Author: lisc.model

The first Qaurterly meeting for Labor Rights Advocates (WRA) was held on 13.9. 2021  in Zagreb. The topic of the workshops was Communication. The workshop was dedicated to communication skills, with the aim of recognizing and understanding forms of communication that make it difficult and do not contribute to solving problems, and meanwhile learning how to communicate more efficiently.

 The workshop consisted of a theoretical part – an introduction to the principles of non-violent communication and exercises aimed at recognizing examples of unconstructive communication, expressing one’s feelings and needs and actively listening. The workshop was attended by 12 participants – union commissioners and active members of SMH-IS who are supposed to apply these skills in further union work – both with members and with the employer and in internal union structures. The workshops were led by Paula Zora, a psychotherapist, and Sunčica Brnardić, a UASB counselor for labor and social law.

At the end of the workshop, the participants developed the following competencies:

• understanding the principles of non-violent communication
• recognizing forms of unconstructive and aggressive communication
• recognizing one’s own needs and feelings
• active listening
• application of the principles and structure of non-violent and assertive communication in the group.

The participants were satisfied with the workshop, and concluded that the acquired skills will be useful in further union work.

The WRA workshop was held in the International Hotel in Zagreb on 24 and 25 June 2021. The workshop was organized in line with all the epidemiological recommendations at the time. The participants, altogether 22 of them, were maintaining social distance and using protection equipment. The training for nominated participants was organized for establishing Workers’ Right Advocates in Croatia.

The WRA workshop was conducted by Ana Milićević Pezelj, the main Croatian expert, assisted by Sunčica Brnardić, the second Croatian expert and Nediljka Junaković, the moderator.
The WRA workshop started with the summary of the previous activity, the Validation workshop held on 10 June 2021 and a short review of all already finished activities. After that the information on the continuation of the Project was given to the participants also by Ana Milićević Pezelj, namely the WAC/five mini trainings for eight nominated participants on the participation of workers and new approaches to workers’ voice within companies, stress management trainings, active aging, health and safety at workplace, gender equality etc.
The summary about the finished Project activities and the information about the future ones were followed by thematic presentations and discussions.

Participants were very active in discussions about workers’ right to information, consultation and participation in decision-making process at the company level, collective bargaining, exchange of information and communication within trade union (from local union to trade union and confederation headquarters and back), law and decision-making mechanisms in the European Union, social partners’ framework agreements on the European Union level and ways of their implementation in the national framework, stress management, demographic problems and active aging policies, multicultural Europe and trade union activities related to this etc. A lot of personal experiences of the participants were discussed and also the possibilities to improve themselves and their trade union work especially using good practices from Nordic model and the recommendations from the Norwegian expert, comprised in the Guideline Manual on “Decent Work Agenda“.

At the beginning of the afternoon session of the first day of the workshop Ana Milićević Pezelj presented the draft of the curriculum for the last five trainings for the Workers’ Right Advocates, especially the purpose of education, main goals, plan of activities, expected results etc.
The second part of the first day and the second day of the WRA workshop were devoted more thoroughly to defining the curriculum for the last five trainings. Sessions were led by Nediljka Junaković, moderator and SSSH/UATUC education expert and Sunčica Brnardić, SSSH/UATUC legal expert (who will be delivering the last five trainings together with Paula Zore, psychologist).

The sessions followed a guided needs-based approach to defining the curriculum. Through a facilitated workshop, participants reported their motivation for trade union work and challenges they face in this work. In the next step, participants were engaged in jointly creating an outline for the curriculum through a World-cafe workshop. They provided answers to three questions: what knowledge they needed for performing better at trade union work, which skills (communication, cognitive, technical and social) are needed for a good shop steward and which knowledge and skills they personally want and need to further.

For the next day, the Experts summarised results and presented the suggested curriculum themes outline to the participants. Participants expressed the wish for the trainings to be based on active learning methods and be focused on soft skills – negotiations, resilience, organisation and self-organisation, and communication in general. Detailed curriculum will be developed in the next steps in cooperation with the Main Expert and Psychologist.
At the end of the second day, participants for WAC training were chosen, and all WRA participants communicated their expectations from WAC and discussed the conditions and ideas for its sustainability and effectiveness which will be taken into account while designing the final curriculum for the last five trainings.

