Partnerships
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP AND TRAINING IN NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS
ABSTRACT:
The European Federation of Public Service Unions –EPSU- ran a master class at the 3RD Quality Conference for Public Administrations in the EU (3QC) on how trade unions and employers join forces on competence development in the civil service. Two case studies were presented jointly by the employee and employer sides coming from two very different industrial relations systems. Denmark where social dialogue is the norm, and the UK where it is far from being the case. In both countries, however, the need to improve the skills and competence of public sector workers has led to the involvement of trade unions in the design and delivery of training.
AUTHOR:
Nadja Salson,
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP AND TRAINING IN NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS: 3QC MASTERCLASS - 15 September 2004, Rotterdam
Social partnership is central to the European social model, which national administrations are entrusted to support and promote. Through social dialogue the objective is to develop social standards aiming at improving working conditions and service delivery. Its effectiveness relies on strong trade unions and effective employers’ organisations backed up by employment and collective bargaining rights. As laid down in the EU Treaty, the Commission has the obligation to promote social dialogue and to consult with social partners, i.e. trade unions and employers. There is, in this regard, no stated distinction between public and private sectors.
In national administrations, a common feature is a high trade union density. While traditionally public sector workers have benefited from fewer rights than their counterparts in the private sector, the last years have seen a trend towards gradually an extension of the collective rights to bargaining and strike to all public sector workers including civil servants, most recently in Estonia.
It is against this backdrop that the European Federation of Public Service Unions –EPSU- ran a master class at the 3RD Quality Conference for Public Administrations in the EU (3QC) on how trade unions and employers join forces on competence development in the civil service. Two case studies were presented jointly by the employee and employer sides coming from two very different industrial relations systems. Denmark where social dialogue is the norm, and the UK where it is far from being the case. In both countries, however, the need to improve the skills and competence of public sector workers has led to the involvement of trade unions in the design and delivery of training.
Management tutor, Else Marie Rasmussen, and the trainee, Irina Rutovic, presented jointly their first hand experience in a competence development scheme in the national board of industrial injuries, Denmark’s largest public sector department. It employs 370 employees dealing with 50, 000 cases per year. The starting point of the presentation was the implementation of a collective agreement signed in 2002 by the trade unions and the Ministry of Finance on “competence development”. The agreement, initiated by the trade unions, was triggered by the development of e.government with major implications for work organisation. Besides concluding agreements that provide the best possible framework for competence development at the local level, the role of the social partners at central level is to support implementation of the agreements in the form of guidelines, counselling and guidance as well as subsidy schemes. A joint committee including both sides of the industry devises principles and guidelines for the accumulated competence development efforts including the use of funds. It carries out an evaluation on a yearly basis.
The objective of the national board of industrial injuries was to transform dramatically a traditional department into a fully-fledged digitalised department in a very short time. The focus of competence development was on existing administrative staff, majority of whom are women. 15 administrative employees were selected to be trained as case workers in the department. The total duration of the training was a bit less than 2 years and consisted in training in law, medical terminology, communication, and ICT. The cost of the training was borne by the employer.
The results reported were positive both for the employee and employer sides. 13 of the selected participants moved on to a more rewarding and better paid job in the department. The point was made by the trainee that commitment from management and flexible time arrangements to combine work, training and family responsibilities were essential. It also means, both for the tutor and trainee, an increased workload and higher stress level. Overall the department has increased its performance and reduced staff turnover. It won the trade union HK/Stat “best workplace” award in 2003. The competence development agreement has been used to retraining and attracting workers, a very topical issue in national administrations across Europe. In the context of e.government that often leads to job losses particularly in administrative positions, importantly the agreement has been used as an alternative to dismissals. Personnel management and tutoring have become part of the assessment and rewarding of managers.
£4.8 billion a year because of poor literacy and
Sandra Jerome, Skills for Life Project Officer, presented the UK case study. Her job in the cabinet office is to work with government departments to help them embed the national strategy for addressing literacy and numeracy into their learning and development plans. This strategy was launched in 2001 against a background of 7 million people with poor literacy and numeracy skills, half of whom were in employment. In England 57% of the workers have low skills, compared to 20% in Germany. The case for addressing these skills needs was compelling. The cost to individuals is significant in terms of their quality of life, employment opportunities as well as health and safety at the workplace. Organisations may also bear significant costs in terms of low staff performance, high staff turnover, higher sickness absence rates and poor service user satisfaction rate. It was reported that the industry loses £4.8 billion because of poor literacy and numeracy skills.
The strategy identified public sector employees as a priority target group. A public service agreement set the target of improving the skills of 2.25 million by 2010. The first task was to engage the employers, to recognise that there might be a problem and that it was part of their responsibilities to address it. Ministerial and permanent secretary support was vital to the delivery of the strategy. Equally critical was the legal back up creating the right to be a Union Learning Representative (ULR) and providing paid leave for training. ULR are trade union appointed representatives who promote training in the workplace, similar to shop stewards and health and safety representatives. This is a rather innovative initiative in Europe. In the cabinet office cooperation with trade unions has been critical to screening and supporting staff and ensuring that training opportunities were open to underrepresented groups.
At the time of the 3QC, the target was well in reach. Out of 800 workers identified half took up some training. The scheme works on a voluntary basis and is validated by UK national diplomas. Since last September, however, progress is likely to be undermined by the UK government’s plan to cut 100,000 jobs in the civil service. Clearly redundancy cannot be the price to pay for improving ones’ skills.
Based on these two case studies, a number of lessons can be drawn. First, there must be room for dialogue – in order to identify the employee and employer needs and wishes and existing resources. Second, the process should be seen as the aim – as reorganisation is an ongoing process, there is a need for continuous competence development. Third, lifelong learning and competence development are intrinsically linked to work organisation, of which working time is a key element. Fourth, the role of trade unions is critical to fostering the realisation of training activities for public sector workers, raising the attendance and balanced take up as well as ensuring consistencies between different ministries and agencies. Also key is consistency with other policies such as job security and wage development .
The masterclass provided good practice examples, process of which as well as the issues addressed could be transposed at EU level. Issues of training and lifelong learning are some of the many issues discussed in the framework of the informal cooperation of EU directors-generals for public administration, including the establishment of a common training framework for European civil servants, both in terms of content and methodology, an individual training passport, mutual recognition of diplomas and wage development. For EPSU these are clearly collective bargaining matters that need be tackled in the framework of a European sectoral social dialogue in national administration. At a time when national administrations are expected to deliver more with fewer resources, rather than pointing to rationalisation gains before initiating change it is crucial that we focus on the resources that are essential to ensure successful change. Resource number one is the public sector workforce.
Nadja Salson, policy officer charged with national and European administrations at EPSU, the European Federation of Public Service Unions. EPSU represents over 190 public service trade unions organising 9 million workers from 33 countries. It is a member of the ETUC and is a recognised social partner at EU level.