Changing social dialogue

Our methods for achieving social dialogue are out of date. In business, dialogue is satisfactory but collective negotiation on an interprofessional level and in different areas produces 'a lot of action but not much of a result'. When unions and management are unable to find agreement, it becomes necessary to resort to external experts such as the Economic and Social Council in order to formulate recommendations and bring about change in the system. The means of representation and negotiation are extremely outdated resulting in inefficiency. Five workers' unions enjoy an 'incontestable presumption of representativeness' which confines certain rights of worker representation to the 'most representative' unions. This 'pluralistic' belief allows the five unions to sign agreements despite the fact that their influence among employees is very variable. The essentials for the improvement of social dialogue are that elections should take place in order to legitimise trade unions, and that managers must explain the reasons behind the decisions they take. These requirements are necessary in order to implement changes which are imposed on companies and their employees by the effects of globalisation.