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