On 8 April 2014, a workshop was held in Podgorica for the representatives of the industry and trade unions, aimed at promoting the development of bipartite social dialogue in the textile, leather and footwear sector.
The event was organised by the Montenegrin Employers Federation (UPCG) and ZDS within the EU project entitled "Strong TLC – Strong partnership for an enhanced social dialogue in the textile, clothing and leather sector in Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia".
The workshop was opened by Suzana Radulović, Secretary General of UPCG and Vidak Djuranovič, president of the Federation of Trade Unions of textile, footwear and leather industry at the Confederation of Trade Unions of Montenegro (SSCG).
The Secretary General pointed out that Montenegro is a country respecting the legislation and resolving all the issues of a broader economic and social importance by fully respecting the social dialogue. She described the workshop as exceptionally useful and contributing towards strengthening the dialogue in Montenegro mainly in the textile and leather sector by providing examples of good practice in collective bargaining in Slovenia as a Member State of the European Union and through the presentation of the European framework agreements.
At the above mentioned workshop, Suzana Radulović stressed the importance of acquiring the EU aid in setting up an adequate legislative framework in Montenegro to improve social dialogue and operating conditions of companies and the employee work environment. She noted that the corporate sector expects the recently signed general collective agreement and in particular, the amendments to the Employment Relationship Act to be compliant with the spirit of the European legislation and the principles of the market economy.
Anže Hiršl from the Association of Employers of Slovenia (ZDS) pointed out that on its way towards the European Union Montenegro should observe the decisions taken by the European social partners. This means that bipartite social dialogue is not focused solely on certain standard topics, such as salaries and annual leave, but also on new topics, such as those related to decent work, working hours etc. Clearly, this will lead to a new dimension of the national social dialogue in Montenegro and the social partners need to be ready so as to ensure in the forthcoming period high quality solutions to specific situations through collective bargaining – either at the level of economic sectors or companies.
Tatjana Pajnkihar , MSc., Association of Employers of Slovenia, held a two-hour collective bargaining seminar for the workshop participants. During her presentation, she stressed that employers do not easily find the reasons why it is important to conclude a collective agreement and that this is more obvious and easier for trade unions. Collective agreements are also of particular importance for employers to prevent conflicts in industrial relations, ensure clear and stable labour costs and working conditions and remove any grounds for taking industrial action in the period of the validity of collective agreements. She also mentioned two golden rules of collective bargaining: first, employers and trade unions are partners rather than enemies, and second, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
The collective bargaining course was followed by a presentation of the representatives of the UPCG and SSCG on the situation regarding social dialogue in Montenegro, with specific emphasis on recently signed collective agreement as a good example of partner cooperation. The discussion that followed was focused on questions concerning the implementation of the European legislation in the national laws and its impact on the bipartite dialogue.
With financial support from the European Union.