Towards rebuilding collective bargaining? Poland in the face of contemporary challenges and changing European social policy

Abstract

The article examines the existing legal framework for collective bargaining in Poland with the situation, strategies and opinions of social partners and discusses the resultthe coverage by collective agreements (approximately 12%). Next, de lege ferenda proposals and expectations for the future are put forward. | OPENING REMARKSThe last decades have been difficult for collective bargaining in Europe. Flexibilization and decentralisation have been the answer to the challenges of the present day: globalisation, economic crises and technological changes (see Glassner et al., 2011;Laulom, 2018). The traditional social model has been under great pressure (Vaughan-Whitehead, 2015). However, changing trends in European social policy, confirmed by the European Pillar of Social Rights ('Social Pillar') and other legal instruments adopted by EU institutions, bring hope for a better future of industrial relations (although concerns remain). The Directive of the European Parliament and Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union 1 ('MWD') is aimed, inter alia, at increasing the coverage by collective agreements. The question is how to achieve this goal in the context of a great diversity of national systems of industrial relations and fundamental disparity in collective bargaining coverage (ranging from around 10 to almost 100%) in the Member States ('MS') (see Müller et al., 2021).