After the president of SMH-IS welcomed the participants and introduction of the participants, the expert started the presentation where the Guideline Manual “Decent Work Agenda- establishment of tools for quality Labour Informational System in Croatia (LiSC) through Information Bureau (IB) and Workers’ Rights Advocates (WRA)“ was presented. During the event, while the expert presented the aforementiond Manual, participants were asked to give their opinion on whether the data included are relevant or what can be added, etc. At the end of the seminar, participants shared their impressions of the seminar, were satisfied with the new information they received and new knowledge that they have acquired or renewed already known knowledge. In accordance with the objectives of the LISC project, the needs expressed by the participants will be crucially linked to the best Norwegian / Nordic practices applied in Croatia at all levels of social dialogue and collective bargaining.

The National Meeting was held in the International Hotel in Zagreb on 15 April 2021. The meeting was supposed to be organized in two days duration, however due to the Covid-19 pandemics and other circumstances it lasted one day.
The meeting was organized in line with all the epidemiological recommendations at the time which allowed the maximum of 25 participants indoors, while maintaining social distance and using protection equipment.
The meeting was attended by SMH-IS shop stewards, experts and President, Project experts, the representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Politics (MROSP) and the Labour Inspection (LI). Participation of the institutional representatives was organized with different technical support.
The first presentation entitled “Presentation of Norwegian best practices for implementation in Croatia and continuation of work on the LISC project by establishing working bodies / forms of work (WRC, WRA and IB)” was given by Ana Milićević Pezelj, Executive Secretary of SSSH for Social Dialogue and Public Policies, chief expert on the LISC project. The presentation covers the previous work done on the Project, especially the recommendations of the best Norwegian practices applicable in Croatia and important for the continuation of work on the development of the guide “Decent Work Program” and the accompanying curriculum for the education of trade unionists-labor rights advisers.
Irena Bačelić, Head of the Labor Market Sector, Directorate for the Labor Market and Employment, and Lana Lukačić, Head of the Labor Market Monitoring and Harmonization Service, spoke about the creation of labor market policies based on relevant data sources and the role of MROSP in that process. The focus of the presentation was on the changes in the area of labor and employment, especially driven by the digital and green transition, with which the education system, including adult education and training, must keep pace. Although new technologies will result in job creation, they will also result in a number of disruptions, as a number of workers will have to change careers. It is necessary for current and future workers to be provided with competencies that will guarantee employability and adaptability throughout their working lives and enable their periodic renewal. The experts spoke in general about the role of the MROSP in collecting relevant data on the labor market and stressed that the MROSP has an active role in the development and entry in the register of occupational standards, within the Croatian Qualifications Framework, in accordance with which the Ministry of Science and Education develops qualification standards. The experts presented to the participants the Portal for advanced monitoring of the labor market and education, which is still under development but should become the leading tool for connecting the labor market and the education system.
Irena Cvitanović, senior specialist advisor, Directorate for Labor and Safety at Work, MROSP, spoke about the opinions that MROSP prepares on specific issues of workers, employers, unions, etc., and she joined the meeting with a video link. She emphasized that opinions are legally non-binding but very useful to anyone who for clarification of the provisions the provisions of the Labor Law and the Law on Occupational Safety, and in any case it is a tool that can be used in the future by trade union advisers for labor rights.
Marina Šošić, Senior Labor Inspector, Labor Inspection Sector at the State Inspectorate spoke about how the Labor Inspection works and how to contact it, who joined in with a recorded video message and a ppt presentation. She especially pointed out the most common violations of labor rights and rights in the field of occupational safety and explained how it is possible to contact the Labor Inspectorate and arrange the arrival of labor inspectors or labor safety inspectors in a specific environment where labor rights are considered to be violated.
The concept of SSSH Work tailored to man, created after an independent survey commissioned by SSSH (2018) on employee satisfaction with their jobs and then the Portal radpomjeri.eu, was presented by Sunčica Brnardić, SSSH advisor for labor and social law, an expert on LISC project. She defined decent work as a complete whole of six different dimensions that make up a quality workplace and explained the requirements related to each of them: a well-paid job, which does not endanger physical or mental health, which enables learning and advancement, provides security, enables voting in the workplace it leaves room for private life and its planning. She also talked about how to increase the quality of jobs, emphasizing the role of trade union organization of workers, the role of trade union commissioners, unions and SSSH and the importance of the collective agreement as an instrument to increase workers’ rights above the level regulated by the Labor Law. The radpomjeri.eu portal was created as part of the latest SSSH project with the aim of informing workers about their rights and the importance and manner of trade union organization..
In the continuation of the meeting, Ana Milićević Pezelj explained what the task of the participants is through working in small groups and stressed the importance of their recommendations for the development of guides and curricula and for the development of tools for the establishment of the Work Information System (LISC) through the WRC, WRA and IB.
At the end of the meeting, the rapporteurs of each group reported on the discussions during the task and the results. Regarding the expectations from the guide “Decent Work Program” and the project activities that follow, participants expressed the need for structured information and guidelines concerning individual labor law (forms of employment contracts, wages, organization of working hours, occupational safety, etc.) and collective labor relations (the role of trade unions and other workers’ representatives, their mutual cooperation at the level of the employer, social dialogue and collective bargaining at all levels, etc.). In line with the objectives of the LISC project, the needs expressed by the participants will be crucially linked to the best Norwegian/Nordic practices applicable in Croatia at all levels of social dialogue and collective bargaining..

