1 SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN THE IT SECTOR

2 SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP People and organizations from some combination of public, business, and civil constituencies who engage in voluntary, mutually beneficial, innovative relationships to address common societal aims through combining their resources and competencies (a Copenhagen Centre definition)

3 SOCIAL DIALOGUE Attempts that aim to touch differing opinions and interests in order to solve common problems or efforts to explore and appoint common targets regarding related issues or simply procedures that help distinct social groups to exchange ideas (Greek ΟΚΕ)

4 SP/SD PROCEDURES SP/SD procedures have been a vital precondition for the success of economic and social policies Several studies have found that when a decision-making organisation wishes to assure that the continuous involvement of the parties concerned is maintained, it has to convince those parties that its policies have taken into account their interests/ opinions

5 SP/SD FORMS SP/SD main forms in the EU are: information, consultation, negotiation, bipartite, tripartite or multipartite collective bargaining and agreement, and co-decision SP/SD can take part at the plant/ company level, and/or the region, sector, inter- professional, national, European or international levels

6 Benefits and advantages SP/SD procedures can enhance the performance of mainstream, economic and welfare measures, foster innovation and experimentation and create added value by applying resources more effectively (EFILWC, 1998)

7 Preconditions for Success “ social partnership and tripartism work best when there is an open agenda to the partnership system, balancing the interests of employers and unions with a perspective on the overall interests of society and particularly where there is a degree of mutual trust between the participants”(EFILWC, 2002)

8 More SP/SD Benefits Kjaer and Tennyson (2001) pointed out that the main benefits from social partnership could be found in the development of new skills, the obtaining of know-how on conflict resolution, the access to different people etc

9 Main pillars of SP/SD Context (socio-economic cultural and political environment, drivers and triggers, historical time); Purpose (building and working with common agendas, scope and complexity, evolving purpose and scope);

10 Main pillars of SP/SD Organization (organizational and legal structure, governance, communication); Participants (leadership, people and their organizations, resources, skills and capacities); Outcomes (measurement and evaluation, ability to adapt).

11 Prerequisites for Tripartism Clear Goals Tripartism requires targets, aims and objectives e.g. economic stability, competitiveness, security at work, income policy Visible Results Delivery of measurable results is necessary for the agendas of the social partners, e.g. safety and health at work, vocational training, employment creation, income guarantees

12 Prerequisites for Tripartism BipartismWell-functioning bipartism is seen as essential for building tripartite structures. Multi- level approach The diffusion of national models down to regional, local, municipal and enterprise levels is important. Civil Society Further discussion is needed on where the involvement of civil society is necessary and desirable, and on the representativeness of civil society organizations

13 Prerequisites for Tripartism MonitoringInstitutions and models need constant review and must develop the ability to adapt, change and be flexible ResponsibilityIt is important to adopt a problem-solving approach, accept compromises and trade-offs and create a shared understanding of each other’s difficulties

14 Main Benefits of Social Partnership

15 Main Benefits of Social Partnership

16 The Greek Experience  1994: Economic Social Committee (a social partners’ tripartite forum at the national level)  Social Dialogue Procedures through collective bargaining at the sector level

17 An evaluation of social dialogue in GREECE SD procedures are ineffective There is a lack of commitment to specific goals and agreements by social partners A paternalistic approach of social dialogue by the government is usually existed

18 An evaluation of social dialogue in GREECE There is a lack of strong and powerful organizations SD procedures have to face political factionalism There is no appropriate support of SD procedures with documentation and services of experts

19 SD in the IT sector  There are no collective bargaining procedures in IT sector, due to the fact that a vast majority of the companies are small (less than 20 employees)  Works councils are inexistent  Trade union density is very low, especially within small and medium-sized enterprises

20 SD in the IT sector  There are two employer organizations: - the Association of Information Technology Companies of Northern Greece - The Federation of Hellenic Information Technology & Communications Enterprises  There are several company trade unions in some big companies  The Federation of Private Sector Employees covers IT employees

21 SD in the IT sector  There are several collective agreements at the company level  Apart from several state companies, there is no strike activity  There are various forms of work flexibility in IT sector  A representation of workers at the European level through European Works Councils is existed