Intervention of Georgos Loucaides, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL Cyprus, in the debate on social dialogue
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
26th January 2017, Strasbourg, France
The economic crisis highlighted, inter alia, two negative developments in relation to the so-called “European social model”. On the one hand, the welfare state, which restricted explosive inequalities and extreme poverty, was undermined. On the other hand, social dialogue was bypassed and practically disregarded, while the tradition of collective bargaining is constantly being undermined. The Report records several given facts which show that where social dialogue is not respected and where there is no significant trade union organization, collective bargaining and contracts, working people have seen their wages and rights curbed.
It is known that the Memoranda were imposed on several European countries without the working people’s consent, namely they were loaded with the debts of the banks and fiscal deficits. In actual fact in some cases, the imposition of austerity measures bypassed even parliamentary majorities and democratic principles. Laws were imposed by decree, while in countries, such as Greece and Italy, so-called governments made up of technocrats were appointed that were never put before the people’s judgment.
Big trade agreements as TTIP and CETA were launched without the voice of labour movements, social and environmental organizations heard. Even more serious is the systematic by now efforts to demonize trade unions and collective action by working people and to criminalize strikes and working people’s struggles in Europe, under the guise of “regulating” strikes.
The governments of the Council of Europe states must respect internationally guaranteed worker’s rights and the institution of social dialogue in labour relations. Before decisions are taken and legislation is approved, working people, who are indeed the driving force of economies and societies of each country, must be listened to.
That being said, we have no illusions as to how fair and equal the dialogue between the trade unions and the agencies of big business is. It is, for example, indicative that 30,000 companies-lobbies are active in Brussels alone for the promotion of the interests of big businesses in policy areas such as employment, consumer protection, taxation of multinationals, having at their disposal armies of personnel that maintain links with all the leading staff of the EU structure so that they can influence policies and decisions.
However, in any case, social dialogue is a tool that can be used by working people as an arena of assertion and raising demands. Obviously, the results of social dialogue and the trade union movement’s demands are primarily determined by the degree of working people’s organization, their mass numbers and the militancy of their struggles.
