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EMPLOYER REPRESENTATION AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN BELGIUM

EMPLOYER REPRESENTATION AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN BELGIUM. Split, 28 & 29 September 2011 Michèle Claus First Advisor, Social Department, FEB. Belgium & Croatia: some figures Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) Industrial relations in Belgium Actors System

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EMPLOYER REPRESENTATION AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN BELGIUM

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  1. EMPLOYER REPRESENTATIONAND SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN BELGIUM Split, 28 & 29 September 2011 Michèle Claus First Advisor, Social Department, FEB Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  2. Belgium & Croatia: some figures • Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) • Industrial relations in Belgium • Actors • System • Main challenges and current debates • Special topic: wage negotiations in 2011 Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  3. Belgium & Croatia: some figures Source: CIA World Factbook Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  4. GDP per capita in PPS in Europe Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  5. Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) • What is FEB? • History • Role of FEB at federal level • Role of FEB at European and international level • Structure and organisation Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  6. 1. What is FEB? • Multi-sectoral employers’ organisation representing companies in Belgium, from both the industrial and services sectors • Voice of businesses in Belgium • Represents more than 50 leading sectors, over 48,000 businesses (of which 41,000 SMEs) and 1,600,000 employees Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  7. 2. History • 1895: Central Committee of Industrial Labour • 1913: Central Committee of Industry • 1946: Federation of Belgian Industry • 1973: Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  8. 3. Role of FEB at federal level (1) • Defending business interests in dealings with • government - public authorities - trade unions • Representing business federations in several institutions and bodies • Central Economic Council - National Labour Council - National Social Security Office - Consumer Affairs Council • Action strategy • in-depth studies and analyses • definition of a shared business viewpoint • communication of this viewpoint to members and the press Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  9. 3. Role of FEB at federal level (2) • Within the National Labour Council: multi-sectoral negotiation of collective labour agreements applying to: • all companies • all private-sector employees • Cooperation with the regional business federations: • Flanders – Wallonia - Brussels • Contact with NGOs • better understanding of each other’s views • structural negotiations Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  10. 4. Role of FEB at European and international level • Important role as 60% of total Belgian production is exported • Member of BusinessEurope • Advocate for companies at the European institutions (Parliament, Commission, Council) • Member of international organisations • ILO - BIAC - ICC • Promoting foreign trade • establishing contact between Belgian and foreign companies Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  11. 5. Structure • Departments • Social Affairs Department • Economic Affairs Department • European and International Department • Legal Affairs Department • Communication Department Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  12. Issues handled by the Social Affairs Department • Collective agreements • Employee representation • Wage policy • Working conditions and labour organisation • Unemployment benefits • Health insurance • Pensions • Family benefits • Annual leave • Accidents at work • Occupational diseases • Social security contributions and benefits Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  13. Industrial relations in Belgium 1. Introduction: main characteristics of Belgium 2. Actors • Trade unions • Employers • Government and social policy 3. System of industrial relations • At interprofessional level • At sector level • At company level Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  14. 1. Introduction: main characteristics of Belgium • Political structure • Economy • Public finances • Political parties • Some basic social statistics Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  15. Political structure Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  16. Federal and regional governments • Six Governments • National (federal) level – Federal Government • Prime Minister Yves Leterme • Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities Joëlle Milquet • Regional Governments • Flemish Government • Walloon Government • French Community Government • German-Speaking Community Government • Brussels Region Government Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  17. 2. Actors • Trade unions • pluralism • membership • legal status • Employers • structure • membership • decision-making process • legal status • Government and social policy Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  18. A. Trade unions • Blue-collar and white-collar workers • Private and public sector • Pluralism: Christian (founded 1886): ACV-CSC 55% of membership Socialist (founded 1885): ABVV-FGTB 40% of membership Liberal (founded 1892): ACLVB-CGSLB 5% of membership Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  19. B. Employers: FEB FEB 35 sectoral federations 48,000 companies (41,000 SMEs) • Industry: e.g. technology, chemicals, wood, food, textiles, clothing, iron, steel, and so on • Services: e.g. banking and insurance, retail, transport and energy • Construction 75% of the 2.5 million employees in the private sector Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  20. FEB: role in social affairs • Negotiations with trade unions • Bipartite: wages and working conditions • Tripartite: e.g. “Solidarity Pact between Generations” • Lobbying at national level • Lobbying at European level Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  21. System of industrial relations 1) At national level • Interprofessional Agreement (IPA): general framework for the private sector (2 years) – Group of 10 • Informal agreement between employers’ and employees’ organisations about wages and working conditions • e.g. 2011-2012 wage moderation (indexation of wages + small increase); • Advisory committees • National Labour Council (NLC): social policy • Central Economic Council (CEC): economic policy • High Council for Prevention and Protection at Work: occupational health and safety • Boards of several public services (unemployment, sickness and disease, pensions, and so on) Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  22. Group of 10 socialist • Interprofessional dialogue Christian liberal “GROUP OF 10” agriculture FEB SMEs President (FEB)

