2002 Annual Review for Belgium

This record reviews 2002's main developments in industrial relations in Belgium

Political developments

At federal level, a 'rainbow' coalition has been in power since June 1999, made up of six parties:

• the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, VLD);
• the (French-speaking) Reform Movement (Mouvement réformateur, MR);
• the (French-speaking) Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste, PS);
• the (Flemish-speaking) Progressive Social Alternative (Sociaal Progressief Alternatief, SP.A);
• Ecolo (French-speaking environmentalists); and
• Agalev (Flemish environmentalists).

The government's term of office runs until 2003 and a general election will be held in June 2003.

In 2002, two political parties changed their names, as follows:

• the Liberal Reform Party (Parti Réformateur Libéral, PRL), the Movement of Citizens for Change (Mouvement du Citoyen pour le Changement, MCC) and the Democratic Front of Francophones (Front Démocratique des Francophones, FDF) created the Reform Party (MR); and
• the French speaking Social Christian Party (Parti social chrétien, PSC) became the Humanist Democratic Centre (Centre Démocrate Humaniste, cdH).

Collective bargaining

Belgium has a two-year collective bargaining cycle, with a two-year national intersectoral agreement normally concluded at the end of even years. Odd years (ie the first years of these two-year cycles) are marked by the widespread negotiation of mainly sectoral collective agreements within the intersectoral framework. The second year of the cycle (even years), generally sees more company agreements. The 2000 intersectoral agreement (BE0101337F) covered 2001 and 2002 and a new accord was signed in January 2003 (following negotiations in 2002), covering 2003 and 2004.

For 2002, the 2000 intersectoral agreement covered two main themes:

• maintenance of the 'pay norm' (setting pay guidelines linked to developments in neighbouring countries); and
• seeking a better balance between work and family life.

The intersectoral agreement also contained provisions on other matters, to be implemented through the conclusion of specific national collective agreements within the bipartite National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/Nationaal Arbeidsraad, CNT/NAR).

With regard to sectoral bargaining, the Ministry of Employment and Labour has noted a greater propensity in recent years for the social partners to conclude 'protocol agreements' (protocoles d'accord), rather than agreements in the strict sense of the word, in the sectoral joint committees which conduct bargaining. The Ministry states that such protocol agreements usually take the form of a list of agreed points that the parties undertake to comply with in a number of areas, and whose practical implementation is ultimately covered by the conclusion of specific agreements.

In 2001, the directorate of the clerk's office of the Ministry of Employment and Labour's collective labour relations administration registered a total of 4,453 collective agreements and related legal instruments - see the table below. This figure exceeded the average of 3,085 for odd years which was recorded between 1983 and 1999.

Source: Federal Ministry of Employment and Labour.

As noted above, the negotiation of collective agreements is one of the main tasks of sectoral joint committees. As of 30 June 2002, there were 95 joint committees and 72 subcommittees in place, involving 3,113 social partner representatives, of whom only 452 (14.5%) were women.

Following a deal reached by federal and regional authorities and social partners in 2002, any collective agreement covering matters of regional competence - such as employment - now needs to be ratified by the regional as well as by the federal authorities if it is to be declared 'generally binding' (BE0209303F).

Pay

The 2001-2 intersectoral agreement, concluded in December 2000, continued with the practice of seeking wage restraint through the establishment of a 'pay norm' to guide subsequent sector and company-level bargaining ,whereby hourly labour costs should not rise any faster than those in Belgium's three main neighbouring countries (France, Germany and the Netherlands). The pay norm was fixed at an increase in hourly wages of 6.4% for the period 2001-2, including indexation and other increases. Sectors where economic performance during 1999 and 2000 was particularly good could exceed the norm, but the overall increase in hourly wages in these sectors could not exceed 7% during 2001-2.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), wage growth in the Belgian private sector was 6.5% over the period 1999-2000 and 7.3% over the period 2001-2. Although the pay norm was the subject of vigorous debate in November 2002 (BE0212302N), the new intersectoral agreement negotiated in December 2002 and ratified in January 2003 (BE0302302F) sets a new pay norm for 2003 and 2004 of 5.4%.

Pay is automatically linked to the cost of living in Belgium. In January 2002, debate on this issue flared up. The cause was the abolition of the TV and radio licence fee in the Flanders and Brussels regions.(BE0202308F). Employers and trade unions discussed the way in which the abolition of this fee should be worked into the consumer prices index, which in turn influences increases in pay and social security benefits. With the social partners failing to agree, the federal minister of the economy decided that the effect of the fee's abolition would not be taken into account immediately.

