Social Dialogue and Tripartite Dialogue
in the Local Government Sector
Romania: Laura Borieacan
Lithuania: Tomas Tomilinas
Poland: Tomasz Potkański
Romania: Enhancing Social Dialogue
for Civil Servants
Project partners
• National Agency for Civil Servants
• Romanian Municipalities Association
National challenges
• Lack of legitimacy for the Parity Commissions
• Insufficient funding to implement proposals of Parity
Commissions
• Negative perceptions of civil servants
• Many trade unions
Focus
• Improving bipartite dialogue in Parity Commissions to
strengthen their role and make them more effective
Results
• Growing understanding in the value of cooperative
working, with a common goal in sight
Activities
• A comparative study on social dialogue with NO
• 160 people trained, 30 trainers
• National awareness campaign with over 800 attendees
Sustainability
• Training curricula developed and dissemination of
studies
Way forward
• Updated legislation / Greater transparency /
Strengthened collaboration / more dialogue
Recommendations
• Building on strong foundations and more joint projects
Lithuania: Social dialogue at grass-root
municipal level
Project promoter and partners
• National Association of Officers’ Trade Unions of Lithuania
• Other trade unions, business employers’ organisations, 3
municipalities
• Numbers of national partners doubled during project…..
National Challenges
• Weak social dialogue tradition
• Universal prejudices and lack of trust
• Bureaucratic interaction and lack of leadership
Focus
• Establish Local Tripartite Councils – in line with L. legislation –
broad councils, include LG, Business org, NGOs, TUs – in 3 pilot
municipalities.
Lessons learnt
• Dialogue to solve local challenges, more than wage negotiations
• Start with easy issues: medical visits, improved ambulance service
• Create moderate conflict – to feel the need for social dialogue
Results
• Good cooperation between TUs and employers.
• Bottom-up democracy – responsive to local needs
Synergies
• Cooperation with DW projects in Lithuania and Poland
• Possible informal network between TUs in the public sector
Sustainability factors
• - Strong contact with Business Employers’ organisation
• - Local project ownership
Recommendations
• New project: 2-3 more municipalities, include national topics
Poland: Social Dialogue in the
Municipal Sector and Enterprises
Project partners
• Association of Polish Cities
National Challenges
• Trade unions political involvement at national level
• Only part of labour force in public sector organised
• Unemployment, strong employers, lack of trust
Focus
• Improved working environment, relations and communication
• Building knowledge base
Methods
• Organising national competitions, a bottom-up approach,
promoting and identifying local projects
Results
• Increased knowledge and awareness on SD in municipalities
• Bottom-up approach - a strategy that can inspire nationally
• In a decentralized system; local problems have to be solved
locally
• Methods of involvement and tools for building motivation
among partner
Activites
– 2 national competitions; 19 best practises awarded
– 2 study visits, 10 regional seminars
– Publication on municipal employment facts
– Soon finishing an employment monitor
Synergies
– Focus on SD complements APC efforts at increasing efficiency
and service for citizens
Sustainability
– APC is using existing tools (competitions, best practice
database) for dealing with new issues
Way forward
– Focus on value management to recruit, motivate and keep
staff members
– Continue to building knowledge base on labour relations
problems
Recommendations
– Identifying good practice and disseminated
Common traits between the 3 projects
People sceptical to cooperation, individualistic trend – historic
reasons
Low trust – high emigration – especially among young people
Weak traditions of SD and TPD – especially in public/local gov. sector
Lack of balance between employers/employees and unclear roles
Weak TUs/few members – involve when possible, if not workers’ repr.
Often difficult to work at the national level
Fruitful to focus on pilots at local level – to have a bottom-up effect
Show national best practices that actually work – combined with
Norwegian best practice