In December 1998, the European-level social partners in the sugar industry, ECF-IUF for trade unions and CEFS for employers, signed a joint declaration on vocational training in their sector. The declaration aims to promote employability and the integration of young people into the labour market.
At a December 1998 sectoral social dialogue meeting, the European Committee of Food, Catering and Allied Workers' Unions within the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (ECF-IUF) and the European Committee of Sugar Manufacturers (Comité Européen des Fabricants de Sucre, CEFS) signed a joint declaration on vocational training in the sugar industry.
ECF-IUF, a member European Industry Federation of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) represents the 55,000-60,000 employees in the sector, while CEFS represents the majority of the 170 or so EU sugar firms. The industry has undergone a significant degree of restructuring over the last decade with a concentration of businesses and a significant reduction in employment (over the past 10-15 years, employment has almost halved).
The joint declaration aims to encourage the development of transferable vocational skills and seeks to foster the integration of young people into the labour market. In the document, the representatives of workers and employers commit themselves to conducting an annual review of training developments and to assess whether any new measures which have been implemented have been successful.
The new declaration is seen as a contribution to the the European employment strategy.