On January 22 talks between the social partners over social dialogue broke down. Negotiations focusing on improving the efficiency of social dialogue had advanced to the stage of a reaching potentially credible solution that included paring down the number of employee representative bodies and a generalizing the right to employee representation in SMEs. However differences in opinion over the means to achieving these aims (including the number of mandates and the number of hours dedicated to delegation) and also over Health and Safety Committee (CHSCT) privileges were too difficult to resolve. Government will now meet the relevant partners in an attempt to follow up.
Improving the efficiency of social dialogue. At the outset the union bodies were more or less in agreement over the need to improve the efficiency of social dialogue within businesses via some form of streamlining. Almost all wanted to review the plethora of meetings, consultations, and annual obligations that together were having the effect of blurring the focus on real objectives. They also wanted to address what they considered to be the too formal nature of social dialogue within business. However differences emerged when they attempted to address these issues. The employers’ organisations suggested combining all employee representation bodies into one single unit.
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