Trade union freedom
Trade union freedom is a constitutional norm. The representativeness of trade unions is regulated by the Representativeness of Trade Unions Act (ZRsin). A representative trade union is a trade union which is democratic, operates continuously for at least half a year, independent from the State and the employer, is funded mainly from membership fees and has a specified number of members (Article 6 of the ZRsin).
There are two representative trade unions in the field of culture:
- GLOSA – the trade union for culture,
- and SVIZ – the trade union for education, science and culture.

Main trade union prerogatives
Representative trade unions conclude collective agreements and participate in bodies which decide on the issues of economic and social security of employees and propose candidates among employees who participate in management (Article 7 of ZRsin).

Collective agreements
The field of collective negotiations is regulated by the Collective Agreements Act. It defines the parties of a collective agreement, the subject of a collective agreement, conclusion of collective agreements, time and sectoral validity of collective agreements, their termination, settlement of collective labour disputes, recording and public publication of collective agreements.

The field of culture is covered by the Collective agreement for cultural activities in the Republic of Slovenia from 1994, with amendments. The last major change was introduced with the annex concluded in the middle of 2008, which was aimed at introducing elements of the new salary system in the public sector of culture. The signatories to this agreement are the Government of the RS on the side of employers in the public sector and the representative trade unions on the side of employees.
On an initiative from the trade unions, efforts are made to regulate employment and payment relationships also for creators in culture who are not employed under the labour law.

Promotion of social dialogue and mediation
The promotion of social dialogue and mediation is handled by representative trade unions.


Source : Ministry of Culture, 2008.