Current social dialogue agenda – main issues & challenges Seminar ITC-ILO, Turin, 20 – 24 February 2012

Formal & informal social dialogue... Collective bargaining with participation of employers and employees representatives, specialists on labour law Informal: Sectoral council for the food industry – preparation of national standards V-4 conference on law provisions in the food sector in Slovakia

Organisations in the SSD ... Collective agreement on higher level – Association of beer and malt producers Slovak Association of sugar producers Association of bakers, confectionary and pastes producers Collective agreement on the company level Meat and can production, food packing technology, milk and dairy production

Problems in SD ... some employers have left the employers associations – CB has moved to the company level some employers associations have split in more associations, e.g. milk sector –producers of acid products, producers of hard cheese, producers of sheep cheese etc. Insufficient remuneration of workers in the food sector in general (salary median 706,-EUR/month) restructuring of companies, financial groups buying companies, workers get new working contracts /with a unwritten conditions that they will not join a trade union – company trade unions stop their work – e.g. meat factories in the Central and Eastern part of Slovakia)

Support from the ministry... preparation of legislative regulation to protect the market support for self-employment sale from the (door)yard

Topics & plans in 2012... working time – reduction of overtimes wage increase – inflation 3,9%, proposal of workers representatives 5-6% increase of average salaries, employers side suggested 0% health and safety at the workplace – reduction of work accidents, recovery supplements for holiday work etc.

Strategic points... increase of minimum wages in the respective sectors, e.g. in the beer sector 355,-EUR/month (national minimum wage for 2012 = 327,20,-EUR/month)

European sectoral social dialogue... Sugar sector /28th February 2012/ Tobacco /revision of Tobacco Product Directive/ Food sector /launched in January 2012/ EWCs – Nestlé, SAB Miller, Imperial Tobacco, Nordzucker, Agrana networking, contacts, exchange of information