Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

Across the EU the magnitude of the double role of the state as employer and legislator in the
process of collective bargaining varies as different state bodies at various levels and with
different sovereignties over the employment relationship act as employers. In addition, there
are variations in the differentiation of collective bargaining issues, e.g. wage determination is
sometimes regulated differently to other issues such as, for example, working time and
vocational training .However, three broad patterns with respect to the role of the state in
collective bargaining in the public sector can be identified (Traxler, 1999):
countries in which collective bargaining is the most important and most frequent mode
of regulation of the employment relationship in the public sector. 4
countries in which the employment relationship is unilaterally set by respective state
authorities. In the EU-27 countries this pure form does not exist (any more) as in
practice unions are usually involved, consulted and informed by government
authorities. Therefore the second pattern is characterized by de facto collective
bargaining; and
countries in which there is a combination of these two patterns, which means that there
is co-existence of collective bargaining and unilateral state regulation.
For details, see table 1.4.
Table 1.4: Mode of regulation of the employment relationship in the public sector
Predominant regulatory pattern
Collective bargaining (CB)
Unilateral state regulation (USR)
Countries
BE, BG, CY, CZ, DK, FI, , HU, IE, IT, MT, NL, PT,
SK, SI, SE
AT, FR, LU
Mixed: CB and USR EE, EL, LV, LT
CB and USR
CB and USR
PL, RO, ES
DE, UK
Note: Bold CB and USR indicates that the mode is higher than the other but still not predominant for
the whole country. Sources: Brandl and Traxler (2012), European Federation of Public Service
Unions (2008), Traxler (1999). UK: collective bargaining is mainly national and by local government.
Pay Review bodies in health, education, prisons). LU: Indexation of wages.
The first and second patterns represent extreme forms and given that various exceptions (i.e.
for certain sub-sectors or groups of employees). Nevertheless by concentrating on the
predominant form of collective bargaining, a classification of all EU-27 member countries
along these three regulation modes can be identified and is shown in Table 1.5.
4 In countries in which collective bargaining is the predominant mode, exceptions to the rule can nevertheless be
found. Frequently certain key sub-sectors such as the armed forces and the police are characterised by
exceptional regulations.
43