BARCOM REPORT 3: Bargaining Systems and Collective Bargaining Agreements in the Commerce Sector

Collective bargaining is an important instrument in wage-setting processes, but lacks underpinning with empirical data. Little is known about what exactly is agreed upon in collective bargaining. Few countries maintain databases with coded collective agreements; and agreements are coded for different topics and levels of detail. Attempts to discuss bargaining results at EU level are hampered by the lack of systematic data-collection of agreements. Social partners perceive an increasing need for cross-country comparisons, i.e., because of growing importance of foreign direct investment in EU member states. Therefore, EU-level social partners in commerce, UNI Europa and EuroCommerce, have expressed their interest in a study of content of collective agreements negotiated by their members at national level. Barcom report 3 analyses the relationship between agreements’ content and sector-level characteristics, more specifically how bargaining outcomes of collective agreements are related to the sectoral bargaining systems in the 28 countries.