Considering Social Dialogue by Rory O'Donnell
From: Concordia Project, June 1999
The Northern Ireland Centre in Europe
CIVIC FORUM
CONSIDERING SOCIAL DIALOGUE
Many key problems facing modern societies are multi-sectoral - therefore structured multi-sectoral responses are increasingly required. Experience from a number of countries and regions shows that, in this context, social dialogue has the potential to significantly enhance stable society.
Social dialogue is not another term for industrial relations. It is a broader concept which tends to embrace the wide questions affecting society as a whole. It is not just about bargaining but about putting issues on the agenda and seeking to build consensus.
Globalisation and recent economic trends, such as the mobility of multi-national companies and the single market are changing patterns of interaction. In this new environment competitiveness and social protection are both viewed as highly important leading to an increased emphasis on social dialogue. At European level this is given expression through the European Social Policy Forum.
A number of essential economic and social challenges facing modern society have been identified:
- Maintaining an effective and consistent policy approach
- Significantly reducing social disparities and exclusion, especially by
reducing long-term unemployment
- Responding effectively, at both national, sectoral and enterprise level, to global competition and the information society.
DEVELOPMENT OF PARTNERSHIP
The increasing emergence of partnership approaches at local, regional, national and EU level over the past decade has created new sets of relationships between elected representatives , officials, trade unions, employers and the voluntary sector. These developments represent a significant shift from an over centralized and bureaucratic structure towards a more devolved, participative and inclusive system of government.
The understanding of social partnership from an EU perspective has been changing. In many areas, the concept is being broadened to include more than the classic partners i.e. the trade unions and the employers. It now increasingly encompasses sectoral groups, the farming and voluntary sector.
Globalisation, the internationalism of companies and the creation of new working methods and approaches have already overtaken the traditional approach of the state machinery being the dominant voice. Social dialogue mechanisms provide opportunities to use these changes productively.
Forms of social partnership differ, some operate on the basis of collective agreements, others are formalized on the basis of legislation. A number of points are worthy of consideration in terms of attempts to solve identified problems and further enhance a renewed vision of social partnership:
- Social partners are changing in ways which allow a new view of what a
social partner is.
- Approaches to governance are changing in ways which make it possible to
identify new roles.
- Traditional forms of policy making, implementation and monitoring are
under stress in ways which enable a new approach to be developed. |
