My next Brussels trip will concern the EU Social Dialogue. The EU what? It might not be well known outside the scope of us nerds working with EU issues, but yes, dialogue between trade unions and employer federations exists at the European level too. This is a forum where joint opinions and agreements are made to effect company behaviour. There exists one dialogue for the banking sector, and one for insurance.

The topics and texts that are discussed and agreed bring added value to the Nordic trade union work. It does so in two direct ways:

Firstly, by stating that certain topics are considered as prioritized for the companies to engage in. For example the recent joint opinion in the bank sector on CSR which has several good points. Not only for us Nordics, but perhaps even more for our European colleagues.

Secondly, by sending a signal to the EU policymakers. For example, if the social partners agree on wordings that could improve work-life balance, or discussing company culture, it is a clear signal to the EU policymakers that this is an important area. So this is actually a way for the social partners to influence the EU agenda..

The two points above have the potential of safeguarding the Nordic model in the long run. Let’s say that either the first or the second point above leads to better working conditions. I believe we are all convinced that improved working conditions will lead to less sick leave and more productive employees, which leads to growing productivity and profit, and thereby more jobs. Then the EU policymakers will see the point of having an employee perspective when creating policies and rules. But if no improvement for employees is made in Europe, no such positive chain between employee rights and the value of the society will be made. So by improving working conditions somewhere else in Europe, you can show the added value for society from trade union work in general.

The conclusion is that the employee perspective and the role of trade unions can be upgraded in the EU institutions’ agendas. Such a development will of course gain the Nordic model since the EU will respect good trade union solutions, and not interfere with it and other trade unions issues as it has done recently. One example is from the Social Dialogue in the Hair and Beauty sector.

So in conclusion: when working with trade union issues at an international level as NFU does, you will always come across topics that seem to be outside the scope of your mission to safeguard the Nordic model. But by not supporting your European colleagues with their challenges, you miss an important link. The success of trade unions abroad, will eventually affect trade union work back home. It might be a complex relation with long time horizon, but nonetheless important.

Martin Hassel, Policy Officer
@hasselNFU