PROMOTING SOCIAL DIALOGUE

Code:
Dates:
Duration:
Venue:

A900883
08 19 October 2007
2 weeks
ITC/ILO, Turin - Italy

INTRODUCTION
The primary goal of the ILO is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent
and productive work in conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. Social
dialogue plays a key role in achieving this objective. It is seen both as a means of building
democracy and achieving decent work and an end in itself.
The main aim of social dialogue is to promote consensus-building and democratic involvement of
the main stakeholders in the world of work. Successful social dialogue structures and processes
have the potential to resolve important economic and social issues, encourage good governance
and boost economic progress.
The extent of social dialogue in a country has a direct impact on the climate of social peace and
stability. There is no one size fits all model of social dialogue that can be readily exported from
one country to another; there is a rich diversity in institutional arrangements, legal frameworks
and traditions, and practices of social dialogue throughout the world. Adapting social dialogue to
the national situation is key to ensuring local ownership of the process.
Social dialogue differs greatly from country to country, although the overriding principles of
freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining remain the same.

OBJECTIVES
General objective
To contribute to the creation of a culture and momentum of dialogue among employers, workers
and governments, by exposing participants to a wide spectrum of experiences of social dialogue,
with particular focus on social dialogue at national level.
Specific objectives
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
9 describe international trends in social dialogue and different types of social dialogue at
international, national, local and enterprise level;
9 identify enabling conditions for social dialogue;
9 use international labour standards as instruments for promoting social dialogue;
9 review the experience of social dialogue in their respective countries and discuss how to
strengthen it;
9 establish contacts with key experts and practitioners in the field of social dialogue for further
networking.

PARTICIPANTS PROFILE
This tripartite course is aimed at:
9 Members of National Tripartite Bodies;
9 Government Officials (Ministry of Labour);
9 Representatives from trade unions;
9 Representatives from employers organizations.
In order to generate a multiplier effect, University professors are welcome to attend this course,
with a view to integrating social dialogue into their university curriculum.
Parliamentarians can also benefit from this course, in order to support a social dialogue process
in policy making.

Please note that the ILO promotes equality of opportunities and strongly encourages women's
applications.
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CONTENTS
1. Views about Social Dialogue. The course will start with an open discussion, led by a
facilitator, in order to elicit the participants views, concerns and also doubts about social
dialogue. This module will be based on the ILO Training Manual on Promoting National Social
Dialogue, produced by the ILO DIALOGUE Department. The output of this first module
(perceptions, expectations, doubts, interests) will be taken into account by the course coordinator in order to fine-tune the course.
2. Introduction to Social dialogue. This session will give a general overview about social
dialogue; levels, actors, enabling factors.
3. The ILO legal framework for promoting Tripartism and Social Dialogue. This module
will provide basic reference about international labour standards that should be used as
instruments for promoting social dialogue, starting from the basic premises of freedom of
association and protection of the right to organise (ILO Convention 87) the application of the
principles of the right to organise and to bargain collectively (ILO Convention 98), including the
most recent ILO instruments.
4. The international dimension of Social Dialogue in the era of globalisation. This
module will focus on the international dimension of social dialogue, in particular: the regional
dimension of social dialogue and the International Framework Agreements signed by
Multinational companies with Global Union Federations.
5. Social dialogue at national level. The focus of the course will be on this level of social
dialogue. The content of this module is structured following the approach adopted in the Social
Dialogue Resource Book1. It includes:
9 bipartite, tripartite or tripartite plus negotiations leading to Social Pacts;
9 institutions for policy concertation and dialogue (such as National Economic and Social
Councils, national labour councils, etc.);
9 other forms of social dialogue.
Participants will have an opportunity to discuss key experiences in these fields with the main
players. They will also analyze the role the State should play in promoting social dialogue, by
creating a stable political and civil climate and providing the basic essential support to the parties
in terms of legal and institutional framework.
6. Social dialogue at enterprise level. Participants will be exposed to different forms of
workers participation, with practical examples and cases. Reference will be also made to
information and consultation.
7. Social dialogue at local level. Social dialogue at local level, facing community development
problems, becomes less adversarial and allows for innovative partnership approaches. The course
will include study visits to Territorial Pacts near Turin, Italy, in order to get exposure to concrete
experiences of a participative approach to local development.
8. Lessons learned: forward-looking. The course will end with an informal group reflection about
key suggestions for the promotion of social dialogue in the participants countries.

METHODOLOGY
The course is itself part of the process of promoting tripartism and social dialogue; the
methodology applied will promote a permanent interaction among participants through group
work, discussions and role-plays. Participants will have the opportunity to look into different
experiences of social dialogue in a direct manner, through study visits or meetings with the main
players of social dialogue at national or international level. The methodology will be centred on
the participants and the learning process, with the support of facilitators and key resource
persons selected among practitioners of social dialogue; the aim is to create a culture and
momentum of dialogue to be kept alive by participants after the end of the course.

EVALUATION
A permanent monitoring of the learning process will be conducted by the course co-ordinator and
facilitators; the participatory methodology adopted - based on several forms of interaction,
discussion, brainstorming and exercises will provide the feedback necessary to detect gaps in
the learning process.
1

Key Features of National Social Dialogue: a Social Dialogue Resource Book, Junko Ishikawa, ILO, Geneva, November 2003,
ISBN 92-2-114901.

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At the end of the course, two means will be used to allow participants to express their views
about the course:
9 an informal session in plenary;
9 an individual end-of-course evaluation questionnaire. The data will be processed by the
Evaluation unit of the ITC/ILO and will be used as tool for quality monitoring.

LANGUAGE
Participants are expected to communicate fluently in English.

VENUE
The courses will be held at the International Training Centre of the International Labour
Organization (ITC/ILO) located in Turin, Italy. Some courses may include a study tour, as
indicated in the relevant course flyer.
Located in an attractive park on the banks of the Po River, the ITC/ILO campus provides a very
pleasant environment for training. It includes fully equipped modern classrooms and meeting
rooms fitted out for multilingual simultaneous interpretation; computer laboratories; a
documentation centre linked to various international data banks.
The ITC/ILO campus has over 300 bedrooms with private bathroom and equipped with telephone
and cable television.
The following services are available in the campus: reception (open 24 hours a day); restaurant,
cafeteria, bank; travel agency; convenience shop; post office; free access to Internet; gym;
medical service.

PARTICIPATION COSTS
Participation costs (US$ 4,360) for this two-week fully residential course include:
9 tuition, training-related documentation and use of campus facilities;
9 single room accommodation, full board and a daily allowance (12 Euros) to cover incidentals,
medical insurance and minor medical care at the ITC/ILO Campus;
9 study visits in the Piedmont region (Northern Italy).

Please note that travel costs are not included.

Applications to attend the course, which must be supported by the candidate's curriculum vitae
and a nomination letter from the sponsoring/funding institution, should arrive by fax or e-mail,
not later than 08 August 2007.

Social Dialogue Programme

International Training Centre of the ILO
Viale Maestri del Lavoro 10 - 10127 Turin Italy
tel. +39 0116936 372/917 fax: +39 0116936350
e-mail: socdial@itcilo.org webpage: www.itcilo.org

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