  23. Social dialogue 2) At branch level • Implementation of national agreement at branch level • Conciliation in joint bodies at branch level 3) At company level • Large companies (≥ 250 workers): 5% of companies but 50% of employment • Formal dialogue: +50, +100 • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) : Informal dialogue: -50 Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  24. Belgian social dialogue model • Themes of collective labour agreements: employer-employee relationship • Wages • Employment contract, terms of notice for blue-collar and white-collar workers • Working time, flexibility • Work/life balance: time credit, parental leave • Lifelong learning • Early retirement • Peaceful industrial relations • and more besides Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  25. IV. Main challenges • Wages and labour costs • Job creation • Ageing population • Employability • Peaceful industrial relations Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  26. Background to negotiations:SWOT analysis of our socio-economical and political system Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  27. Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  28. Strengths Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  29. Forces Well-trained workers… Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  30. Forces ... and clusters of different strengths Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  31. Weaknesses Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  32. Weaknesses Belgium has a growth problem...

  33. Weaknesses ... and is losing market share in the international context

  34. Weaknesses We are facing higher wage costs...

  35. Weaknesses … mainly due to a high tax burden (EUR source: IDW Köln) Split – 28 29 september 2011

  36. Weaknesses Wage formation is very rigid

  37. Weaknesses Structural unemployment remains high…

  38. Weaknesses … and there is a large gap between insiders and outsiders on the labour market

  39. Weaknesses Example: low employment rate among over-55s

  40. Threats Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  41. Threats Population ageing is fast becoming a reality 2011

  42. Opportunities Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  43. Opportunities Great potential to improve our prosperity Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  44. Opportunities Keeping people at work longer to finance the ageing of the population Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  45. Opportunities Slow down the growth of healthcare spending Efficiency gains in health care (in % of GDP; source: OECD) Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  46. Opportunities Increase the efficiency of the public authorities Source : OECD

  47. Current topics in collective bargaining • Labour costs (wage moderation) • Ageing population (early retirement) • Work/life balance (leave systems) • Harmonisation of labour law for blue-collar and white-collar workers • Peaceful industrial relations Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  48. Common theme: the Europe 2020 strategy • Five targets: • Employment: 75% of people aged 20-64 • R&D/investments : 3% of the EU's GDP • Climate change/energy : 20%- 20%-20% • Education: school drop-out rate below 10% and 40% of people aged 30-34 completing tertiary education • Poverty/social exclusion: - 20 million Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

  49. The government has set an ambitious employment target: 73.2% (+ 570,000 in 10 years)

  50. The labour cost handicap will need to be eliminated Eliminate labour cost handicap (3.5%) = 60,000 to 72,000 jobs in four years Link between the evolution of the labour cost handicap and the employment rate if the labour cost handicap, which was created in 1996, is phased out (compared to retention of the labour cost handicap) Konings and Abraham, 2010 Split - 28 & 29 september 2011

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