During the preparations for the Collective Bargaining Conference, we asked the keynote speaker and organizer of the event, Vladimir Černý, how he perceives the current situation regarding collective bargaining and where we are headed in the coming years. What lies ahead for Czech trade unions and employers? You can find out in today’s article.

How do we perceive trade unions in the Czech Republic?

I think most employees have a rather negative perception of the unions. This is mainly because unions are not able to sufficiently define and promote the true legitimate needs and interests of workers. There are partial exceptions where unions can actually stand up for workers, but this is unfortunately rare.

From my perspective, the unions, or rather their leadership, cannot define, at the level of the unions and the ČMKOS (Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions), sufficiently clearly what they can actually do to help ordinary employees. The perception of trade unions in our country is partly negative, but rather a “neutral attitude” of prevails among employees.

What are the current legitimate needs and interests of employees?

The prevailing opinion is that it is all about the level of wages and especially their annual growth. Many employees perceive the success of union work by the amount of annual wage increases. But unions have an objectively difficult role in this. Yet, sometimes it is their own fault. It is when they demand unreasonable wage increases and then agree to less than half of what they demanded...

I see social dialogue and the legitimate interests of employees in a broader context – in the first place it is compliance with labour law regulations – for example, the Labour Code, good relations in the workplace, a quality working environment, employee training, job security.

How are trade unions problematic?

I think the big problem with the unions in this country is that there is a crisis in terms of elected employee representatives. There is still some relative quality at the company level, where elected officials are not detached from the reality of the true needs and interests of the employees.

At the trade union level, the situation is worse, though. This is where the problem of what I call “a lack of real quality and realistic professional officials” becomes apparent. But, mind you – this does not apply across the board, there are also trade unions with real quality professionals.

And how are trade unions perceived elsewhere in the EU?

As far as the EU is concerned, it is clear that the role of trade unions is on a much higher level. This is historically determined. There are also countries where the unions have less influence. For me, the highest level of positive perception of the unions is in Scandinavia, including Denmark. This is also the case in France, Germany and Austria.

The advantage of local trade unions is that the EU as a whole sees trade unions as a legitimate partner in social dialogue and in defending workers’ interests. And local companies also approach unions in a more partnership-based and open way.

Are we slowly approaching the Western EU countries in our perception of trade unions, or do we persevere in our point of view?

We are still quite far from the Western perception of trade unions. EU legislation clearly favours trade unions by counting on them for major legislative changes – seen from a collective law perspective.

A final example is the Gender Pay Gap – the pay gap will be addressed in new EU legislation and this will be another big issue that employers will need to actively address with their unions.

Who has contributed more to a better bargaining culture in recent years – unions or employers?

Unions are slow to change, it is more at the company level. A major shift in the perception of the legal necessity of partnership bargaining with trade unions is currently coming from employers, especially large companies and multinational corporations.

The bigger the company, the more social dialogue and collective agreements can also help employers. The problem is often the exaggerated demands of the other party.

Did the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis do any harm to social dialogue in our country?

No.

How fundamentally does the amendment to the Labour Code affect social dialogue and collective bargaining?

Trade unions certainly continue to be counted on, from the perspective of the EU, as a major partner in social dialogue in the future.

What do you see as the challenges for the coming years?

From the perspective of the employers, communication with trade unions will continue to be necessary and there will be more and more areas where trade unions will be indispensable. This is not a merit of the Czech Republic, but of the overall EU policy. New topics will open up, and they will need to be addressed at all levels.

Do you negotiate with the unions or belong to the unions? Come to discuss it with us!

Every year, we organise a conference on collective bargaining and social dialogue, involving experts from large Czech companies, ministries, lawyers and other representatives of the professional community. Join us this year on 17 October 2024 at the NEXEN TIRE production facility.