A new International Labour Organisation (ILO) report has highlighted how social dialogue can enable countries to pursue economic development alongside social progress while ensuring fair and inclusive low-carbon and digital transitions.

‘The Social Dialogue Report 2024: Peak-level Social Dialogue for Economic Development and Social Progress’ focuses on Peak-level Social Dialogue (PLSD), which is a set of institutions and processes whereby governments, employers and workers’ organisations negotiate, consult each other and exchange information on labour, economic, and social matters at national or sectoral levels.

The report shows that PLSD can contribute to decent work, fairer labour income distribution, and just digital and green transitions. It also underlines that respect in the law and practice of freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining are essential.

It noted that the capacity of PLSD to shape change is weakened when socio-economic policies are driven by short-term considerations and exclude important segments of society.

ILO’s Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue, Manuela Tomei, said the edition of the Social Dialogue Report was published amid economic and geopolitical instability.

She said: “In a context where technological advances, climate change, and demographic shifts are deeply transforming labour markets, social dialogue remains a credible governance model for navigating complexity, identifying fair solutions, and advancing social justice.”

She said the report reviews the role of minimum wage fixing involving social partners and sectoral collective bargaining in addressing the cost-of-living crisis and promoting wage equality.

She said it stresses that where national minimum wages set by governments in consultation with the social partners co-exist with sectoral minimum wages determined through collective bargaining, PLSD was more effective in tackling high labour income inequality.

To fully unlock PLSD’s inclusiveness and effectiveness, the report calls on countries to uphold fundamental principles and rights at work, especially freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

It called on the need to equip labour administrations and social partners with the necessary resources and technical capacities for effective participation in PLSD.