1. Tripartite negotiations and agreements ..................................................................... 6 3.2. Short-time working arrangements ............................................................................ 7 4. Collective agreements addressing the impact of the crisis ............................................. 9 4.1. Bargaining levels and coverage ................................................................................ 9 4.2. Crisis responses through sectoral and intersectoral collective agreements ............ 10 4.3. Company agreements tackling the effects of the crisis .......................................... 14 5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 19 References ........................................................................................................................... 21 Annex 1. Industrial relations systems in selected European countries. .............................. 25 Annex 2. Levels of collective bargaining in selected European countries ......................... 26 v 1. Introduction 2 As elsewhere in the world, the current crisis is having a strong impact on the economy, the labour market and the incomes of workers and their families in Europe. The economy has been shrinking and is characterized by a high level of uncertainty while the banking sector is in a profound crisis. Also, the rate of bankruptcies has been increasing rapidly and many companies are forced into processes of restructuring, particularly in the manufacturing sector. This also has strongly negative labour market effects. In the European Union the unemployment rate increased from seven per cent in August 2008 to 9.1 per cent in August 2009, i.e. by more than 2 percentage points in just one year. What is more, predictions for 2010 indicate a further increase in unemployment, especially when temporary support measures run out. One of the remarkable features of the crisis is the changing role of actors. This concerns first and foremost the state. Whereas the dominant ideology of the past 25 years argued that the state should increasingly withdraw from the economy and that economic prosperity could best be achieved via market and private initiatives, today the state is back as a key economic actor. States have been buying up banks and companies in crisis, developing massive labour market programmes to keep workers in employment, etc. In this paper we will highlight
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