Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

including trade unions in policymaking, Visegrad countries’ governments were more
successful in compensating employees for job loss through generous welfare provisions. All
these initial conditions set the base for structured industrial relations, which are characterised
by a formally institutionalised but substantively rather weak system of tripartite institutions
and social dialogue (Bohle and Greskovits 2012, Vanhuysse 2006).
The above preconditions shaped the emergence of variation in industrial relations systems
across particular CEECs, but also accounted for some degree of regional coherence within the
liberal, welfarist and corporatist countries. Table 2.8 summarises the main industrial relations
characteristics within each of these country clusters. Countries located in the same cluster
share broad labour market characteristics and welfare state provisions. However, indicators of
industrial relations structure (organisation of trade unions and employers’ associations,
bargaining levels, extension mechanisms and the role of tripartite councils) and outcomes
(bargaining coverage, union and employer density) document that there is variation also
between countries located in the same cluster. For example, within the liberal country cluster,
there are systematic differences between the Baltic States on the one hand and Romania and
Bulgaria on the other hand. These differences can be ascribed to the long-term interplay of
labour mobilisation and bargaining institutionalisation as presented in Table 2.7 above.
Table 2.8 Labour markets, welfare states and main industrial relations characteristics in
the CEECs after EU accession (2004-2008)
Liberal Baltics
and Balkan
countries
( EE, LV, LT)
Balkan
countries
(BG, RO)
Welfarist
Visegrad
countries (CZ,
HU, PL, SK)
Corporatist
Slovenia (SI)
Labour
markets
Flexible, high
work-related
migration from
these countries
abroad
Flexible, high
work-related
migration from
these countries
abroad
Regulated
flexibility, workrelated
migration
high from Poland
and Slovakia,
lower from
Hungary,
marginal from
the Czech
Republic
Welfare state Minimalist Minimalist Generous but
strict conditions,
targeting the
population
outside of
employment
(mostly
pensioners);
Lack of active
labour market
policies
Regulated, low
migration abroad
for work
purposes
Generous
85