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After lengthy negotiations, the social partners in the Belgian construction sector finally concluded a sectoral agreement for 2001-2 in June 2001. The main point of controversy had been the introduction of a specific form of temporary agency work in the industry.
Meeting in late June 2001, the social partners in the construction sector eventually signed a new collective agreement for 2001-2, setting out the broad lines governing pay and conditions in the sector. The talks over the agreement had lasted more than six months, and construction is one of last industries in Belgium to conclude a sectoral agreement for 2001-2. The practical details of implementation of the agreement will be dealt with through specific agreements to be negotiated during the coming months.
For several months, employers' organisations and trade unions on the construction sector joint committee had failed to agree on the issue of lifting the current ban on the use of temporary agency work in the sector (BE0106354F). The intersectoral agreement for 2001-2, setting out the framework for subsequent sectoral negotiations (BE0101337F), had urged the construction social partners to consider ways of introducing temporary agency work (or an equivalent system). A draft sectoral agreement was subsequently drawn up, which included a modified form of temporary agency work in construction (alongside more usual pay and conditions provisions), and was agreed by all the social partners except the the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV). FGTB/ABVV's refusal to sign left the entire agreement in limbo, preventing the payment of wage increases and vocational training contributions.
At the joint committee meeting in June, FGTB/ABVV called on those present to clarify a number of principles, before deciding to sign the agreement, with the addition of a paragraph entitled "transactional proposal". This paragraph states that the agreement's signatory organisations support the "introduction of a system drawn up by the social partners", based on the perception that the sector has recruitment and work organisation problems. In other words, the social partners support lifting the ban on temporary agency work, but have not agreed to temporary agency work as defined elsewhere.
Under the agreement, agency work will be introduced through structures peculiar to the construction sector - sectoral temporary work agencies, which will have to be accredited and monitored by the industry's social partners. These agencies will be based on a network that already exists at provincial level - the provincial bodies that manage workers' training. To ensure that safety and the length of assignments are kept under control, temporary agency workers will be registered with these agencies and will also have to undergo 16 hours' safety training before taking up their first job.
With regard to workers' protection, temporary agency work will be permitted only for a maximum period of two years per worker. The contract thereafter becomes a fixed contract. Agency workers' "social status" will be guaranteed - ie they have the same social benefits and rights as workers in the construction sector - by an examination of the issue in the construction sector joint committee, if necessary through consultation with the temporary agency work sector joint committee. Lastly, the trade unions have effective control over the use of this form of flexibility, as the company trade union delegation's agreement will be required, particularly for the hiring of temporary labour when the user enterprise experiences exceptional peaks of workload.
The construction sector agreement also includes other provisions, such as the full use of the 7% wage norm set out in December 2000's intersectoral agreement and the two-year prolongation of the existing agreement providing a bonus to blue-collar workers who remain in employment after the age of 58.