BEU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 295: Invitation til teknisk gennemgang om mindsteløn, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

Beskæftigelsesudvalget 2019-20
BEU Alm.del Bilag 295
Offentligt

Denmark & Sweden

Initiatives to promote fair wages through social dia-

logue in EU Member States

***

Every worker in the EU should be able to make a decent living when working full

time. For the sake of the individual worker but also for the sake of fair competition

in the internal market. Reducing the number of workers,

who are ‘working poor’

and securing upward convergence is undoubtedly a goal to strive for.

However, binding EU-measures on minimum wage is not the way forward. It is

clear that there is no legal basis to put forward an instrument on minimum rates of

pay

–

as stated in Article 153(5) in the Treaty of Functioning of the European Un-

ion as well as case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-268/06

Impact). This was also repeated by the Commission in its first phase consultation

of the social partners. On the contrary, wages are set in each Member State in ac-

cordance with national labour market models

–

either by agreement between the

employee and the employer or through agreements between the social partners

within the framework of these negotiations set by the Member State. Some Mem-

ber States provide a minimum floor of protection by law. It is unclear what the

Commission envisages to propose considering those limitations. The hesitations

from different actors and Member States towards introducing minimum mecha-

nisms on fair minimum wages are well known. In this paper we will focus on pos-

sible other means to promote social dialogue and thus fair wages.

In their reply to the Commission’s first stage consultation on a possible action ad-

dressing the challenges related to fair minimum wages, the European social part-

ners have emphasized the need for social dialogue stressing that promoting and

safeguarding collective bargaining is essential.

The EU should endeavor to support the role of the social partners and the outcome

of their decisions. In Member States with high coverage of collective bargaining,

wage is an area traditionally reserved for the autonomy of the social partners and

an area from which governments have refrained from interfering with. Autono-

mous negotiations between the social partners have proven to be a successful way

of ensuring the priorities and security of both employers and workers and contrib-

ute to a flexible labour market. The Treaty protects this by explicitly exempting

wages and the role of the social partners from an EU instrument and encourages in-

stead social dialogue. Data presented by the Commission in its consultation docu-

ment shows that countries with strong social partners, who are able to negotiate

freely, to a large extent already have fair wages. It indicates that the best way to

achieve fair wages is to strengthen collective bargaining and not through statutory

minimum wages. For these reasons, the Commission is encouraged to promote so-

cial dialogue and an increased use of collective bargaining as the best way to pro-

mote fair minimum wage in each Member State

–

a long-term but sustainable solu-

tion.

BEU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 295: Invitation til teknisk gennemgang om mindsteløn, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

Although the promotion of social dialogue is a common objective of the EU and

the Member States, binding mechanisms for consultations of national social part-

ners, for arbitration and for dispute settlement is and should continue to be a matter

for the Member States and not the EU. However, much can be done at EU level in

terms of awareness raising, exchange of best practice, identifying opportunities and

obstacles and making recommendations, support capacity building, creating incen-

tives etc. Gender mainstreaming should be an integral part of this work.

We thus invite the Commission to strengthen social dialogue by putting forward a

Communication identifying the challenges of social dialogue in Member States and

bringing forward new tools to meet these challenges. The following suggestions

seek to contribute to this work by promoting, while respecting the division of com-

petences between Member States and the EU and the autonomy of social partners:



Capacity building

Transparency

Better implementation and enforcement

Awareness raising

–

sharing of good practice

Incentives for collective bargaining

Capacity building

Capacity building of social partners at national level is a prerequisite for social dia-

logue. It contributes to improved representativeness, which in turn contributes to

increased coverage of collective agreements and influence at national level. The

support for increased capacity of social partners is also reflected in principle 8 of

the European Pillar of Social Rights, stating that the

”support

for increased capac-

ity of social partners to promote social dialogue shall be encouraged”.

Possible EU-initiatives

A way to accommodate these challenges and to target support measures in chal-

lenged Member States is for

the Commission

to:



Promote even stronger use of European Social Fund+ for the capacity building

of national social partners in all Member States.



Encourage the use of the possibilities under European Structural Funds (e.g.

ESF+) to promote projects covered by collective agreements.



Promote bilateral and unilateral activities involving the social partners in order

to further and disseminate collective bargaining structures in all Member States.



Support capacity building through mutual learning and exchange of best prac-

tices.

There is no “one-size-fits-all”

for well-functioning social dialogue. How-

ever, exchange of good practice between Member States could help to inspire

and promote the involvement of social partners. One way of doing so could be

by introducing a 1:1-mentoring programme between Member States. The Euro-

pean Labour Authority could help facilitate such capacity building.

Possible national initiatives

An effective social dialogue also requires social partners to be autonomous and to

have (national) institutional settings to help allow the outcome of their social dia-

logue and negotiations to be effective. In order to strengthen the representativeness

BEU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 295: Invitation til teknisk gennemgang om mindsteløn, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

of the organizations

Member States

could consider introducing institutional frame-

works to support and encourage social dialogue

–

keeping in mind that a successful

social dialogue often presupposes the absence of government interference or that

the government acts on the joint request of the social partners (a two-party dia-

logue).

Transparency

Transparency is essential to improving the basis for collective bargaining.

Possible EU-initiatives

The Commission

could initially:



Include social dialogue in the Commission’s impact assessment of relevant new

rules.



Regularly present public information on wage-levels, wage-formation, collec-

tive bargaining etc. in Member States to help raise awareness and upward con-

vergence. Increased transparency can improve the basis and conditions for col-

lective bargaining. As opposed to the annual review on minimum wages by Eu-

rofound, this should be done more frequently and targeted collective bargaining

and social dialogue in Member States.



