ECER 2003 Hamburg
Dr. Benke, Magdolna
National Institute for Adult Education
Hungary
The role of the social partners in vocational education and training
Experiences of some EU countries – lessons for Hungary[1]
At the threshold of Hungary's joining to the EU it is important to discuss the EU-countries' vocational education, training and employment policy issues. One of the most important among these is the social dialogue, channelling social partners more strongly into the decision making process regarding vocational education and training.
I. Social partners in vocational education and training. Lessons from the European Union
The emphasis on social dialogue and partnership in Europe is based on two aims that are to be harmonized: how to successfully improve market competitiveness while maintaining social solidarity.
In European culture solidarity is a highly important, traditional value. Therefore special attention should be paid to the possible dangers that the means to improve competitiveness represent to our European traditional values. The European Union itself emphasises the involvement of social partners into the decision making process.
The research directed by the National Institute for Vocational Education and Training examined the experiences of social partners' role in shaping decisions in eight EU-countries (Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Sweden). We aimed to formulate some lessons for the analysis and further development of social partnership in Hungary.
Before summarising our research result, let me speak briefly about the main messages of several documents of the EU during the 90s regarding the relationship between vocational education and training and social partnership.
These documents attach growing importance to education and training (to support employment policies) and demand stronger and stronger participation from social partners. The White Paper titled 'Employment, Growth and Competitiveness' searched for the possibilities to harmonise market competitiveness and social solidarity. The 'Essen Conclusions' launched the 'Community Employment Strategy', also stressing the importance of vocational education and training in order to improve employment chances for the workforce. The 'Amsterdam Treaty' laid down the legal basis for community employment policy and set the task of co-ordinating member states' employment policies. Thus, member states have to report year by year their achievements in developing their vocational education system.
The Luxembourg Employment Summit is of special reference, since it was declared that social partners have to be involved in every level of employment policy decisions and their execution. The Lisbon Summit's ambitious goals include the re-shaping of member states' education and training system to meet the requirements of a knowledge-based society and to increase employment.
Finally, the Stockholm Summit have to be mentioned, which emphasised the development of information technology related education and training, the need to advance education policies and life-long learning, also underlining that it is crucial for social partners to fully and efficiently take part in carrying out reforms modernising the European social model.
Recently, the EU has launched a professional and civic debate on its memorandum of life-long learning. In this document citizens' responsibility, the improvement of employment opportunities is emphasised together with the involvement of social partners to enhance life-long education and training.
II. The most important conclusions of our research
Consensus-seeking forms of social dialogue on vocational education and training increasingly influence decision-making processes. Moreover, social partners do have more and more responsibility in executing decisions.
The range of institutions taking part in the dialogue varies from country to country, being a result of a historical process. The actors, the negotiated topics, the practice of interest negotiations and the subsidy system are all part of a system determined by historical-economic-political traditions that are also in constant transition and development. Countries follow their own path while also noting EU directives.
The role of social partners in vocational education and training may differ depending on their rights granted by laws. These include managing funds, taking a consultative part in law-making.
In some countries continuing training is based on the agreement between employers' organizations and trade unions. Companies are obliged to support education and training, funds are managed jointly by the social partners. Agreements are made on a branch level, collective agreements play a small role on the company level. Training-related decisions are the rights of employers. This is the case in France, the Netherlands and Spain.
In other countries, continuing training rests primarily on individual employers' initiatives and there is no considerable (legal and financing) background for it. In these cases the impact of bargaining process varies, reconciliation of interests between social partners reaching various stages. Germany is an example for this, where in some branches serious agreements are born, education and training having a growing importance in the strategies of social partners. In the United Kingdom employers' associations are able to maintain their 'privileges' in training and education decisions. Ireland is a similar case, where education and training are part of national-level employment policy, but on the local level it is the employer who decides what kind of education and training is necessary at the company. There are very few examples of collective agreements including education and training issues.
There are countries where continuing training is understood as a wider and general meaningof adult education. Here, life-long learning is part of the educational traditions. There is a codified right of individual freedom for education and training in Denmark and Sweden. There are differences between countries in terms of the scope of social dialogue. In Sweden branch-level agreements deal with company-based education and training, and there are modest achievements on the level of companies. In Denmark branch-level agreements play a growing role in education and training.
Generally it can be said that branch-level and inter-branch agreements do have the largest impact on continuing training. The role of company-level agreements is strongly limited and of a 'defensive' nature.
Traditions of interest representation, social values regarding work and education do have a remarkable impact on the socio-economic situation of countries. A traditionally consensus-seeking behaviour or a cultural commitment to adult educationrepresents amobilising forcein the societymaking social dialogue easier in vocational education and training as well. At the same time, the example of 'new' EU-members such as Ireland and Spain prove that with a common social will the conditions for dialogue can be laid down even without strong democratic traditions. From the UK's experience it seems that a non-branch based trade union structure was a barrier to the development of an efficient system of vocational education and training. Processes in the UK show that social dialogue is a necessary element of social and economic development.
The interest representing potential of employers and employees is strongly influenced by the strength of trade union presence and their level of organized force. Our research has verified the experiences that trade unions push their interest more effectively on the nationallevel compared than on the local level. This is clearly mirrored by the low ratio of company-level collective agreements.
