ABOVE:
USAID funded seminar on successful collective bargaining that brought together tripartite representatives to help them communication skills and techniques necessary for successful bargaining.
Implementer: Management Systems International (MSI)
Partners: Government Office for Social Partnership; Economic and Social Council (GSV)
Tripartite Social Dialogue
Project completed February 2004
Tripartite dialogue is a negotiation between government, trade unions and employers that has been credited with helping advanced industrial democracies build consensus on difficult and often contradictory national goals such as labor reform, taxation etc. While tripartite discusssions in Croatia have progressed, a comprehensive social pact has not occured. Some parties became discouraged as a result of continuing differences and failure to compromise.
The USAID-funded Tripartite Social Dialogue program maintained the momentum of tripartite discussions to strengthen the GSV's (Economic and Social Council) role in facilitating consensus on key policy reform issues.
It does this by training facilitators and social partners in communication and interest based negotiation; assisted the GSV and Office for Social Partnershipm (OSP) in strategic management; and provided research and training on economic, social and labor issues.
Results
USAID worked to introduce new and efficient GSV procedures, communication improvements and helped start local GSVs in all 20 counties.
By the end of 2003, 17 labor mediators were trained and mediating an average of 10 cases per month with a 75 % resolution rate. Based on this success, another 18 mediators were trained in 2004.
In addition to the mediation success, 12 of 18 local GSVs were functioning, and at the end of the activity in March 2004 and others were on their way to becoming fully functional. Local GSVs are a key factor in the economic and social development of each county as they provide county and municipal governments with the expert advice, community support and resources necessary for effective development.
A study tour for GSV members to the Irish Economic and Social Council was organized that resulted in the government's commitment to fund the Office of Social Partnership to support the GSV. USAID provided management consulting services and advised the office on operational issues, trained the Managing Director and experts and provided research and analysis on issues considered by the GSV.
Download document: Tripartite Social Dialogue (PDF 119 KB)
