Collective bargaining at group level: an autonomous level of negotiation?

Nothwistanding the general absence of regulatory frameworks on the matter, in the last decades a certain degree of collective bargaining within the group of enterprises has developed both in national settings (as an intermediate level of negotiation) and in MNCs (where global union and management have signed various kinds of framework agreements). The absence of a specific regulation, however, limits the organizational and bargaining options which can be adopted in pursuing the accommodation of the needs of companies and the promotion of workers’ rights. An effective regulation of the phenomenon would allow the development of group bargaining beyond individual experiences as well as the evolution of specific negotiating strategies, ensuring in particular the protection of workers involved in complex business structures. In the definition of viable regulatory options, in a perspective taking into account the potential for regulation by EU institutions, various issues need to be considered. With regards to the features of the bargaining, the identification and selection of the negotiating parties and the compulsory or voluntary nature of the bargaining processes appear of particular relevance. As for the contents of the agreements, the main elements are represented by the subjects on which the negotiation can or shall be carried out (linked to the promotion of elementary labour rights at transnational level) and its specialization with respect to higher-level agreements (in domestic settings). The last aspects to be evaluated concern the effectiveness of the agreements signed, their ability to conform the lower levels of negotiation, as well as the ways to ensure compliance by the various actors, potentially through specific enforcement and dispute resolution mechanisms.