Working time

The 2001-2 intersectoral agreement provided that the maximum normal working week would be reduced from 39 to 38 hours in January 2003. The agreement also included a chapter on improving the balance between work and family life through the adoption of various measures whereby individuals may reduce their working hours. The implementation of these measures was negotiated in 2001 by the social partners within the National Labour Council, resulting in national collective agreement No. 77 of 14 February (BE0108360F). A new system thus came into force in January 2002, consisting of:

• the right to a 'time credit'. For a maximum total of one year over their entire career, employees may interrupt their work or reduce it to a half-time job, without interrupting the contract of employment and without loss of social security rights. This time credit may be extended to a maximum of five years by agreement at sectoral (BE0105350F) or company level;
• the right to a one-fifth working time reduction. During their career, for a maximum period of five years, each employee also has the right to reduce their working hours by one-fifth - in practice generally meaning a four-day working week instead of five days; and
• the right of those aged over 50 to a reduction in working time. Older employees are entitled to reduce their working hours over an unlimited period of time, either by one-fifth or one-half.

Job security

In December 2001, management and trade unions at the Belgian telecommunications operator Belgacom signed an agreement on the implementation of a new restructuring plan, affecting 3,000-4,000 employees. The agreement, which provides for a combination of retraining, working time reductions and voluntary redundancies, was welcomed for its innovative measures (BE0201322N).

On a more general level and in the context of measures to provide job security by increasing employability, the 2001-2 intersectoral agreement provided for new reductions in employers' social security contributions in 2002, if several conditions were met, including a positive evaluation of employers' efforts with regard to employment and training. As with the 1999-2000 agreement, the 2001-2 intersectoral agreement also provided for 0.10% of total paybill to be allocated to the employment and training of people from 'risk groups'.

In July, the social partners on the National Labour Council concluded a collective agreement laying down the rules for a right to outplacement assistance for workers over the age of 45 who lose their jobs (BE0208301N). The agreement, which implements earlier legislation on this issue, came into force in September 2002.

Equal opportunities and diversity issues

In the 2001-2 intersectoral agreement, the social partners agreed to maintain the efforts initiated in the previous intersectoral agreement with regard to achieving greater quality between women and men, including the issue of reviewing job classifications to make them gender-neutral.

In June 2002, the National Labour Council noted that the percentage of seats on sectoral joint committees and subcommittees (see above) held by women had risen from 2% in 1978 to a little over 10% in 1999 and 14.5% in 2002. In order to accelerate progress, it decided to send a recommendation to the joint committees, which are to debate the issue with the assistance of the federal Ministry of Employment. The National Labour Council will assess the subsequent work carried out within the joint committees in 2004.

Legislative developments

A number of new employment-related legislative measures came into force during the course of 2002 (BE0207303F), including the following:

• the 'independent Rosetta plan', which aims to help young people start up in business;
• a scheme called 'Rosetta training', which is designed to pay allowances to young people who undergo training;
• an extension of paternity leave (to 10 days);
• the introduction of paid breaks for breastfeeding (BE0112361F); and
• a law aimed at combating moral and sexual harassment in the workplace (BE0205301N)

In December 2002, two bills aimed at combating racism and discrimination were amended by the Senate after being approved by the Chamber of Representatives (BE0212304F). The first of these complements existing legislation on racism, while the second prohibits and sets out penalties for all forms of discrimination, and broadens the competences of the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism (Centre pour l’égalité des chances et pour la lutte contre le racisme/Centrum voor gelijkheid van kansen en voor racismebestrijding). The aims of the new legislation include addressing discrimination on the labour market, which several recent studies have found to be widespread.

A government bill adopted by the Chamber of Representatives in May 2002 seeks to coordinate all existing law relating to company closures (BE0205304F). It covers a range of issues, including information for workers and redundancy payments, and the competences of the Redundancy Payments Fund (Fonds d'indemnisation des travailleurs licenciés en cas de fermeture d'entreprises/Fonds tot vergoeding van de in geval van sluiting van ondernemingen ontslagen werknemers), particularly in relation to enterprises in the not-for-profit sector.

The organisation and role of the social partners

The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) carried out a reorganisation during 2002. The objective was to break with the traditional Belgian trade union approach of dealing separately with white-collar workers and professional/managerial staff on the one hand and with blue-collar workers on the other hand, within the same sector. Thus, on the French-speaking side, the representation of the interests of all CSC/ACV members, both blue- and white-collar, in the hotels/catering/restaurants sector (covered by joint committee No. 302) and the private security sector (joint committee No. 317) has been made the responsibility of the food and services federation (CSC-Alimentation et Services, CCAS). Meanwhile, the National Federation of White-Collar Workers (Centrale Nationale des Employés/Landelijke Bedienden Centrale, CNE/LBC) now represents all CSC/ACV members in private sector hospitals (joint committee No. 305.1), health establishments and services (joint committee No. 305.2), housing and education services (joint committee No. 319), family help and care of the elderly (joint committee No. 318) and the socio-cultural sector (joint committee No. 329).

