Guy Ryder: "Social dialogue is and must be part of the solution to the crisis"
“Social dialogue is and must be a part of the solution” Guy Ryder recalled at a conference on 'Industrial relations and social dialogue in Europe 2012' organized by the European Commission in Budapest on 15 and 16 April 2013.
The conference “Industrial relations and social dialogue in Europe 2012” organized in Budapest on 15 and 16 April marked the publication of the EC's Industrial Relations in Europe report. The ILO contributed to both the report and to the conference. In a video message, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said that “social dialogue is and must be a part of the solution to the crisis”.
Transcript of the message:
Commissioner Andor, ministers’ representatives of governments and social partners, ladies and gentleman, I would like to congratulate the Commission on this conference and publication of the Industrial Relations Report in Europe for 2012. I am very sorry that I could not be with you in person today to take part in the different sessions to discuss the context of social dialogue, both in the private and the public sector, and to discuss also the steps that can be taken to move forward. But let me say that I much welcome this concrete, fact-based approach. I’m pleased, too, that ILO experts have contributed to your debates and to the preparation of the Industrial Relations in Europe Report. I was glad to participate in June of last year in the final conference in Brussels on social dialogue in the public sector in times of crisis. And I also value the multi-year partnership between the ILO and the European Commission on social dialogue in the crisis.
Colleagues, social dialogue in Europe is operating in the context of the most severe employment, social, economic and finical crisis since the end of World War II. And this issue was top of the agenda last week at the ILO’s own 9th Regional Meeting in Oslo for Europe, in which some of you and your organizations took part. The EU’s presence was headed by Commissioner Andor himself and almost all EU Member States had tripartite representation by governments – in many cases by ministers – and employers’ and workers’ organisations. Our Oslo meeting demonstrated a strong consensus – emphasized by one speaker after another – and very much stressed in the conclusions that social dialogue is and must be a part of the solution. Fair and sustainable reforms that can achieve recovery are far more likely to be achieved when they are the outcome of genuine social dialogue. However, effective EU and ILO action on promoting social dialogue requires that we start from the facts, the realities of the situation and the EU industrial relations report shows that there are very substantive differences within the union. In some cases these result from longstanding problems such poor representativity, weak technical capacities of workers’ and employers’ organizations or the weaker presence of them in particular sectors or regions. However, and this is also a part of the reality, the weakening of the social dialogue has been due to political choices as well.
Clearly, and that’s what has been said by many speakers in our European Regional meeting in Oslo last week, the interventions of the Troika in EU programme countries have sometimes created serious difficulties for collective bargaining, and indeed for social dialogue in general, by closing any scope for discussion and negotiation of the decisions that have had to be taken. In some of the worst hit countries, such as Greece, national and sectoral social dialogue has stopped functioning effectively.
Furthermore, the ILO supervisory system has already concluded, in the case of Greece, that there is a violation of the ILO fundamental Convention concerning collective bargaining. The public sector too has been challenged by austerity programs. Building on the joint conference last June, that I have already mentioned, it is important that your report and today’s conference have gone further in trying to identify the impact of industrial relations changes in that sector.
One of Europe’s greatest advantages is its well established public sectors and state administrations. Whatever their shortcomings and whatever the need for reform; they are social assets that must not be squandered. The better outcome in the current reforms in the public sector will require solid and committed social dialogue between all parties involved, whatever the difficulties. These are issues in which the ILO, in cooperation with the Commission, can do a lot more. And we at the ILO are ready to do so.
At the EU High Level conference on employment in September last year president Barroso stated that social dialogue, both of the EU level and the Member States, is part of the EU’s DNA. And he expressed his concern that some EU Member States’ actions did not reflect that. Concrete actions by the ILO and the EU can identify, in close cooperation with constituents, the needs, shortcomings and opportunities for social dialogue and social partners in the respective countries. We are already cooperating on social dialogue workshops in Eurozone EU-programs and we are working together to map the role of social dialogue in recovery from the crisis in some Central and Eastern European countries as well. These actions should, I believe, be intensified and address also capacity building needs. And here the ILO’s International Training centre in Turin can be a very useful resource.
At the European level, I have noted with great interest that social dialogue is part of the Roadmap for EMU, and that President Van Rompuy will report to the European Council on this at the end of June. And that will come directly after the discussions and conclusions on social dialogue to be adopted by the International Labour Conference here in Geneva in June. The Report on that item – which has recently been released – among other things provides analysis that is very relevant for your discussion today on the role of industrial relations during the crisis in Europe. I hope that many of the people with you today and your organizations will be taking a full part in those discussions in Geneva in June as well.
In conclusion, I would just like to thank you as well for your participation and for your suggestions and to emphasize once again the commitment of the ILO to cooperate with its constituents and its European Member States and with the EU institutions and social partners. I wish you success in your conference.
Transcript of the message:
Commissioner Andor, ministers’ representatives of governments and social partners, ladies and gentleman, I would like to congratulate the Commission on this conference and publication of the Industrial Relations Report in Europe for 2012. I am very sorry that I could not be with you in person today to take part in the different sessions to discuss the context of social dialogue, both in the private and the public sector, and to discuss also the steps that can be taken to move forward. But let me say that I much welcome this concrete, fact-based approach. I’m pleased, too, that ILO experts have contributed to your debates and to the preparation of the Industrial Relations in Europe Report. I was glad to participate in June of last year in the final conference in Brussels on social dialogue in the public sector in times of crisis. And I also value the multi-year partnership between the ILO and the European Commission on social dialogue in the crisis.
Colleagues, social dialogue in Europe is operating in the context of the most severe employment, social, economic and finical crisis since the end of World War II. And this issue was top of the agenda last week at the ILO’s own 9th Regional Meeting in Oslo for Europe, in which some of you and your organizations took part. The EU’s presence was headed by Commissioner Andor himself and almost all EU Member States had tripartite representation by governments – in many cases by ministers – and employers’ and workers’ organisations. Our Oslo meeting demonstrated a strong consensus – emphasized by one speaker after another – and very much stressed in the conclusions that social dialogue is and must be a part of the solution. Fair and sustainable reforms that can achieve recovery are far more likely to be achieved when they are the outcome of genuine social dialogue. However, effective EU and ILO action on promoting social dialogue requires that we start from the facts, the realities of the situation and the EU industrial relations report shows that there are very substantive differences within the union. In some cases these result from longstanding problems such poor representativity, weak technical capacities of workers’ and employers’ organizations or the weaker presence of them in particular sectors or regions. However, and this is also a part of the reality, the weakening of the social dialogue has been due to political choices as well.
Clearly, and that’s what has been said by many speakers in our European Regional meeting in Oslo last week, the interventions of the Troika in EU programme countries have sometimes created serious difficulties for collective bargaining, and indeed for social dialogue in general, by closing any scope for discussion and negotiation of the decisions that have had to be taken. In some of the worst hit countries, such as Greece, national and sectoral social dialogue has stopped functioning effectively.
Furthermore, the ILO supervisory system has already concluded, in the case of Greece, that there is a violation of the ILO fundamental Convention concerning collective bargaining. The public sector too has been challenged by austerity programs. Building on the joint conference last June, that I have already mentioned, it is important that your report and today’s conference have gone further in trying to identify the impact of industrial relations changes in that sector.
One of Europe’s greatest advantages is its well established public sectors and state administrations. Whatever their shortcomings and whatever the need for reform; they are social assets that must not be squandered. The better outcome in the current reforms in the public sector will require solid and committed social dialogue between all parties involved, whatever the difficulties. These are issues in which the ILO, in cooperation with the Commission, can do a lot more. And we at the ILO are ready to do so.
At the EU High Level conference on employment in September last year president Barroso stated that social dialogue, both of the EU level and the Member States, is part of the EU’s DNA. And he expressed his concern that some EU Member States’ actions did not reflect that. Concrete actions by the ILO and the EU can identify, in close cooperation with constituents, the needs, shortcomings and opportunities for social dialogue and social partners in the respective countries. We are already cooperating on social dialogue workshops in Eurozone EU-programs and we are working together to map the role of social dialogue in recovery from the crisis in some Central and Eastern European countries as well. These actions should, I believe, be intensified and address also capacity building needs. And here the ILO’s International Training centre in Turin can be a very useful resource.
At the European level, I have noted with great interest that social dialogue is part of the Roadmap for EMU, and that President Van Rompuy will report to the European Council on this at the end of June. And that will come directly after the discussions and conclusions on social dialogue to be adopted by the International Labour Conference here in Geneva in June. The Report on that item – which has recently been released – among other things provides analysis that is very relevant for your discussion today on the role of industrial relations during the crisis in Europe. I hope that many of the people with you today and your organizations will be taking a full part in those discussions in Geneva in June as well.
In conclusion, I would just like to thank you as well for your participation and for your suggestions and to emphasize once again the commitment of the ILO to cooperate with its constituents and its European Member States and with the EU institutions and social partners. I wish you success in your conference.