Scenarios of social dialogue

F.O.I. Legal Affairs executive Dr Ingrid Buhagiar was invited by the General Workers Union (GWU) to attend an international conference, 'Scenarios of Social Dialogue', which was held in Cagliari, Italy, last month.

The conference was one of a series of events, which are being organised in relation to an EU project entitled, '3 MOIRE - Modern Opportunities Improving Regional Employment', of which GWU is a development partner.

Apart from Malta, the other development partner countries are Belgium, Spain and Romania.

The origin of this project comes from the European Vision of social dialogue and has the aim of promoting and experimenting on European social dialogue at a territorial level.

It has the backing of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and also involves organisations of European social partners, European experts on social dialogue, European institutions, trade unions (including the GWU), employers' associations and governments coming from various member states and candidate countries.

During the conference, delegates stressed that social dialogue is not a mere formality but a very strong component of economic development and growth, and consequently a necessary and vital instrument.

Social dialogue was described as a non-theoretical concept, which is constantly evolving and adapting to present needs. It was also described as a concept that cannot be given a definition, since there are different forms of social dialogue, each one being suitable for the particular country or region in which it is put into practice.

The other Maltese delegates at the conference were Dr Charmaine Grech and Roberto Cristiano from the GWU, Victor Bruno Olivieri from the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations and Dr Roselyn Borg from the MEA.