Employers and trade unions find each other

The current political unrest in Peru contrasts sharply with the determination with which the employers' organisation Sociedad Nacional de Industrias (SNI) and the largest confederation Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP) are working on a bipartite social dialogue. "After three years of regular contact, an internship at the Labor Foundation in the Netherlands and advice from FNV Mondiaal and DECP, mutual trust has grown enormously," says SNI vice president José Naranjo.

The boards of both organisations are convinced that bipartite social dialogue can provide more stability in the country. During a meeting for entrepreneurs and trade unionists with former FNV director Leo Hartveld and former VNO secretary Sip Nieuwsma in October, it became clear that the members of both organisations agree with this.

"Informal economy, flexibilisation and robotisation are major themes that can very well be addressed in a dialogue between employers and trade unions", Hartveld answered on questions from the trade unionists present. Nieuwsma stressed that if the social partners manage to come up with a joint proposal on, for example, dismissal law, it is very difficult for a government to deviate from this proposal.

Sip Nieuwsma and Peter Boorsma of DECP were in Lima at the end of October to support the SNI in setting up a dialogue with the trade union movement. Leo Hartveld and Astrid Kaag of FNV Mondiaal were in Peru in the same period to advise the CGTP.