How to reinforce social dialogue in the education sector in the new Member States - ETUCE (3 days)
652.20.SOC

Mrs Odile Cordelier, Vice President of ETUCE, opened the seminar by reminding the participants about the objectives and the main points on the programme. The participants were also welcomed by

• Mr Martin Romer, General Secretary of ETUCE,
• Mr Andreas Kasoulides,
• Mr Shener Hassan (K.T.Ö.S) and
• Jean-Claude Le Douaron (ETUI-REHS Education)

Mr Martin Romer introduced the actual situation and the future evolution of social dialogue in the Education sector by presenting the state of play of education and life-long learning in the framework of EU policies foreseen in the Bologna and the Lisbon process.

The sectoral social dialogue and the actual situation were presented by Mr Charles Nolda, CEEP and Mr Martin Romer, ETUCE.

In the public utilities sector social dialogue is already going on in the health sector and some inspiration could be brought from those experiences. In the Education sector some national employer’s organisations are still reluctant to take part in the social dialogue at European level under the motto “What is in for us?”

In the future some issues could be discussed within the framework of Social Dialogue at European level as:

• demographic pressure
• changes in curricula
• stress
• staff retention and recruitment
• ageing population
• developing new competences and skills

It has been difficult to identify the employer’s in some countries. During a previous project ETUCE tried to map the employer and their organisations. In a number of regional seminar gathering trade unions and local employer’s organisations ETUCE tries to strengthen social dialogue as well the national as the European level.

Who are the employers in the Education sector in Europe?

Mr Riku Matilainen, ETUCE adviser presented a survey aiming at mapping employers' and trade union organisations in the Education sector in the 34 European countries.

Teachers' unions are a coherent partner in the social dialogue. 57 trade unions have been active in social dialogue.

The basic questions to be answered

• Who are the employers?
• In what sector?
• At what level?

See the answers in the presentation to be downloaded from the “Seminar documents”.

The future work of ETUCE

Mrs Odile Cordelier, Vice President of ETUCE, described the background of the Social Dialogue at European level. The Commission is taking a number of initiatives which have an impact on the work of ETUCE. She reminded the participants that the social dialogue at European level depends also on the quality of national social dialogue. ETUCE will have to define it's main priorities and to develop an action plan for the forthcoming years. The distribution of tasks needs to be clarified between ETUCE and Education International.

ETUCE has to rely on the work of its affiliated organisations. Its positions need to be developed in cooperation and consultation with member organisations.

Mr Martin Romer emphasised that the goal of developing social dialogue at European level and involving the employers is very important. ETUCE is ready to move to set up a European Social Dialogue Committee when employers are ready to move. Central and Eastern European countries are a key in this strategy to influence employers to take part.

The impact of decentralisation and deregulation on Education systems

Mr Slawornir, ZNP and Mr Frantisek Dobsik, CMOZ explained the consequences of decentralisation and deregulation measures taken in Poland and the Czech Republic. Their presentations can be downloaded from the “Seminar documents”.

In working groups the participants discussed the impact of decentralisation and deregulation in their countries.

• How does decentralisation impact on social dialogue?
• What answers can be given by trade unions in order to promote social dialogue in a decentralised system?
• What strategies and good practices can be used in order to promote social dialogue in the represented countries?

The working groups reported that the instability of national policies with ministers succeeding each others after short periods, as the case is in Romania, makes it difficult to develop long term strategies meanwhile some other countries enjoy a well functioning social dialogue. Trade unions are used to defend the interest of their members by adopting a proactive role in the legislative process. A priority for trade unions should be employment and decent salaries. Influencing and gaining the support of public opinion in education matters is a key to success. Trade unions should use their local representatives to put pressure on employers. In contexts of trade union plurality, unity around prioritised issues should be reached through cooperation between unions.

In some countries universities have to find other funding sources than the state.

How can ETUCE become more effective in the future?

Mr Aleksas Bruzas, LEETU, emphasised that member unions need to intensify their commitment in ETUCE activities by providing feed back and active participation in cross border activities. The information flow has to improve. The potential for better cooperation is there. Good practices and experiences should be shared in a more effective way although representatives from different countries sometimes run the risk for cross cultural misunderstandings. Trade union can influence authorities under the condition that they gain the public support also from the civil society. They need not only to exchange information with the secretariat of ETUCE but also between national trade unions at cross border level.

Mrs Kounka Damianova, SEB Bulgaria replaced the debate in the framework of Bulgaria and Romania becoming members of the European Union. EU policies impact on national education systems and trade unions in the Education sector need all the services provided by ETUCE. All the working groups, conferences, round tables contribute to inform all member organisations. The networks are a very useful tool for the exchange of experiences and the development of common strategies and action plans. In order to set up a social dialogue committee at EU level ETUCE and it’s affiliates need to gather systematic information about what is going on in all countries and to disseminate the experiences.

ETUCE future activities and final remarks

The distribution of tasks between ETUCE and EI needs to be clarified and made transparent for member organisations. ETUCE covers also all levels of education and organises a lot of activities, seminars and conferences. Member organisations would like to know how European projects are financed and at what level. Comparative data should be made available so that member organisations are informed about who is doing what.

Member organisations receive also requests of information from ETUCE and this information is also disseminated among the members. This is not always the case in the Pan-European structure of EI. Competences need to be clarified.

Most of the members are satisfied with the work of ETUCE and with the activities of the networks. This work should be intensified as well as the discussion about how local work can be reinforced through exchange of information. In some countries the situation of the education is difficult and unions in those countries should take advantage of other experiences. Perhaps a special working party could be set up targeting the problems in the new and candidate countries. A special section of the Home Page could be devoted to this kind of problems providing information and arguments for representatives in CEEC.

In the future such seminars should be prepared more professionally and the evaluation should be made available. Member organisations should be involved in the preparation of the seminars. The seminars should result in concrete action plans. Networks are useful tools and can be used to process information at all levels.

This kind of seminars should also in the future organised in an east – west perspective in order to improve the flow of information between organisations from EU-15 and EU-10 countries.