ILO stresses need for robust social dialogue to address labour market challenges

BRUSSELS (ILO News) – The first International conference on industrial relations, co-organised by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), Randstad, and the Dutch employers' federation VNO-NCW in the Hague, the Netherlands, brought together leaders from employers’ organizations, governments, trade unions and businesses, to explore trends in industrial relations with a focus on how social partners can navigate an evolving regulatory landscape.

Opening the conference, the Secretary-General of IOE, the Chief Human Resources Officer of Randstad, and the Director-General of VNO-NCW highlighted the importance of strong, inclusive, and effective industrial relations to tackle issues affecting the world of work.

During the opening panel, Manuela Tomei, Assistant Director-General for governance, rights and dialogue at ILO, highlighted the crucial role of social dialogue in shaping adequate and effective labour regulation. It helps to mitigate labour market imperfections, provides legal certainty and predictability, and protects workers.

She highlighted freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining as prerequisites for robust and meaningful industrial relations. To address challenges and trends, driven by the unprecedented pace of changes in the labour market and the emergence of new business models, we need effective social dialogue and representative workers’ and employers’ organizations.

Social dialogue is well-suited to explore and adopt regulatory frameworks that adapt to changes in the world of work and preserve both competitiveness and businesses’ growth, while protecting workers’ rights,

said Ms Tomei.

Another panel of the conference discussed conflict resolution and industrial relations, exploring mechanisms to prevent and address labour disputes. Vera Paquete-Perdigão, Director of the ILO’s Governance and Tripartism Department, reiterated the need for a stable employment relationship in a cooperative industrial relation climate, to foster productivity growth and cultivate entrepreneurship.

Labour disputes – whether individual or collective – impose significant costs on governments, employers, workers, and societies at large.

“The ILO standards promote engagement in effective and inclusive social dialogue and the use of consensus-based approaches that can help prevent disputes. It is very important that labour dispute resolution systems allow space for labour dispute prevention and the voluntary resolution of disputes through genuine social dialogue among the social partners,” Ms Paquete-Perdigão told the conference.

From 17 until 21 February 2025, an ILO tripartite technical meeting on Access to Labour Justice for All will seek to provide policy guidance for achieving inclusive access to labour justice through effective labour dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms.