A seminar about “Strengthening social dialogue to increase collective bargaining coverage”, organized by the National Foundation „CORESI" and National Trade Union Confederation Cartel ALFA in partnership with EZA and funded by the European Union, took place on 5-8 May in Predeal, Romania. The seminar was in a face-to-face format, attended by 46 participants. It also included a zoom intervention of the European MEP, Victor Negrescu.
The event brought together representatives of workers’ organizations from Romania, Bulgaria, France, Moldova, Portugal, Albania.
Public officials from the Ministry of Labour, the Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation and the Romanian MEP, Victor Negrescu have also attended the event, sharing their views and experiences on the situation of social dialogue at national and European level.
The agenda was followed as scheduled. According to participants' feedback and questionnaires, the organization of the event was very satisfactory. At the same time, presentations incited interesting and determined a lively debate, showing it was found meaningful and relevant for the activity of participants and their organizational projects. During the last day of the seminar, the participants had the opportunity to make a visit to the BCR headquarters in Brasov, a banking company that promotes social dialogue and has been an active part in the conclusion of the first sectoral level collective labour agreement in over a decade in Romania. The participants also visited the education hub established within the local branch of the bank.
The discussions during the seminar were focused on two main broad topics:
the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the European Union, its transposition and implementation, as well as the legal challenges it faces at present
the state of social dialogue in Romania, at the EU level and in the participants' countries.
Several case studies of successful union organization and collective bargaining wins have been presented. The SITT is a trade union that organize workers in the IT sector. During its fifteen-year activity, it negotiated over 30 collective agreements in more than 10 companies in the sector. This success did not come without challenges, which include differences of opinion, lack of employer transparency, and attempts to limit employee rights. The suspension of employment contracts during strikes also highlights the need for strike funds. Another example of successful social dialogue after the legal framework was revised in 2022, is the recent collective bargaining agreement at the level of the banking sector, the first of its kind in over decade in Romania, ensuring better working conditions and protection for approximately 45,000 employees.
The status of sectoral collective negotiations in Romania includes signed agreements in banking and social assistance and ongoing negotiations in insurance-reinsurance and culture sectors. The banking sector agreement serves as a model for other sectors, demonstrating the benefits of social dialogue and collaboration
The participants of the seminar from Albania, Bulgaria, France, Portugal and Moldova also shared their experiences, highlighting the existing problems in social partnership, initiatives to improve the normative framework, including the transposition of the Directive on the Adequate minimum wages and challenges faced by the social partners in the current context.
During the seminar our invited speakers presented their materials and offered the participants the chance to comment upon them, to ask questions and to reflect on the data reported. The round-up for the conclusions of the three days of exchanges of ideas and best practices lead to a few points and directions for action that the participants agreed upon:
-A legal framework promoting social dialogue is essential for achieving social justice. The EU has obligations to protect and promote collective bargaining and the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive balances respect for national systems and promotion of social dialogue.
-The main task of the unions is to help build strategies for expanding influence through new forms of unionization, social dialogue, industrial relations and collective bargaining.