Training for negotiators on drafting collective agreements took place in Vilnius

On September 10, 2020, in Vilnius, at the conference center „Artis Centrum Hotel“, a training on drafting collective agreements of the international project “Improvement of Social Dialogue in Industry Sector in Lithuania” was held. It took place on the basis of the experts conclusions of the Lithuanian Industry Trade Union Federation‘s collective agreements analysis.

Over 20 trade union leaders and active trade union members from AB “Achema”, AB “Klaipėdos energija”, AB “Klaipėdos nafta”, “AB” ORLEN Lietuva “, UAB” Agrochema “, UAB” Elektrėnų komunalinis ūkis “, AB “Detonas”, UAB “Šiaulių Energetikos Statyba”, AB “Litgrid”, aviation companies participated in the training. It was moderated by labor law specialists Artūras Černiauskas and Dalia Jakutavičė.

A. Černiauskas presented the main aspects of the draft collective agreement and preparation for negotiations. He noted that it would be difficult to compare the collective agreements of companies with different bargaining experiences. For example, the collective agreements of the companies with a strong tradition of social dialogue is more likely to reflect the interests of employees than those in which the agreement was eventually negotiated after several years of difficult negotiations.

According to the labor law specialist, more and more employers are beginning to realize that by signing a collective agreement they actually buy a peace of mind and information from employees. Thus they no longer have to spend plenty of time gathering information from individual departments and workshops – it is systematized and introduced by trade unions in the regular meetings.

D. Jakutavičė provided a legal overview of collective agreements and moderated the work of the working groups. Participants were divided into trade union and employer representatives. Both sides had to draft a collective agreement and to submit proposals to each other. Later, the results of the working groups were presented and a discussion took place.

More information about the international project “Improvement of Social Dialogue in Industry Sector in Lithuania” is here.

The training photo gallery is here.