Despite an at times seemingly antagonistic relationship, trade unions and employers’ associations have many common interests – hence the term “social partners” – even though motivations may differ. A case in point is the development of vocational education and training (VET), where they play an important and visible role in most (if not all) European countries. Their involvement in issues related to the promotion of competences for a democratic culture (CDC) within a VET-context is arguably less obvious, but nevertheless, from examples identified in the course of the work of the European Council on this issue, it emerges that social partners in a good number of European countries are indeed actively engaged in this, either separately or jointly. However, these efforts are often compartmentalized, context-bound and specific, and consequently not very visible in a broader, European perspective.
The situation on the labour market is of course not comparable to political democracy, but many of the competences that are conducive to democratic procedures are also valuable in a workplace context and can be fostered in workplace-environments. Many enterprises see the value of an organised dialogue between management and employees, where developments can be brought up and important decisions discussed or even negotiated before they are implemented in order to defuse potential conflictual themes. Similarly, trade unions may consider it advantageous to advance the interests of workers through discussion, dialogue and negotiation rather than through demanding (and not always completely successful) industrial action, saving the latter as a last resort. Therefore, they also have a vested interest in cultivating the competences required for engaging in this “social dialogue” in the future workforce. The role and influence of the world of work in shaping VET policies and practices with regard to CDC differs substantially from country to country and is predicated on factors like the nature of VET-systems, legal provisions, and the prevalent organisational culture and industrial relations practices (degree of membership, social dialogue structures).
In countries with apprenticeship as the dominant form of VET, there is a very direct connection to individuals, since enterprises are venues of learning where VET-learners spend the major part of their trajectory. At political level, in countries with high membership rates in trade unions and employers’ organisations and where these are united under strong umbrella organisations (congresses and confederations), the possibilities for influence are vastly better than in countries where membership rates in labour market organisations are low, and where these are split in competing fractions. Analysing the situation in Europe from a bird’s eye-perspective, we may distinguish between three ways in which the world of work – trade unions and employers’ associations – may promote CDC in a VET-context.
Firstly, social partners may promote CDC in VET-legislation, in curricula, and local school policies in the cases where they are involved in shaping these as stakeholders in government advisory committees on VET, as partners in curriculum-development processes in individual trades, or as governors in school boards. Their participation in these forums – and their possibilities of influencing decision-making processes – may vary greatly from country to country, but generally they will have some kind of presence, and in some cases even a decisive influence. Secondly, learners may develop and strengthen their democratic competences by participating in platforms of dialogue, where important issues are discussed and negotiated. The most well-known example of this are school councils, but as an analogy to this, many countries also operate works councils at enterprise level, and in some of these the participation of VET-learners is a legal requirement. Even when it is not a legal requirement, there are also examples of enterprises setting up such consultation platforms between VET-learners and management in order to promote dialogue on pertinent issues (e.g. issues related to health and well-being). Sometimes, such platforms are introduced as part of enterprise-level policies of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Thirdly, in the case of apprenticeships, the workplace is an important learning venue, where learning outcomes related to CDC can be actively promoted. In-company trainers can support these processes, and in some countries where “training of trainers” is mandatory, CDC is included as an element alongside purely vocational objectives. Trade unions in many countries offer training to apprentices in e.g. dialogue- and negotiation skills. There are also examples of the social partners, individually or jointly, support projects and initiatives related to democracy-learning in VET-school contexts.
Summing up, the exploratory work on the issue of social partner involvement in issues of CDC in VET has shown that the role of these – real or potential – is not just tangential: it is (or can be) crucial. However, the material that we have at this stage is mainly anecdotal and useful for inspiration, but by no means providing any exhaustive overview.
Written by
Søren Kristensen and Peter Kerckhofs
Søren Kristensen is an independent research professional with a work focus on vocational education and training (VET). He hails from Denmark but has throughout his career mainly worked with international (comparative) aspects of VET, including a stint as a project manager at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). Since 2022, he has been involved with the efforts of the Council of Europe’s efforts to promote issues related to the development of competences for democratic culture in a VET-context, co-authoring and co-editing several publications, and currently involved in the formulation of a Council of Ministers’ Recommendation on this subject. He holds an MA in modern languages and a PhD in educational studies (focusing on VET) from the University of Aarhus (DK).
Peter Kerckhofs is a senior research manager working on industrial relations projects at Eurofound. His work focuses on the involvement of trade unions and employers’ organisations in the European Semester and on national reporting on industrial relations developments. Peter has a wide expertise in developing industrial relations research adapted to the specificities of different sectors and variations in practices in different EU Member States. Peter has also worked on projects related to European Works Councils and European Sectoral Social Dialogue. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in political science from KU Leuven and one in International Relations from UCL and has a PhD in Industrial Relations from the University of Manchester.