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UNI-Europa Commerce Conference took stock of collective bargaining:
The right to join a union is largely respected in European commerce, but collective agreements are under attack

Europe's commerce trade unions must make active use of an environment where workers' rights are largely respected by the big corporate players. Organising and developing union activities creates the worker force which is necessary to stand up against a growing pressure for further de-regulation and weakening of the collective agreement institutions. In a European and global trade union cooperation through UNI Commerce Global Union and UNI-Europa Commerce, unions can secure that workers retain and strengthen their voice in a fast developing retail and distribution industry.

The Second UNI-Europa Commerce Conference was held at the headquarters of the International Labour Organisation ILO in Geneva. During three days, two hundred delegates from all parts of Europe sought joint responses to the challenges posed by one of the world's most dynamic economic sectors. In the front of our picture are three representatives of the Sarajevo-based commerce trade union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fikret Plivcic (closest to the camera), Nerma Selimbegovic and Mersiha Besirovic.

UNI-Europa Commerce held its second European Conference in Geneva, Switzerland on 21 to 23 November. Much of the discussions among the 200 trade union delegates focused on multinational retail and distribution companies. These corporate giants set the trends and conditions for the whole industry, also with regard to labour relations and employment conditions. It is therefore important that this part of commerce is oriented towards social dialogue and respects the fundamental rights of its workers.

Strong unions defend workers' interests through collective agreements

- Only well organised and effective trade unions can provide a voice for commercial workers, the UNI-Europa Commerce Conference stated in its conclusions. This means that trade union organising remains a top priority for all unions in this sector, particularly as the fast turnover of personnel in most retail companies requires unions to sign up significant numbers of new members just to retain their membership levels unchanged. For the European commerce unions, it is important that their major employers are well organised also in new markets that they enter. Therefore UNI-Europa Commerce will continue to actively support organising efforts worldwide.

The Geneva Conference took note of a positive development with regard to trade union rights in the European retail and distribution sector. As a result of agreements with the employers on the European level, but also globally, UNI Commerce has been able to bring about an environment where serious European commerce companies normally respect the right of their workers to join trade unions, and the right of these trade unions to represent them. Exceptions to this can mainly be found among discounters, such as Lidl and Schlecker, who still have to see over their repressive employment practices.

Collective agreement institution is under attack from many employers

Although workers' and trade union rights must be given constant attention, a major part of the focus should now move to issues of collective bargaining. The collective agreement institution is at the very heart of labour relations and the foundation for trade union work. Today, when the collective agreement system is under attack in many countries, unions must join their forces to defend the right of workers to bargain collectively.

Ulrich Dalibor, Head of ver.di's retail sector and UNI-Europa Commerce Vice President, told about the complicated collective bargaining situation in Europe's largest economy. The whole collective agreement institution is under attack and if the commerce employers' association does not open up its eyes for the risks involved, the consequences would be equally bad for the companies and their workers. Expressing its concerns, the UNI-Europa Commerce Conference underlined the need for a level playing field that can hinder social dumping. This is in a joint interest of the unions and serious employers, and can only be achieved by geographically covering and binding collective agreements.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, has become the testing ground for how unions can protect the collective bargaining institution against employer attacks. The ver.di delegation to the Conference reported on attempts by the Metro Group and others to weaken or even abolish collective agreements.

Real, Metro's hypermarket subsidiary, has established stores under the umbrella of a formally new company, which puts them outside the realm of the existing agreements. This has sparked major protests by the workers and their trade union, in a conflict which could have major repercussions for the whole industry.

At the same time, the German commerce employers' association has put pressure on ver.di in the collective agreement negotiations, demanding that premium pay for late night work be abolished. This follows recent legislation changes in the country, which have removed most shop opening hours restrictions, with the exception of those which concern Sunday work. In this context, certain employers have threatened to leave the collective agreements completely if their demands are not met.

At the Conference, both the German situation and the more general dimension of collective bargaining was discussed. There was a broad agreement that wherever possible, geographically covering and binding collective agreements are the best way to create a level playing field where social dumping cannot put wages and benefits in the whole industry under pressure.

A European and global dimension to collective bargaining will inevitably emerge

The collective agreement discussions did not only focus on the present situation, but also looked into the future, guided by a presentation by Pierangelo Raineri, General Secretary of Italy's FISASCAT-CISL and Vice President of UNI-Europa Commerce. He acknowledged that there are still many obstacles in the way for a large scale collective bargaining cooperation, but underlined that unions cannot neglect preparing themselves to face future challenges. These will surely involve also the trade union approach to collective bargaining, he said.

Pierangelo Raineri, UNI-Europa Commerce Vice President, stressed the need for Europe's commerce trade unions to prepare for a regional dimension to parts of their collective bargaining. During the last few years, a broad discussion has been going on about this subject, actively supported by the three UNI Commerce affiliates in Italy. This will now turn into a more concrete approach where particularly some company specific issues will be approached on a European Union level by UNI-Europa Commerce, with a view of gaining experiences for a future widening and deepening of collective agreement cooperation. Ulrich Dalibor listens attentively, as does UNI-Europa Commerce President Jörgen Hoppe (right).

- With the continued integration process in the European Union and the enlargement of the monetary union, there is a growing needed for cooperation also in the collective bargaining area, the Conference concluded. At the same time, the conclusions pointed at a number of obstacles that still need to be overcome:

- With the big economic and social differences within Europe, and the absence of European administrative and legal labour relations structures, including rules and institutions for resolving labour disputes, collective bargaining and collective agreements still remains a national concern.

It is obvious that the need for a European and even global dimension to collective bargaining will emerge as the globalisation of the world economy continues. International corporate structures and activities call for an international response, and collective bargaining needs to be part of it. As the Conference Conclusions stated, UNI-Europa Commerce " will now explore issues and working life areas where a more advanced cooperation could be possible, including agreements which cover several countries."