The National Labour Conference was held in the International Hotel in Zagreb on 17 November 2020. The conference was supposed to be organized in spring 2020 as a kick-off activity of the Labour Informational System in Croatia/LISC project by Metalworkers’ Trade Union of Croatia–Industrial Trade Union (SMH-IS), however due to the Covid-19 pandemics
and lockdown in Croatia and other European countries it was postponed and organized after some other Project activities.

The conference was organized in line with all the epidemiological recommendations at the time which allowed the maximum of 25 participants indoors while maintaining social distance and using protective equipment. Because of such conditions, Norwegian experts joined the conference online.

The conference was attended by SMH-IS shop stewards, experts and SMH President, and employers’ representatives, who took part in the work of the previous Project workshops (held on 17 and 18 June 2020), and by the representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Politics (MROSP) and the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ).

Assistant to the Labour Minister, Mr Dražen Opalić presented the Ministry’s priorities for the forthcoming period (parliamentary elections were held in Croatia in early July), which include the development and improvement of the system of management and provision of key labour market information, and the promotion of social dialogue and collective bargaining. He emphasized, in particular, the Ministry’s readiness for cooperation and discussion of the forthcoming Project recommendations.

Norwegian Project expert, delivered his topics (Cooperation between public authorities and social partners based on the Nordic/Norwegian model of decent work and Good Norwegian practices – recommendations) through three presentations: A short presentation about Solidaritet Norge Trade Union, Cooperation between public authorities and social partners
based on the Nordic/Norwegian model for decent work and Recommendations: Knowledge exchange, recommended directions and methods of social dialogue. He presented the gradual development of employment relationships in the Norwegian/Nordic working life and social dialogue over the last 100 years, an overview of the important institutions that have continued to facilitate dialogue since the year 2000, and the challenges facing the future of work.

He finished with recommendations on how to improve social dialogue, mostly to the trade union organizations. Within the topic Cooperation between public authorities and social partners in Croatia – what is missing!?, the Croatian expert, in her presentation presented the most important highlights of the Croatian report The Profile of Croatia on decent work: Presentation of cooperation between public authorities and social partners, comparison with the Nordic/Norwegian model and recommendations for the implementation of the best Norwegian practice. She gave a brief overview of the development of social and political and economic relations over the past 100 years, however, the emphasis was on the development of labor and industrial relations in the last 30 years, since the independence of Croatia in 1991 and its return to capitalism after 45 years of socialism. She compared the effects of the Croatian and Norwegian labor market, ways of wage bargaining in Norway (Norwegian model) and in Croatia (without horizontal and vertical coordination), key actors and institutions in the two systems and social dialogue and tripartism today, at the industry and company level. Finally, she presented the best Norwegian practices which could be applicable in Croatia, if tripartite consensus is reached.