Extend the use of the European Semester to include Country Specific Recom-

mendations on the outcome regarding the effectiveness, transparency and in-

volvement of social partners in wage-setting mechanisms.



Provide more analysis identifying barriers to social dialogue in individual coun-

tries in order to target these challenges

–

for example through the European Se-

mester process and/or Eurofound.

Better implementation and enforcement

Better implementation and enforcement of preexisting rules should be a priority in

order to help support the involvement of the social partners and the right to collec-

tive action.

Possible EU-initiatives

Therefore,

the Commission

is invited to:



Support further implementation and development of the Council Conclusions on

“A new start for a strong Social Dialogue” (2016). The shared objective in these

Council Conclusions was to

“strengthen social dialogue both by making better

use of existing fora and by enhancing the involvement of the social partners in

the

economic governance structure, including at national level”.

Member

States should take the necessary steps to “support

the improvement of the func-

tioning and effectiveness of social dialogue at national level, which is conducive

to collective bargaining and creates an appropriate space for social partners'

negotiations”.



Support further implementation of principle 8 in the European Pillar of Social

Rights, stating that “[The

social partners] shall be encouraged to negotiate and

According to the current Commission guidelines on Impact assessments they must include

a description of the environmental, social and economic impacts. As examples on social

impacts are mentioned: Levels of education and training, fundamental rights, employment

and skills, social inclusion, poverty etc.

BEU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 295: Invitation til teknisk gennemgang om mindsteløn, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

conclude collective agreements in matters relevant to them, while respecting

their autonomy and the right to collective action.”

In accordance with the strate-

gic guidelines 2019-2024 the Pillar should be implemented at EU and Member

State level with due regard for respective competences.



Support the use of the European Labour Authority to contribute to fair labour

mobility as well as ensuring and strengthening the free movement in the EU by

facilitating cooperation and ensuring effective implementation and enforcement

of EU-rules in the internal market.



Facilitate a tripartite discussion on the application in the Member States of in-

ternational standards on freedom of association and the right to collective bar-

gaining.



Support the freedom of association, calling for Member States and employers to

respect the right to collective bargaining and action as set out in EU law, e.g.

Article 28 in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and

made legally binding by Article 6 of the Treaty. The right

not

to associate

should also be respected.

As stated by the Commission in their first phase consultation “minimum wages

would continue to be set either through collective agreements or legal provisions” –

provided the Member State has introduced such provisions

– “in

full respect

of na-

tional competencies

and social partners’ contractual freedom”. This merely sup-

ports that the Commission should not seek to regulate matters falling within the

competence of Member States/social partners neither directly nor indirectly. In-

stead, the Commission should seek to support social dialogue in each Member

State based on the implementation and enforcement of existing rules.

Awareness raising

–

sharing of good practice

Possible EU-initiatives

Present good examples of creating incentives/building capacity such as those

mentioned in the Joint Employment Report (see examples below).



A dedicated report could be presented regularly and discussed at the Tripartite

Social Summit.



Encourage using the European Social Fund (ESF+) to support projects that pro-

mote social dialogue in Member States.



Focus on raising the awareness of decent working conditions based on safety

and flexibility.

Incentives for collective bargaining



The effect of social dialogue in each Member State depends on the extent of the

collective agreements in that Member State, i.e. the number of employees covered,

as well as effective implementation and enforcement thereof. In order to promote

collective bargaining in the first place, incentives to do so must be promoted. In-

volvement is needed not only on European level but especially at national level.

Implementing some of the proposals below, which should not be seen as an ex-

haustive list,

can help support the Member States’ own role in ensuring well-func-

tioning and wide-ranging social dialogue.

BEU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 295: Invitation til teknisk gennemgang om mindsteløn, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

However, in order for genuine social dialogue to exist and to be promoted, it is es-

sential and a prerequisite that the social partners’ room for negotiation (both mate-

rial and procedural) is respected by each Member State.

Possible EU-initiatives

The Commission

is encouraged to help facilitate:



Increase focus on promoting social dialogue in EU policy making, e.g. by mak-

ing exemptions for terms agreed upon in collective agreements. This could help

increase the incentive to organize for both employees and employers.



Strengthen the role of the social partners and the collective bargaining system

by (to a greater extent) leaving it to the social partners themselves to agree on

the content of the regulation (European agreements) or by allowing the social

partners to derogate from certain regulation through collective agreements.

Possible national initiatives

Member States

could consider:



Allowing the social partners to implement national and EU-legislation through

collective agreements. These discussions could take place in implementation

committees when consulting the social partners on upcoming regulation.



Provide better opportunities for social partners to enter into supplementary

agreements or implement legislation through collective agreements. A barrier is

often the lack of incentives for employers to commit to collective bargaining.

Latvia amended its labour law to facilitate sectoral bipartite agreements, by al-

lowing them to derogate, under certain conditions, from the 100% supplement

for overtime (Joint Employment Report, 2020).



Promote collective bargaining through rules on public procurement.



Provide an institutionalized setup and process for resolving conflicts among the

social partners

–

both during the time of collective bargaining and afterwards

when doubts about interpretation of the agreements needs settlements.



Ease trade unions access to workplaces and increase the protection against re-

prisals when employers or workers are trying to organize and bargain collec-

tively.



Unemployment insurance through trade unions

(“Ghent system”)

can help in-

crease the incentives to insure and to organize.