It is the most extensive collection of information of this kind. The purpose has been to support the unions in their negotiating work, and therefore the approach focuses on the subjective experiences of the negotiators. The survey and its results have caused us to reflect on some wider issues. Bargaining on certain issues has shifted to the level of a workplace also in many of those Western European countries where conditions of labour used to be controlled and co-ordinated by national central or industry level agreements. But the introduction of local bargaining in the labour markets of Central and Eastern European countries takes place against a different background and in different economic and social circumstances than in Western Europe.
Collective bargaining needs the support of other elements of economic and social policy.
Some of these elements cannot be introduced at the local level. Issues included in collective agreements reflect not only the state. When the coverage of social protection has decreased in many Western European countries, collective agreements have been extended to this area. Provisions on company pension and health insurance schemes have been introduced to local agreements. In Central and Eastern Europe, companies used to provide their employees with an extensive social protection.