FIFTH REGIONAL ROUNDTABLE ON SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN SEE COUNTRIES IN SOFIA

11/24-26/2014
 
Caption 1: The participants on the Fifth Regional roundtable in Sofia

On 25.11.2014 in Sofia, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Bulgarian Ministry of Labor in a tripartite composition of the Ministry of Labor, representatives of representative trade unions and employers' organizations a conference at the highest level was held on which the social dialogue in these countries was discussed. The Ministers of Labor of the Republic of Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania together with unions and employers presented their experiences and achievements in the implementation of the social dialogue in their native countries, as well as perspectives, opportunities and threats caused by global world crisis.

The ILO representatives again emphasized the international standards and their importance.

 
Caption 2: President Mitrevski on the Roundtable

In their speeches the representatives of the Republic of Macedonia, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Dime Spasov, representative of the financial sector of MLSP, Mihajlo Koshtrimovski, the President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, PhD Zivko Mitrevski and the President of the Independent Union of Health, Pharmacy and Social Care, Ljubisa Karanfilovska, pointed out the significant results and the method of realization of social dialogue in R. Macedonia, the progress in labor legislation and the creation of a series of new historical laws. These claims were confirmed by employers’ representatives.

In terms of social dialogue and labor legislation, a general assessment was that R. Macedonia is a positive example on this plan as opposed to a series of events that have occurred in many other countries. A generally accepted assessment is that the social dialogue is an indispensable tool for solving common problems between social partners.

This two-day conference reviewed other issues including wage determination by labor, informal sector and insecure employment.