Keywords :
négociation collective; modération salariale; norme salariale; collective bargaining; wage moderation; Interprofessional Agreement; accord interprofessionnel; coordination of social dialogue; automatic wage indexation; indexation automatique des salaires; Wage Formation Process; formation des salaires; Belgian Model of Social Dialogue; modèle belge de la concertation sociale
Abstract :
[en] Belgian social dialogue has largely avoided the phenomenon of decentralisation
observed elsewhere in Europe. However, it has experienced the effects of State
interventionism, noticeable in various areas. Wage moderation is a particularly fitting
example. Indeed, a government intervention mechanism, created in 1996 in view of
preserving competitiveness, was only activated from – and because of – the financial
crisis of 2008, which disrupted social dialogue. Since then, successive crises (health,
energy) have made this mechanism continuously inescapable, except for the
2017-2018 period. The legislative amendment of 2017, adopted to meet the wishes of the European Union and which resulted in a more rigid framework for wage negotiations, has further strengthened the unions’protests. In addition, the high inflation to which Belgium is structurally exposed has the effect – via the automatic wage indexation mechanism – of increasing labour costs, which, through a spiral effect, reduces the social partners’room for negotiation regarding wage amounts. This margin is contained between, on the one hand, the minimum amounts resulting from the automatic indexation of wages and scale
increases, which are maintained in all circumstances, and, on the other hand, the
maximum margin, which has been reduced to almost nothing as neighbouring
countries do not have automatic and generalised wage indexation. For several years now, many social movements have been calling for the repeal of the Act of 26 July 1996. They are reinforced by the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association, which considers the restriction on the freedom of the social partners to decide on the criteria for their wage evolution negotiations to be excessive.
