Project Strengthening and development of social dialogue at all levels of the energy sector

The project was successfully implemented between 4. April 1, 2020 and May 31, 2023 5. 2023

OS ECHO, together with its partner ČSZE, implemented the project “Strengthening and development of social dialogue at all levels of the energy sector”.

Project no.: CZ.03.1.52/0.0/0.0/18_094/0010570

The project was financed by the European Social Fund through the Employment Operational Program and the state budget of the Czech Republic.

Project annotation:

Both social partners wanted to make use of their long-term experience within the framework of this project, gained within the social partnership, conducted both within the Czech Republic and
also at the international level, at the same time, they wanted to use this project to strengthen and develop social dialogue at all levels. The project was supposed to ensure the continuity of social peace
in energy companies, regardless of the political leadership of the state.

What is the goal of the project?

Strengthening and developing social dialogue at all levels and focusing on the needs of dialogue in individual regions with the participation of regional employers and representatives of trade unions; improving the quality of conducting social dialogue, both at the sectoral, corporate, national and international levels; strengthening the awareness of employee representatives and company managers about collective bargaining, especially concerning the conclusion of collective agreements in energy companies and higher-level collective agreements in the entire energy sector; formulating the optimal form of social dialogue; direct connection of representatives of employees and employers from HR and management, information sharing
and joint search for solutions; removal of possible barriers between all participants in social dialogue, the establishment of informal relationships, the opening of mutual communication; development and strengthening of cooperation between employers and employees in the energy industry with an emphasis on the area of labour and legal relations, health and safety, increase awareness of Industry Strategy 4.0; to inform about the impacts of Industry 4.0 in the cultural and social environment of energy companies; use of modern technologies.

Description of the target group:

The target group consisted of representatives of employees and employers associated with partner organizations, such as OS ECHO and ČSZE, who are actively engaged in social dialogue
and collective bargaining at corporate, sectoral and international levels in the energy sector. The target group of the OS ECHO applicant was made up of trade unionists, and employee representatives at the level of OS ECHO’s basic organizations, who deal with social dialogue at both corporate and sectoral levels. At the same time, there are also employee representatives who operate at the transnational level of the European Works Councils. In all these groups, it is primarily chairmen, vice-chairmen and members of the competition committees of basic organizations, participating in the social dialogue, at all levels. The target group of the ČSZE project partner was managers, employer representatives and employees in energy sector enterprises concluding collective agreements. This is a group of companies covered by a higher-level collective agreement between OS ECHO and ČSZE, as well as companies where the collective agreement is negotiated only at the company level. An important group of the ČSZE was made up of workers whose work classification and tasks are closely related to the content of key activities and who participate in collective bargaining. Based on the acquired experience, they will be able to subsequently pass on knowledge to lower levels of the corporate hierarchy. Due to the distribution of energy companies, the target group was evenly distributed throughout the Czech Republic. The role of the target group consists of active involvement
in the conduct of social dialogue, and collective bargaining up to the very creation of collective agreements at the company level and sectoral level. The social partners want to use this project to strengthen and develop social dialogue at all levels and to focus on the needs of dialogue in individual regions with the participation of regional employers and representatives of trade unions, including the exchange of experience with the functioning of social dialogue at the transnational level.

The following key activities were addressed within the project:

1/ Social dialogue in the regions and its needs
2/ Collective bargaining and social dialogue at the sectoral level
3/ Collective bargaining and social dialogue at the company level
4/ Social dialogue in multinational companies
5/ Final conference of the project
6/ Project management