The Development of New Industrial Relations in Slovenia - UMAR

SUMMARY
In Slovenia a stable, co-operative and democratic system of industrial relations (IR),
enabling trade union and employer organisations playing an important role in the
transition process, should develop. During the transition IR in Slovenia are
developing under the influence of complex circumstances. There exists historical
tradition and influences, which can be traced back to Austro-Hungarian empire, pre
II. world war Yugoslavia and finally socialist Yugoslavia. During the transition IR
(collective bargaining, resolution of industrial disputes, participation, tripartism) are
adapting on one side to market conditions and international and European standards
(changes and development of institutions and procedures for reaching consensus
and resolving disputes, legislative framework, trade union and employer
organisations etc.). It seems that in Slovenia the German model of IR will prevail, but
with notable exceptions (central tripartite body, tripartite wage policy and social
agreements, trade union and employer organisations pluralism, differences in
codetermination etc.). On the other side it will be interesting to observe how IR will
confront influences of the decentralisation and flexibility, which one can observe in
some european countries.
The paper is first describing the development of the new role and other issues (the
development of organisational capacity etc.) of the three actors in IR (state,
employer organisations, trade unions), Then the development of the four main fields
of IR (collective bargaining, resolution of industrial disputes, participation, tripartism)
is analysed. In introduction the delineation of IR in relation to other labour market
institutions, the terminological clarification and the need for interdisciplinary
approach is given. And the short description of historical development serves as the
necessary part of context presentation in order to make international comparisons
more grounded.
INTRODUCTION
This paper deals mainly with those labour market institutions and aspects, which are
part of the industrial relations (IR) system. The term industrial relations (as defined
in the ILO Governing Body paper, ILO 1995) refers “... to the collective relations
between employers and workers and their organizations, typically through
negotiations and consultations between employers or their organizations and trade
union or elected representatives of workers. As such, it covers collective bargaining
with a view to deciding on rules to govern the employment relationship and the
relations between the parties, joint consultation, participation of workers in decisionmaking
through representatives on such bodies as councils, representation of
workers in grievance procedures, machinery for the settlement of disputes more
generally and procedures whereby government consults or negotiates with
employers' and workers' organizations on matters of economic and social policy”.
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