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Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations: Global Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

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Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations: Global Trends, Challenges and Opportunities BRICS BRIEF SERIES Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations: Global Trends, Challenges and Opportunities GLOBAL TRENDS For the purpose of this note, social dialogue includes the protection of labour rights, improved working all types of negotiation, consultation and exchange of conditions and sustainable enterprise development, information between and among representatives of facilitated wage determination and enhanced social governments, employers and workers on issues of peace and stability. It also proved its value during the common interest relating to economic and social recent economic and financial crisis by helping to policy . Social dialogue is both a means to achieve generate socially acceptable solutions at national and social and economic progress and an end in itself, as regional levels, and by mitigating negative impacts in it gives people a voice and a stake in their societies many countries, especially by maintaining and workplaces. It is central to the functioning of the employment and income levels during the economic ILO and is practiced in the majority of its member downturn. ILO research has shown that collective states, albeit to varying degrees and levels of bargaining plays an important role in reducing efficiency. Around 90 per cent of ILO member states inequality, and has specifically shown the correlation have some kind of tripartite institution in place to between higher levels of collective bargaining enable social dialogue at the national level. coverage and lower levels of inequality. Social dialogue is widely recognised as an important However, a number of challenges are prompting social component of good governance of labour-related dialogue actors around the world to consider how best matters. It has key significance for the implementation to adapt to developments in the world of work, so as of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and to ensure the continued relevance of social dialogue its goals (SDGs) at the national level. It is linked, in in varied national contexts. The most significant particular, to Goal 16 that requires, among other challenges worldwide, including (to varying degrees) things, the development of effective, accountable and in the BRICS, include widening income inequality and transparent institutions at all levels and of responsive, declining labour share in gross domestic product (in inclusive, participatory and representative decision- part related to the erosion of collective bargaining in making. some countries), the changing nature of work and the employment relationship, the weakening of labour Over the years, social dialogue has become a widely market institutions, the growing incidence of informal recognised and respected method for addressing employment and an associated lack of worker labour-related challenges and as a means to achieve protection and pressures to curb public spending. social equity, economic efficiency and democratic Against this backdrop, questions have been raised participation. In many countries, it has contributed to concerning the effectiveness of social dialogue and its 1 outcomes. Despite the existence of formal tripartite SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN BRICS and bipartite institutions, evidence points to some decline in the use of forms of social dialogue that COUNTRIES produce binding commitments, such as tripartite social pacts and collective bargaining agreements. While industrial relations show some rather distinctive To remain relevant, social dialogue must help tripartite regional and sub-regional patterns, they also remain partners to address the above-mentioned challenges country-specific, shaped by unique historical and and to respond to a number of “mega-drivers” of social contexts. This diversity is particularly notable change which are likely to significantly impact labour among the BRICS countries, which not only span relations. Firstly, the world of work is being different regions, but have experienced very diverse transformed by technological revolution such as political and economic developments that have increasing automation and digitization. Secondly, shaped their respective legal and institutional demographic developments, migration, refugee frameworks as well as their national labour policies. crises, climate change and poverty may reinforce the The main measurable industrial relations parameters, duality between the aging global North and the young such as trade union density, collective bargaining global South, with profound impacts on labour structures and coverage, present important 1 markets. Thirdly, facing climate change may require differences across the BRICS. While in some moving towards a low-carbon future, the costs and countries, industrial relations have remained relatively benefits of which will need to be fairly distributed. And stable for decades, in others they have changed lastly, while globalization has contributed to the profoundly, in line with national political and economic reduction of poverty in many parts of the world, the rise developments, especially with the liberalization of of popular disillusionment in some countries and product markets, which is a common feature of all population groups potentially threatens not only the BRICS countries. free market concept but very basic democratic values. In all the BRICS, social dialogue and industrial Social dialogue must help government and the social relations have contributed, to varying extents, to partners anticipate and manage these challenges and inclusive economic development, to enhanced threats, turning them into opportunities for sustainable coherence between economic and social policies and development. It needs to adapt to the new economic, to addressing key social challenges such as wage social and political realities while avoiding the inequalities, worker protection, conditions of work, imposition of one-size-fits-all approaches. Experience regulation of non-standard forms of employment, of the BRICS can make a valuable contribution to compliance with labour laws and respect for the rule these debates, which will also be on the agenda of the of law in general. In some countries, tripartite dialogue forthcoming 107th International Labour Conference, to at the peak level has helped to mitigate the social be held in Geneva from 28 May to 8 June 2018. costs of market-oriented reforms. And in others, social dialogue has been an important element in the democratization of political life or resulted in the conclusion of social pacts and tripartite agreements. 1 See Table 1: Trade union density rate and collective bargaining coverage rate Copyright © International Labour Organization 2018 2 While all the BRICS countries have enacted various regular basis or do not meet at all for rather extended laws needed for tripartite and bipartite dialogue, in periods. some countries there is still a gap between their Collective bargaining is, by and large, restricted to national legislation and international labour standards. bigger enterprises or selected industrial sectors, while Above all, there is scope for improvement among its scope and coverage has been progressively certain BRICS in terms of the ratification of ILO constrained by changes in the employment conventions which frame such fundamental issues as relationship or in work organization, such as freedom of association, the right to bargain collectively contractualization, casualization or outsourcing. or tripartite consultations on ILO matters.2 Some Countries where collective bargaining coverage has governments, in consultation with social partners, are remained stable, or has increased, are those which considering measures to pursue the ratification of have used a range of policy measures to promote these standards. collective bargaining more generally, and bargaining The BRICS countries have established a whole range coordination in particular. These include lowering of of institutions at the national and regional levels, with thresholds for the introduction of public-interest either general or more specialized mandates.3 considerations in policy decisions to extend a However, there are marked differences in the structure collective agreement, such as the proportion of non- and impact of these institutions and in the architecture standard workers in a particular sector. of the institutional framework. In countries with a While there are some interesting cases of workplace federal organization, for example, the often complex cooperation, for example on the reorganization of relationships between central and regional enterprises, introduction of new technologies and governments require special efforts for effective occupational health and safety issues, the relationship cooperation and coordination. between collective bargaining and workplace There appears to be a common implementation cooperation is sometimes blurred. Efforts to introduce challenge across the BRICS countries, as in other more formal forms of workplace cooperation have in countries. The conclusions adopted by tripartite and some cases received a mixed reception by both bipartite instances have been most often of a employers and workers. recommendatory nature, and not binding on the government authorities responsible for their OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXCHANGE implementation. AND MUTUAL LEARNING It therefore seems that in most countries there is considerable scope for improvement of the functioning This heterogeneity in industrial relations and social of the tripartite institutions themselves. Even with solid dialogue mechanisms
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