Industrial action

On 28 March 2002, under the aegis of the federal Minister of Employment, the Belgian social partners concluded a 'gentleman’s agreement' dealing with the resolution of industrial disputes (BE0204301N). The social partners have made a commitment to seek solutions to disputes through social dialogue and consensus at company level at all times (rather than through the courts or the use of industrial action), and, failing this, to seek solutions within sectoral joint committees or conciliation.

There were several significant conflicts during 2002, including in the following sectors and occupations:

• the large-scale retail sector (BE0202307F);
• the national railway company, SNCB/NMBC (BE0205303F) which is being restructured;
• prison officers, who were involved in a dispute in June (BE0206303N);
• dockworkers, following deregulation of the industry (BE0207302F); and
• French-speaking radio and television (BE0211304F).

Employee participation

The only recent development of note with regard to employee participation has been in relation to health and safety. National Labour Council Opinion No.1358 of June 2001 seeks to transpose Article 11 (covering consultation and participation of workers) of EU Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work- the 'framework' health and safety Directive. This opinion deals with the possibility of direct participation by workers in matters concerning their well-being when measures are implemented which are intended to improve health and safety at the workplace, in cases where there is no committee for prevention and protection at the workplace (comité pour la prévention et protection au travail/comité voor preventie en bescherming op het werk), nor a trade union delegation.

Telework

2002 saw no specific response in Belgium to the agreement on telework signed in July 2002 by the EU-level central social partners (EU0207204F), which is to be implemented by the national social partners in the Member States (by July 2005). There were also no other significant developments relating to telework in 2002. However, recent initiatives in this are include the following:

• a law dating from 1996 that sets out guidelines for contracts for working at home (following up a 1994 opinion from the National Labour Council); and
• an June 2000 opinion on the information society issued by the social partners on the National Labour Council and to the Central Economic Council (Conseil Central de l’Économie/Centrale raad voor het bedrijfsleven, CCE/CRB), which includes a short section on teleworking.

In April 2002, social partner representatives on the National Labour Council signed a national collective agreement (No. 81) on the protection of the private lives of employees with respect to controls on electronic on-line communications data. The agreement - thought to be the first such initiative in Europe - endeavours to reconcile the privacy of employees with the right of employers to control such data (BE0209302F).

Vocational training

There was no specific response in 2002 by the Belgian social partners to the 'joint framework of actions for the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications ' agreed by the EU-level social partners in March 2002 (EU0204210F).

Within the context of Belgian annual National Action Plans (NAPs) for employment in response to the EU Employment Guidelines, the social partners determine the conditions under which companies contribute to the cost of continuing vocational training. The objective laid down in the 1999-2000 intersectoral agreement (BE9811252F) was to increase this from 1.2% to 1.9% of paybill by the end of 2004, in order to bring Belgium's spending on training up to the average level of its three main neighbouring countries. The intermediate objective, set out in 2001-2 intersectoral agreement, was to achieve a contribution of 1.6% of paybill by the end of 2002. This contribution must be achieved whilst maintaining the specific contribution of 0.10% intended for the employment and/or training of vulnerable groups, which was introduced by the 1997-8 and 1999-2000 agreements.

In the 2001-2 agreement, the intersectoral negotiators also expressly requested individual sectors to give priority in their agreements to training for certain target groups such as older workers, women, unskilled workers and occupations experiencing labour shortages. In addition, a contribution of 0.10% of total paybill was allocated for the training and employment of people in vulnerable groups. A new feature of the 2001-2 agreement was that part-time workers are also now entitled to paid education leave for vocational training. Finally, there were additional training opportunities for workers over the age of 45.

New forms of work

There were no major national or sectoral legislative or collectively agreed developments relating to 'new' forms of work - eg part-time work, temporary agency work etc - in 2002. However, on 28 November 2002, the Minister for Employment and Training in the Wallonia regional government, Marie Arena, proposed the adoption of four decrees relating to the reorganisation of the region's labour market, which have some implications for temporary work agencies and private employment placement services. The measures include:

• ratification of International Labour Organisation Convention No. 181 on private employment agencies;
• reorganisation of the Wallonia training and employment services body (Office wallon pour la gestion de l’emploi et des besoins en formation des demandeurs d’emploi, FOREM);
• regulation of private placement services; and
• setting up T Intérim SA, a temporary work agency.

The proposed bills have been registered with the Wallonia regional parliament and were under debate at the end of the year.

Outlook

At the political level, the present government will come to the end of its term of office in June 2003 and new elections will then be held.

In terms of industrial relations, there will be new sectoral negotiations in 2003 in line with the 2003-4 intersectoral agreement signed by the social partners in January 2003. This agreement provides for a pay norm for the two years of 5.4% and deals with issues such as employment promotion schemes, continuing training and special early retirement schemes. (Catherine Delbar, Institut des sciences du travail)