In September 2006, the 2005–2006 intersectoral agreement for the public sector was signed by the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions and the General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium. However, the socialist trade union, the Belgian General Federation of Labour, refused to sign the agreement, which covers all civil servants at federal, regional, local and municipal levels.
On 19 September 2006, the new 2005–2006 intersectoral agreement for the public sector (in Dutch) was signed by two of the three trade union organisations representing employees in the civil service. The signatory unions included the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) and the General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (Centrale Générale des Syndicats Libéraux de Belgique/Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België, CGSLB/ACLVB). The socialist trade union, namely the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV), refused to sign the new agreement.
Social dialogue in public sector
The public sector has an entirely separate legal structure for conducting social dialogue. The collective labour agreement (CLA) legislation does not apply in this case. In the public sector, no binding CLAs can therefore be reached and the collective labour agreements that are reached in the National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/Nationale Arbeidsraad, CNT/NAR) are not applicable to this sector. The law regarding trade union status of 19 December 1974 governs social dialogue within the state sector.
Under this law on trade union status, negotiations must take place in principle every two years within the umbrella negotiating committee for all public services – Committee A – with a view to reaching an intersectoral agreement for social programming that is applicable to all public services. This intersectoral agreement represents for the public sector what the interprofessional agreement represents for the private sector. It includes all commitments which the government wants to make with respect to employees in the public sector over a two-year period. However, such an intersectoral agreement is not legally enforceable. The commitments undertaken in the agreement must therefore be subsequently transposed by the government into legislation and decision-making processes.
Content of new agreement
In addition to a chapter on employment issues, in which the Belgian authorities reiterate their commitment to giving priority to increasing employment levels, promoting diversity and the employment of young people, proceeding towards the computerisation of services and internal mobility, the agreement envisages various major changes in the employment conditions of civil servants as follows:
- the system of part-time early retirement will become more flexible, enabling civil servants to reduce their working hours by half from the age of 55 years if they wish and allowing employees to work within this system until the age of 65 years, or to return to full-time work if preferred;
- the maximum amounts for calculating compensation in cases of accidents at work will be increased to the upper limits currently used in the private sector;
- many measures will be taken in the area of pensions, such as the additional pension for contractual employees, a more resourceful pension system with added solidarity mechanisms, and an increase in the accumulation thresholds for survival pensions;
- tax credits and the work bonus – measures to avoid the unemployment trap in low-wage employment will be introduced;
- the right to parental leave will become less strict to allow for more flexible arrangements for parents. The child age limit will rise from four years to six years of age and new minimum periods will be introduced for taking this leave. The right to care leave for single-parent families with a sick child will also be extended;
- the amount of the trade union premium contributions will increase to €80 and €2.50 in administrative charges. The trade union premium is paid to civil servants, who are members of a union. Part of their membership fee is reimbursed by the employer.
Stance of FGTB/ABVV
The new agreement, which covers the period 2005–2006, was not expected to be fully implemented before the end of 2006. The FGTB/ABVV considered this date for implementation to be too late, as negotiations for the period 2007–2008 should be starting in the meantime. Moreover, the trade union believes that the agreement does not include any special provisions. It particularly regrets the non-intersectoral introduction of a year-end bonus for employees. Nonetheless, according to FGTB/ABVV, the agreement does include improvements, such as the start of negotiations on updating the current pension system, in which the union wants to participate.
Commentary
It should be noted that, for the period 2005–2006, no intersectoral agreement was signed in the private sector in Belgium. In this case, FGTB/ABVV again refused to sign the agreement. Unlike practices in the private sector, the refusal of one party to sign the agreement at the negotiating table does not prevent the conclusion of the agreement in the public sector. However, in this regard, the agreement in the public sector will have less legal impact. Another aspect to note is that this type of agreement includes few wage measures. Automatic indexation of wages does however ensure that civil servants’ wages rise in line with any increase in the inflation rate in Belgium.
Further information
See also the sectoral agreement at Flemish regional level (BE0607019I).
Guy Van Gyes, Higher Institute for Labour Studies (HIVA), Catholic University of Leuven