A tripartite approach” “

It’s called ‘Tripartism’ and is one of the aims of the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO). It means the promotion of a system in which governments, workers and employers are placed on an equal footing, and join together in playing an important role in the formulation of social policy, the promotion of social justice and the definition of labour regulations and the control of their application at the international level. “Tripartism is essential for the realization of the principal objective of the ILO: ‘a decent job for everyone'”. According to Eurostat data, at November 2002, the percentage of the unemployed in Europe was equivalent to 8.4%, while the average unemployment rate in the Union was 7.7%. The percentage of unemployed men was 7.4%, that of unemployed women 9.8%, and that of youth (below the age of 25) 16.2%. It is calculated that at November 2002, 11.7 million citizens of the Eurozone and 13.6 million citizens of the Union as a whole were without a job. The principles of Tripartism. “Tripartism – declares the last number of the ILO’s quarterly journal “Travail” (Labour) – has a brilliant future in the age of globalization, but like every institution it must be maintained and reinforced to remain anchored to reality”. In particular it is up to governments to “guarantee conditions propitious to social dialogue”, i.e. “respect for fundamental principles and the right to trade-union freedom, to collective bargaining, to a climate of sound professional relations and respect for the role of the social partners”. Workers, on the other hand, are asked to “reinforce their own representative capacity in those sectors in which they are less well represented so that they themselves be able to exercise their rights and defend their interests” and employers “to collaborate with those sectors where the levels of representation are little developed to foster the development of a professional environment favourable to the advent of tripartism and social dialogue”. In more recent years another component, that of the non-government organizations (NGO), is gaining ground in the ILO. European Union. “Tripartism has played an important role in the transition of various countries in central and eastern Europe. At a time when a large slice of Europe is preparing to join the EU, it is right to proceed to collaboration between East and West and prepare the future of social dialogue in Europe”. In the view of the ILO, this is the task of the representatives of workers, employers and governments of the thirteen EU candidate countries in the framework of the debate on social dialogue and the reform of labour law. Europe’s attention to tripartism is not new. In 2002 Denmark, which then assumed the presidency of the EU, held a meeting on tripartism in the enlarged Europe in the villa of Elsinore. Social dialogue has since been progressively extended to the point that we are now witnessing “the creation of a social Europe incorporating the promotion and improvement of working conditions, and of proper social protection of employment and human resources”. The commitment to hold a social ‘summit’ on tripartism each year assumed by the Elsinore Conference, and endorsed by the current Greek presidency and by the European Commission, will permit “lasting progress to be made by maintaining the impetus of social dialogue”. According to the EU, “social dialogue forms part of an efficient management of public affairs, and labour is one of the fundamental aspects of its own process of enlargement. A genuine social dialogue, a rigorous macroeconomic policy and a judicious market policy will contribute to the economic success of the candidate countries and facilitate the process of enlargement”.