On May 22, 2020, a video meeting was held on the subject of articulating the interests of trade union organizations from our region in European structures. In addition to IPA research team, the meeting was attended by special guests - European experts in industrial relations and social dialogue, who referred to the analyzes presented by the Institute of Public Affairs.
A comparative analysis based on the results of research conducted by ISP together with other research centers among trade unions in Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia was presented by dr Jan Czarzasty. Barbara Surdykowska discussed in detail the approach of trade union organizations to the European standardization of transnational collective agreements, and Sławomir Adamczyk - the minimum wage. Dominik Owczarek and Małgorzata Koziarek also took part in the meeting on part of IPA.
The findings of the research team were commented by: prof. Juliusz Gardawski, prof. Guglielmo Meardi and prof. Oscar Molina. Among other issues, they stressed the relevance of the analyzes, and at the same time indicated the themes that were worth including or emphasizing, such as: cultural factors (material versus postmaterial values) that affect the scope of topics addressed by the unions; the role of employers (who, due to project restrictions, were not included in the study); as well as the development potential of sectoral collective agreements.
The results of the discussion will be used to develop the final version of the comparative report, as well as policy recommendations, which will be published separately.
The research activities and the video meeting were held as part of the
ARTUS CEE project co-financed by the European Commission.