Eurofound report to strengthen Social Dialogue in Care

Yesterday, Eurofound published its “Industrial relations landscape report on Central government administration, education, human health, local and regional government, and social services sectors”. Based on existing Representativeness Studies in social services and human health, the study seeks to better understand the industrial relations landscape and assist the Commission in supporting social dialogue in the above sectors.

The study confirms that UNI Europa is representative in both the human health and social services sectors. As Eurofound’s landscape report states:

UNI Europa mainly represents trade unions organising employees in the private sector, including profit and not-for-profit providers of social services and healthcare. The latest representativeness studies in the human health and social services sectors confirmed that UNI Europa has affiliated trade unions in both sectors that represent employees in privately provided health and social services. (p.73)

Eurofound’s rigorous study offers significant insight on how the future of sectoral social dialogue activities in human health and social services can be organised. It also establishes that these sectors overlap significantly.

UNICARE Europa Director Mark Bergfeld states: “We would like to commend the Eurofound team for its cooperation in the course of this study as well as the preceding Representativeness Studies that provide the basis for this landscape report. We appreciate the academic rigor as well as the involvement of the social partners in writing this landscape report. But it is not only of academic value to us. In fact, we will be able to improve care workers’ terms and conditions as well as advance collective bargaining in a fragmented sector as a consequence of the study.”

UNI Europa believes that this landscape report guides all organisations toward establishing a meaningful discussion in the future. As our experience in the banking and insurance sectors have shown different organisations can cooperate within the institutional set-up of the EU sectoral social dialogue.

Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary: “The pandemic has shown that employees in the care sector need to be protected. The rise of multinational companies and non-profit franchises calls for European solutions. The study provides social partners and the European Commission with valuable insights to strengthen social dialogue in the areas covered both nationally and at the EU-level. Together with our sister unions and the employers, a new Sectoral Social Dialogue mirroring the diversity of the sector can bring the recognition that this essential sector deserves.”

Since the publication of the two aforementioned Representativeness Studies, UNI Europa has already been able to win new affiliates to UNICARE or even expand the collective bargaining coverage of our affiliates in Croatia, Czechia, Poland and Slovenia.