In the practice of social dialogue, besides the strengthening of certain centralised mechanisms, the growing role of decentralised level can be noticed as well. As the role of regions gaining is getting more important in the planning process, the weight of regional and local interest representation is gaining strength in the bargaining processes. This implies tensions: regional versus branch level interest reconciliation, tensions that are to be solved.
In the light of the EU documents of the 90s, vocational education and training as a crucial element of active employment policies can have an outstanding role in the processes to modernise Europe.
Education and training involve a longer period of time, an investment that will pay off only in the future, if ever. Therefore, employers are uncertain about its outcome. Much depends on whether employers and employees do think in short or long-term, and on the level of their consciousness and planning mind. These factors determine whether employers regard education and training expenses as an investment or just money 'spending'. Consciousness and planning are important for employees as well, although their opportunities in this respect are much more limited compared to employers.
The Europe of the 90s, their young and old people, has faced many new economic and social challenges in vocational education and training. Non-typical and unstable forms of employment have appeared, traditional employee conditions have been changing, the need for a faster mobility is stronger than ever, the renewing of earlier acquired knowledge is required more strongly than before. New kinds of abilities are necessary. Adults' continuous learningdemands new approaches and attitudes from individuals, employers and educational and training institutions. The activity of social partners has to adapt to the new and changing social environment.
Obviously, education and training is part of the company's human resource management, therefore all strategic decisions of employee training are embodying an element of the company's human resources policy. Social partners can have a central role in securing that local employee interests do not get hurt by a central will. In our globalizing world, different countries face similar challenges. Employees trying to fight for an agreement on education and training, employers oppose the inclusion of education and training rights in any agreement, even when they aim to establish a closer tie between education, training and company interests. In certain debated topics collective agreements can form the 'peak' of social dialogue, but education and training agreements are rarely reached on the company level. Since decisions shaping the fates of individuals are taken on the company level it is understandable that there are serious efforts for strengthening social dialogue inside firms.
To sum up the above, in the countries that we have examined employers as well as employees would like to influence education and training processes more strongly. Since education and training are tightly interrelated with the question of job security and retaining workplaces, it is natural that trade unions take firm steps in order to provide employees with continuous education and training aiming to secure this with agreements on the local level. The typical experience is though that employers often deny to include education and training in collective agreements, partly from a fear of wage raising demands of workers.
In the course of our work a number of question has come up that need further study. From these, I would mention the issue how the weight of national and local level will change in the social partners' co-operation regarding education and training; whether regional education and training plans will secure bigger importance for the local level, and if yes to what degree.
All the way through our research we had the aim to present lessons that can be learnt by domestic analysts and decision makers. Having in mind the Hungarian social environment, instead of copying practices, the most important is to gain a deeper knowledge and insight into the changes and tendencies of social partnership and social dialogue, and more generally, into the approaches, the viewing and posing of problems, the way of thinking in our topic.
I would highlight the following lessons of our study:
- In terms of the development of social dialogue, the role of historical background and traditions is outstanding. The lack of democratic traditions can be bridged, but it is very difficult.
- Social consensus can provide economic advantages in competition, as the example of Ireland shows it.
- The legal background is very important. In its absence, the role of collective agreements becomes central.
- All the actors of social dialogue have a decisive, distinctive function and task not to be taken over from the others. None of the sides can be left out from the dialogue.
- In special cases the role of the state gets more important. There are occasions when state intervention is needed. This holds especially for those areas where the market cannot sense or cope with the problem.
- Countries with companies specialising on knowledge-intensive and high-tech products should place big emphasis on strengthening workers' continuous adaptation abilities, on modernising the organisation of work.
- In education and training employee responsibility is more and more of a condition and its importance will grow in the future.
- Consensus can be reached only through respecting mutual interests. Because of the continuous socio-economic changes, no consensus is valid forever, so they have to be renewed over and over and again.
- For an efficient social dialogue clear representation of interests is necessary. An efficient and solid agreement can be reached only when partners are equal.
- For a fruitful social dialogue, correct information and continuous analysis of the socio-economic situation and the labour market is necessary.
- Changing vocational education and training demands can be met only based on a reliable educational and training system.
- It can take a long time to develop an efficient co-operation of social partners. This was the case for West-European countries and the story has still not ended.
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[1] This lecture is based on the author's research summary on this topic. (Benke, Magdolna: A szociális partnerek szerepe a szakképzésben az Európai Unió nyolc országában. A kutatás legfontosabb eredményei és tanulságai. (“The role of the social partners in vocational education and training in eight countries of the European Union. The main outputs and lessons of the research”) (in: A szociális partnerek szerepe a szakképzésben. Nyolc európai uniós ország tapasztalata. Szerkesztette: Benke, Magdolna. Nemzeti Szakképzési Intézet, Budapest, 2001) (“The role of the social partners in vocational education and training. Experiences of eight countries of the European Union. Edited by BENKE, Magdolna. National Institute of Vocational Education, Budapest, 2001). The research project was directed by the National Institute of Vocational Education. Its participants were: ARTNER, Annamária; BASSA, Zoltán; BENKE, Magdolna; GYÖRGYI, Zoltán; LADÓ, Mária; PÁSZTOR, Miklós; SEMJÉN, András; SIMONYI, Ágnes; VÁMOS, Dóra; ZÁDOR, Márta; to whom the author expresses thanks for their excellent work.