New Frontiers for Collective Bargaining - Building capacities to bargain in changing workplaces
The ETUC project “New Frontiers for Collective Bargaining - Building capacities to bargain in changing workplaces” places collective bargaining at the core of the post COVID-19 recovery by exploring how emerging issues in the world of work are addressed through collective bargaining.
Collective bargaining is a crucial tool for unions to negotiate a better deal for workers and to deliver increased pay, more security, training, health and safety, a say over working hours, fairer promotions, more paid leave and a decent pension. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered important shifts in the world of work, that must be placed at the core of collective bargaining agendas. The return to work and the shifting working practices imply that collective agreements will need to take account of the new work practices. These new frontiers for collective bargaining also require a deeper understanding of persisting gender inequalities.
The project is organised around two topical clusters:
Track A explores how collective bargaining strategies have responded to working time reductions, privacy and surveillance of workers, as well as the fight against the far-right.
Track B deals with the issue of equal pay for work of equal value and trade unions’ strategies to tackle gender inequalities via collective bargaining.
The project aims to give concrete and accessible tools to negotiators to support them in placing emerging issues, as well as persisting inequalities, high on their collective bargaining agenda.
Have a look at the project's deliverables:
Track A: Emerging Topics
ETUC Guidance: "New Frontiers for Collective Bargaining: A short guidance on emerging topics"
This short guidance focuses on the issue of working time reduction, privacy and surveillance of workers, and fight against the far right. It provides a checklist of objectives, pitfalls and best practices to take into account when negotiating on these three topics. The document is largely based on surveys filled by trade unions across the ETUC membership. For each topic, this guidance first reviews trade union goals. In the light of these goals, and building on feedback from ETUC affiliates, a second section lists the main pitfalls and corresponding elements to keep in mind before and during negotiations to avoid such pitfalls. Finally, a third section provides examples of good practices, mostly drawn from the repository.
The document is available in the following languages: English, Bulgarian, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish and Romanian.
Track B: Equal Pay
Report "New Frontiers for Collective Bargaining - Equal Pay"
The study aims to assess the uptake of the issue on trade unions’ policy and bargaining strategies. It identifies good practices in eleven European countries which serve as a guide for treading “new frontiers” for collective bargaining: future policies and actions in relation to equal pay for work of equal value. It also wants to contribute towards raising awareness on the issue of equal pay for work of equal value among trade unions, as well as the general public.
ETUC Checklist "Negotiating for Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value"
The ETUC Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value Checklist aims to assist trade union negotiators to identify situations of unequal pay for work of equal value as part of the unions collective bargaining and equality strategies.
The document is available in the following languages: English, Bulgarian, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Turkish and Romanian.