Building trade union capacities for better social dialogue, collective bargaining and sustainable industrial recovery in Central and Eastern Europe

BTUC4Recovery


This project will build trade union capacity for organising, social dialogue and collective bargaining, to ensure an inclusive and sustainable industrial recovery and transformation.

As a result of the project, the participating trade unions will acquire new skills to address the ongoing restructuring in the manufacturing industries, green transition, digital transformation, and the consequences of the Covid crisis. They will learn to address new forms of working, including ensuring digital rights and access for teleworkers. The trade unions will improve their representativeness through organising and expanding their membership, with a special focus on digital organising. All this will strengthen the membership of industriAll Europe and lead to increased input and participation in social dialogue and other activities at European level.

IndustriAll Europe has identified five Central and Eastern European countries which are part of international supply chains in key industries and face major changes accelerated by the pandemic: Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Serbia.

Central elements of the project will be a series of training workshops with the aim of building trade union capacity for organising, social dialogue and collective bargaining, followed by the creation of detailed work plans for implementation, guided by the project lead through local organisers.



BTUC4Recovery Project Hub

Explore key documents from the EU-funded BTUC4Recovery project and learn about our journey to build trade union power and foster solidarity across Central and Eastern Europe.

  • Project Mapping Report EN
  • Project Evaluation EN
  • BTUP Teaser EN, CZ, HU, PL, SK, SRB 
  • Videos  1 2 3
  • Project Presentation EN
  • Testimonies from Organisers 


Building Trade Union Capacities for Recovery - Workshop in Poland

As part of the project "Building trade union capacities for better social dialogue, collective bargaining and sustainable industrial recovery in Central and Eastern Europe" OPZZ FZZMiH Metalowcy i Hutnicy implemented together our joint workshops on May 9-10, 2023 in Warsaw. The topic was capacity building through organising already unionised and not yet unionised workplaces. OS KOVO from Czech Republic and IG Metall from Germany contributed with expertise on campaign planning and communication.

For more information read the articles from our partner unions:
https://federacjametalowcowihutnikow.pl/warsztaty-szkoleniowe-9-10-maja-2023/
https://www.oskovo.cz/aktuality/narodni-workshop-k-ziskavani-novych-clenu-v-polsku


Organising and building union power in Central and Eastern Europe

Trade union leaders and organisers met in Kecskemét, Hungary, on 3-4 April to discuss organising and collective bargaining strategies in countries expected to receive major foreign investment in new industrial jobs. Read more

Leadership Workshop Photo log: Building trade union capacities for better collective bargaining and sustainable industrial recovery in Central and Eastern Europe BTUC4Recovery Kecskemét, 3 – 4 April 2023 Presentation


Building Trade Union Capacities for Recovery - Workshop in Serbia

Within the framework of the project ‘Building Trade Union Capacities for Recovery’ co-financed by the EU, a workshop on building trade union power took place last week in Serbia. Shop stewards and their trade union leaders from GS Metalaca, SSMS, ISS, GS PPI and GS RIE actively took part. Read more


Building Trade Union Capacity 4 Recovery: first national workshop

20 trade unionists from companies that are crucial to electromobility met for a workshop organised by industriAll Europe and OS KOVO in Prague. The aim was to develop strategies for recruiting and mobilising for better collective bargaining agreements for their respective target companies. Read more



Building Trade Union Capacity 4 Recovery- Workshop in Hungary

The workshop brings together local Hungarian trade union representatives to explore the basics of organising
As part of the EU co-funded project ‘Building trade union capacities for better social dialogue, collective bargaining and sustainable industrial recovery in Central and Eastern Europe’, industriAll Europe held a workshop in Hungary on 14-15 June 2023. The workshop brought together local trade union representatives from the textile and from extractive industries in Hungary and their regional representatives, all members of the ‘Trade Union of Mining, Energy and Industry workers’ (BDSZ). Read more



Building Trade Union Capacity 4 Recovery- Binational Workshop Empowering Trade Unions, insights from the industriAll Europe Workshop in Bratislava 

IndustriAll Europe's workshop in Bratislava on 8 -9 April 2024 brought together 30 participants from different levels of trade union leadership from OZ KOVO Slovakia and OS KOVO Czech Republic. The two-day event was a key component of the industriAll Europe project’Building Trade Union Capacity for Better Collective Bargaining and Sustainable Industrial Recovery in Central and Eastern Europe - BTUC4Recovery’, co-financed by the European Commission. The BTUC4Recovery project aims to strengthen trade union capacities for organising, social dialogue and collective bargaining. With a focus on increasing and activating membership to improve representativeness, industriAll Europe is encouraging greater input and participation from its affiliates to have a stronger voice at European level. Read more


Final Conference - Achievements and Future Directions 

Final conference of the Building trade union capacities for better collective bargaining and sustainable industrial recovery in Central and Eastern Europe - BTUC4Recovery project. The ’Building trade union capacities for better collective bargaining and sustainable industrial recovery in Central and Eastern Europe (BTUC4R)’ project has been a groundbreaking initiative in the history of industriAll Europe (IAE),. bringing direct support to affiliates for organising and recruitment on the ground. This innovative approach was the central theme at the recent international conference held in Prague, where over 65 participants from 13 countries gathered to take stock, evaluate progress and discuss follow-up action. Read more