ALEBA and the Chamber of Commerce: constructive dialogue for the future of the Luxembourg labour market

As part of its institutional exchanges, ALEBA met with Mr Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, to discuss several key issues for the future of the Luxembourg labour market. This meeting is part of a shared desire to maintain an open and constructive dialogue between social partners, in the interests of workers, businesses and the country's competitiveness.

Shared observations, complex issues

Discussions focused on Luxembourg's structural challenges: employment trends, social dialogue, training and teleworking, in a context marked by heavy dependence on cross-border labour, productivity issues, competition, technological change, transport and housing difficulties, and changing expectations among workers in terms of work-life balance.

Social dialogue: collective agreements by sector and by company, a key issue for attractiveness and compliance with the European recommendation aiming for 80% coverage by collective agreements

During these discussions, ALEBA reiterated its commitment to a social model based on strong collective mechanisms, which are essential to the country's economic and social stability, while taking into account the trend towards greater individualisation. One key point raised was the need for collective agreements by sector or by company, in order to better respond to the specific characteristics of different professions and organisations and to attract and retain talent.

For ALEBA, it is essential that tripartite bodies open up to actors other than the OGBL and LCGB trade unions, which do not represent all employees in Luxembourg. This monolithic trade union approach, which does not include the politically independent ALEBA or our colleagues, poses risks to diversity and the richness of viewpoints.

This situation is akin to a form of trade union monopoly, which limits the diversity of opinions and solutions. ALEBA, the most representative trade union in the financial sector, together with other colleagues and independent delegates, could contribute to finding pragmatic consensus for the country's development.

Training: government provision insufficient in the face of technological change

Technological acceleration, particularly with AI and robotisation, raises a major challenge for the union: how to create appropriate training programmes in a context where skills are evolving rapidly? ALEBA has emphasised the need for an ambitious government action plan, regretting the discontinuation of structural projects such as Skillbridge.

For example, a joint platform project, led by a banking consortium and incorporating AI tools, aims to meet the growing requirements of the regulator and strengthen the competitiveness of businesses. However, these initiatives are leading to significant job losses. This reinforces the need to develop ambitious projects to train all employees.

Teleworking: obstacles linked to bilateral agreements and their consequences on productivity, attractiveness and work-life balance

ALEBA has reaffirmed its position in favour of a right to telework one day per week for all employees without any impact on their taxation, i.e. approximately 50 days per year.

The union believes that it would be detrimental if no agreement were reached on teleworking: blocking this issue by linking it to tax negotiations or the financial expectations of the French Ministry of Finance, as is sometimes suggested, would amount to penalising employees and cross-border workers. This is detrimental to the collective European interest.

We would all lose out, as it is now easier to outsource certain jobs and services to other countries, where the work is carried out remotely, far beyond the issues of stability and cross-border negotiations, without any tax revenue for Luxembourg.

Towards possible cooperation

This meeting enabled the identification of common ground and paved the way for joint reflection on how the Chamber of Commerce and ALEBA can support each other, particularly in terms of improving workers' skills, enhancing the attractiveness of the labour market and adapting to economic change.

ALEBA welcomes the quality of the discussions and reaffirms its commitment to pursuing responsible and pragmatic dialogue with all institutional stakeholders, in the interests of the employees it represents and the Luxembourg social model.