Strengthening collective bargaining through the EU’s minimum wage law

A crucial element of the transposition of the EU’s Minimum Wage Directive is the development of National Action Plans aimed at increasing collective agreement coverage to 80 per cent of all workers.

Bringing together trade union representatives from different backgrounds and sectors, this two-day workshop focused on policy initiatives enhancing collective bargaining in countries such as Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands.

Participants worked together and shared their experiences around problems, opportunities, solutions and proposed actions to extend collective bargaining coverage. The discussions were stimulated by Prof Valentina Franca, an expert in labour law and social security law from Ljubljana University (Slovenia), who shared her findings on multi-employer bargaining system, including insights on the state of play of the directive’s implementation as well as opportunities or avenues for further measures to be developed.

This workshop is part of UNI Europa’s ongoing effort to build capacity and strengthen collective bargaining within the services sector as part of the EU-funded BC4CB project. It marks another step in UNI Europa’s commitment to promoting strong, multi-employer bargaining systems across Europe, as participants or trade unionists continue to develop strategies to leverage the Directive for lasting positive change in their respective countries.

For more information, please contact Andoni Iriondo, Project coordinator for organising and collective bargaining.