Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Footwear industry

This study examines the state of play regarding social dialogue in the footwear industry. It first gives a brief outline of the industry’s economic background, then focuses on its social partner organisations in the EU Member States (except for Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta), looking in particular at membership levels, role in collective bargaining and public policy, and national and European affiliations. The report concludes with an analysis of the relevant European organisations in the footwear industry, in particular their membership composition and their capacity to negotiate. The aim of the representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in selected sectors. The impetus for these studies arises from the goal of the European Commission to recognise the representative social partner organisations to be consulted under the EC Treaty provisions. Hence, this study is designed to provide the basic information required to establish and evaluate sectoral social dialogue.