On 1st of November 2023, the Association of Employers of Slovenia started implementing partnership activities on the EU co-financed research project "Improving the understanding of the role of sectoral collective bargaining in times of multiple crises in CEE", with the acronym SEC-CEE, which is led and coordinated by the Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists ( MGYOSZ - BusinessHungary).

The overarching aim of the SEC-CEE project is to measure the impact of crucial economic factors on the national sectoral social dialogue and sectoral collective bargaining system in the CEE countries, as well as to find out how could sectoral collective bargaining promote companies and their workforce’s adaptation to the new challenges caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, and which is particularly burdensome in the post-covid economy. The project also aimed at facilitating dialogue about the future of sectoral social dialogue in the participating countries through encouraging foresight and the exchange and dissemination of best practices on the national and multi-country levels.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The basic conception of the project is to find the role of sectoral social dialogue in shaping the world of work in the highly volatile and uncertain political, economic, environmental and social circumstances. The labour market consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, political uncertainties in some project countries, the impact of the war in Ukraine - immediately following the pandemic -, growing inflation and cost of living crisis (e.g. unprecedented increases in energy and food prices), environmental challenges are considered in this project as crucial economic factors, causing multiple crises. This proposal refers to these factors when mentioning crucial economic factors, multiple crises, or external uncertainties. The project research (WP3) and the social partners’ activity (WP3) are aimed to find out, whether and how social dialogue (especially on the sectoral level) can help the economic actors in the adaptation.

By choosing this topic of sectoral social dialogue, the Applicants intend to contribute to the implementation of the European Pillars of Social Rights’ Action Plan, when dealing with the 8th pillar “Social dialogue and workers’ involvement”, as well as to create a basis for achieving the objectives of the Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, on the requirement to create an action plan to collective bargaining coverage in the member states. This also serves the aim to comply with the 6th pillar of the European pillars of social rights, as well as the Sustainable Development Goal 8.

The project provides a full project cycle, including preparatory, implementation and dissemination, follow up and reporting activities, within a 24-month project period in 1.11. 2023 - 31.10.2025.

The specific aims of the project and project research are the following:

• To find out whether and how crucial economic factors influenced sectoral collective bargaining in the project countries.
• To find out what challenges social partners face when entering sectoral collective bargaining.
• To find out whether and how the external uncertainties influenced the topics of sectoral collective bargaining and/or sectoral collective bargaining.
• To find out whether and how the era of multiple crises impacted employment and social dialogue changed the interest of employers to engage in sectoral collective bargaining.
• To raise awareness and facilitate common thinking of social partners about the role and possible advantages of sectoral collective bargaining in the world of work burdened with the social challenges of the war crisis - that will last for an unforeseeable period following COVID-19 - in a proactive manner. To fulfil this aim, the project facilitates dialogue among the social partners in the partner countries, with the involvement of labour law experts and cross-national best practices. The aim is to provide suggestions, and possible solutions to sectoral social partners based on the outcome of the project research, as well as through best practises on crisis-related sectoral collective agreements from different countries.
• The project also aims at facilitating mutual thinking about the future of sectoral social dialogue in the participating countries through bipartite scenario-building workshops and encouraging project partners to elaborate common goals and actions to reach the best possible scenario. Through the bipartite element Work Package 3. of the project and the intensive dissemination activity, the project also aims to facilitate extensive dialogue about the role of social dialogue in the participating countries.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The project has three Work Packages:

1. Work Package 1: Project Management
2. Work Package 2: Research –“Sectoral collective bargaining in the six countries of Central and Eastern Europe – employer’s engagement”
3. Work Package 3. National workshops and dissemination

Work package 1 is intended for the management and coordination of the project, with which we will ensure the correct implementation of the project and monitor the use of resources and overall project progress.

In Work Package 2 this project provides a detailed Research Plan (including sections about research methodology, key concepts and variables, information and data used, and analysis strategy) and determines 3 research questions:

1. To what extent have different crises changed the interest of employers' representatives in participating in the sectoral dialogue? If there were/there are temporary labour regulations in place during the COVID-19 crisis, the energy crisis, wages, cost of living crisis, etc? These or amended special rules are still in force - considering the employment issues arising from the effects of the war crisis. Did they change the cooperation between the sectoral social partners? If social partners’ relationships have changed, what are these „post-pandemic and war effects”?
2. To what extent does the current economic situation affect the topics and content of the sectoral dialogue? What solutions have been developed - even in sectoral collective agreements - to prevent and reduce the negative effects of the epidemic, the energy crisis, the growing labour shortage, and the decrease in the real value of wages? In addition to state regulation, what is the weight and role of sectoral collective agreements, and to what extent can they shape sectoral employment policy?
3. Employers - motivation or disinterest in sectoral dialogue - Which circumstances, characteristics and (legal) rules influence all this? To what extent does the existing sectoral dialogue affect the efficiency of employer operations? Is there any possible regulatory area, where sectoral social dialogue would be able to reduce market uncertainties and provide mid-term solutions to mitigate/ensure stable and productive employment conditions?

Comparative analysis will be concluded through standardized online questionnaires among companies, as well as national studies. Based on the results of the online survey, 2 sectors will be selected in each project country for further analysis through sector-specific surveys and interviews with company representatives in different company sizes, and representatives of sectoral social partners. The research will be led by ELTE University in cooperation with national researchers.

Multilateral validation ensures quality assurance of the research: the participating experts of social partners and national external experts (academic researchers) will discuss the results in thematic reviews (3).

In Work Package 3, national project partners (employers and trade unions) jointly elaborate positive scenarios about the possible development of sectoral social dialogue for the next 10 years. The aim is to articulate what actions and policies are necessary to achieve a well-functioning social dialogue on the sectoral level in their countries. Also in WP3, national social partners organize facilitation workshops, where they discuss the outcome of the research and summarize their knowledge and experience and best practices gained in the project.

The main channels of dissemination will be the website and social media accounts of project partners, based on a dissemination plan. The main dissemination event will be the final conference in Budapest, with the involvement of cross-national speakers and experts.

PROJECT PARTNERSHIP

1. MGYOSZ-Businesshungary - Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists as coordinator (Hungary)
2. Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest, Faculty of Law, Department of Labour and Social Law, as the lead researcher, co-beneficiary (Hungary)
3. ZDS - Association of Employers of Slovenia, co-beneficiary (Slovenia)
4. CPC - Concordia Employers’ Confederation of Romania, co-beneficiary (Romania)
5. MEF - Montenegrin Employers’ Federation, co-beneficiary (Montenegro)
6. NUE-RUZ - The National Union of Employers, co-beneficiary (Slovakia)
7. UPS - Serbian Association of Employers, co-beneficiary (Serbia)
8. MASZSZ - Hungarian Trade Union Confederation, co-beneficiary (Hungary)
9. CATUS - Confederation of Autonomous Trade Union of Serbia, co-beneficiary (Serbia)
10. SGS - Svet Gorenjskih Sindikatov Slovenija, co-beneficiary (Slovenia)
11. NKOS - Independent Christian Unions of Slovakia, co-beneficiary (Slovakia)
12. UFTUM - Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro, co-beneficiary (Montenegro)

Project "Improving the understanding of the role of sectoral collective bargaining in times of multiple crises in CEE - SEC-CEE" is co-founded by the European Union under grant agreement: GA 101126461.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.