Experts’ intervention was followed by a discussion which in the end confirmed the statement of the Norwegian expert that the main differences of the social dialogue institution in Central and Eastern Europe, including Croatia, and the Norwegian model concerned the scope of responsibilities and competencies of trade unions, the institutional and legal context, political significance, the existing tradition of communication between interest groups and public perception and trade union status in public space.
Among others, it was concluded that in Croatia it is necessary to reach a common understanding on the following:

• The need for cooperation between social partners and with public authorities and to strengthen each party’s capacities for tripartite and bipartite social dialogue,
• Economic and social benefits of leading a coordinated wage policy through collective agreements as the best mechanism of implementation of the decent work concept
• The need for the establishment of the collective bargaining system: collective bargaining coordination (horizontal and vertical), bargaining dynamics per levels and setting the norm at the beginning of new bargaining cycle (Technical Calculation Committee for Wage Settlements, starting the cycle with bargaining within the exporters in order to avoid a threat to their competitiveness at the global market, etc.)
• The need for unique and recognizable Croatian model of industrial relations which will be respected regardless of the change of government (education throughout schooling is necessary as a preparation for entrepreneurship and/or labour market)
• The need for credible and publicly available statistics and analytics of the labour market, as a precondition for collective bargaining on wages (Labour Market Institute)
• The need to establish institutions, tripartite and bipartite, capable of solving problems using the social dialogue mechanism, and of addressing the current and future challenges before social partners and communities in which they operate
• Autonomous dialogue of social partners is key for the culture of dialogue in general
• The link between public policies and labour relations area (horizontal link and cross-sectoral approach) for which social partners have the greatest responsibility, and government’s respect of the agreements they manage to reach.

On the basis of contributions, discussion and conclusions, the Report, i.e. the Profile of Croatia on decent work was finalized, which serves as a basis for the implementation of other Project activities.

Within the project Labour Informational System in Croatia/LISC by Metalworkers’ Trade Union of Croatia – Industrial Trade Union (SMH-IS) two workshops were held in Zagreb on 17 and 18 June 2020, with the aim of identifying information on labour market, internal and external, and their availability.

Around 20 trade unionists (shop stewards and experts of SMH-IS and UATUC), three employers’ representatives and one representative per Croatian Employment Service, Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Labour and Pension System and Labour Inspection took part.

The workshop participants discussed employment, work with employers in activities in which SMH-IS is active and the Croatian labour market, as well as (un)availability of key information. Participants got acquainted with the documents pertaining to decent work (ILO Decent Work Agenda, European Pillar of Social Rights, EU directives, UATUC Work Fit for People concept and its six dimensions: good wage, protection of health, learning and career progress, safety, a voice at the workplace and working time).

The discussion also covered the issues of access to the labour market, quality of jobs, i.e. elements of decent work, key regulations and collective agreements, social security (unemployment, healthcare, pension) and freedom of union organizing and social dialogue, including collective bargaining, as a mechanism of implementation of the decent work concept.
The discussion among others emphasized that the education system does not prepare young people for entry into the labour market. The lack of credible statistics and analytics was emphasized, especially with regard to the collective bargaining system, frequently present insufficient information and knowledge of the regulations and rules by employers but also conscious violations of workers’ rights, etc.

Significant differences were noticed in the participants’ discussions and interventions which, among others, indicates lack of information and knowledge of the labour market and of the basic terms in the field of industrial relations, which confirms the thesis about the lack of the so-called Croatian model of decent work.

Identifying and disseminating information and knowledge on such a model would be important to be included in school curricula, influence on public policies and development of bipartite social dialogue, including collective bargaining. After the workshops, the requests were sent to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Labour and Pension System to submit data which would, in their structure, be comparable with the data from the Norwegian report, as a contribution to the report for Croatia.

Zagreb, 20 July 2020