On November 10, the ninth lecture of "2022 Global Flexible Employment Era and Expanding Social Protection Serial Lectures" was held online, which was organized by the CULR and co-organized by the Labor Relations Branch of the Chinese Association of Human Resource Development. Youngmo YOON, Senior Representative of the Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations of International Labor Organization Beijing Office was invited as the lecturer to make a presentation titled Characteristics and Trends of Collective Bargaining. Professor Fu Deyin, President of the CULR, and Professor Feng Xiliang, President of the Labor Relations Branch of the Chinese Association of Human Resource Development attended the lecture, and more than 220 scholars, experts, teachers, and students inside and outside the CULR listened online.

In his lecture centered on the ILO's flagship Social Dialogue Report 2022: Collective bargaining for an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery, Mr. Youngmo YOON gave a detailed explanation of the characteristics and trends of collective bargaining globally, and introduced the purpose and role of collective bargaining and the content of collective bargaining agreements from multiple perspectives. From aspects of technological transformation, climate change, human rights, etc., he analyzed related issues of collective bargaining such as wage, working hours, safety and health, social protection, gender equality, laws and regulations, job transformation, employment treatment, employment remuneration, skill development, diversity, and inclusiveness. He summed up three characteristics of the content of collective agreements: firstly, the scope of collective agreement is of great significance to the inclusiveness and effectiveness management of jobs; secondly, a few collective agreements simply replicate the legal stipulations concerning the topics of negotiation; and thirdly, a few collective agreements combine the supplementary standards, public policies, terms and conditions reflecting social development. In a word, the content scope of collective bargaining and collective agreement is essential to the inclusiveness and effectiveness management of jobs. Based on the data of 98 countries, he illustrated the coverage rate of collective bargaining in the world, and presented the coverage proportions of collective bargaining by income level and regional distribution. He used full and accurate data and cases to list the factors affecting the coverage rate of collective bargaining and collective agreement, analyzed the role of trade unions and employer organizations in collective bargaining plus relevant challenges, and explained the benefits of expanding collective bargaining, the mechanism for extended collective agreement and the legal framework of collective bargaining. He said that collective bargaining and agreement is not only a form or mechanism on standardizing working conditions and employment provisions, but a process and result of the voluntary negotiation among all stakeholders of employment relations. The value of collective bargaining is to establish consensus and industrial order, and enhance the understanding and observation of both employer and employee through discussion, negotiation, and mutual understanding. When mentioning China, he said that the country has an unparalleled scale of platform economy and flexible employment so collective bargaining will probably be an effective way to address the challenges of platform economy and flexible employment. The ILO recently studied the gig economy from multiple angles, and looks forward to deepening cooperation with Chinese researchers and the undertakers and organizers of the gig economy, so as to advance the research and development of the gig economy.

President Fu Deyin expressed gratitude to Mr. Youngmo YOON for his impressive lecture, which is rich in content and quite informative. The characteristics and trends of the ILO's flagship report contain both the general concept and individual cases, as well as new focuses and changes in the content of collective bargaining. Mr. Youngmo YOON's lecture is of enlightening significance for comprehending the global trends and characteristics of collective bargaining as a whole.

In the consultation session, Professor Cheng Yanyuan from the School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China shared her views in four aspects after listening to the lecture: firstly, a few collective agreements enhance cognition by replicating legal provisions, with enlightening significance; secondly, though the theme of collective bargaining is relatively fixed, the bargaining content has extended to the human resources management of enterprise, giving new concepts in an old framework; thirdly, the updated trends of collective bargaining such as the threats brought by the introduction of new technologies and job transformation to laborers are enlightening to the collective bargaining in China, and similarly China also confronts the issues, e.g. how trade unions established by employees of new business forms secure the rights and conduct collective bargaining; and fourthly, the terms and conditions of inclusive and diversified collective bargaining including workplace issues like anti-discrimination, gender equality and equal pay for equal work also have good reference value for China.

Professor Feng Xiliang briefed the recent 10th National College Simulated Collective Bargaining Contest held in Beijing to Mr. Youngmo YOON. The contest was attended by 72 labor management teams from 36 universities and colleges, and more than 280 students with a wide coverage of disciplines such as labor relations, human resources management, social security and law. Supported by the Department of Labor Relations of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, All-China Federation of Trade Unions, China Enterprise Confederation and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, the event has received extensive attention from society.

In the interaction session, Associate Professor Li Lilin from the School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China had an in-depth discussion with Mr. Youngmo YOON on topics like the correlation between the coverage of collective bargaining and income.

In light of the characteristics of global employment development and from the perspective of international collective bargaining, the lecture is of positive significance for deepening the understanding of the labor security part in the report to the 20th National Congress of CPC. It probes into topics like strengthening the bargaining and coordination mechanism of labor relations, improving the system for protecting laborers' rights and interests, reinforcing the protection of the rights and interests of employees of flexible employment and new business forms, and promoting gender equality and green production methods, thus broadening the international horizon of trade union work on labor security.

The Lecturer's Profile:

Youngmo YOON is the Senior Representative of the Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations of the ILO Beijing Office. He once served as the Chief Advisor for the labor relations projects of the ILO Vietnam Office from 2009 to 2013, a Senior Expert for the Social Dialogue and Industrial Relations of the ILO Beijing Office from 2013 to 2018, and an expert on labor policy and labor relations in the Decent Work Group of ILO Bangkok Office from 2018 to 2019. Before joining the ILO, he had worked as a researcher on comparative labor relations in South Korea, as well as an official at the headquarters of a national trade union organization in the country.

(International Office of Cooperation and Exchange)