On Monday, December 8, 2025, trade unions, employers, municipal representatives, practitioners, and researchers met at the House of Trade Unions in Bratislava for a national workshop dedicated to working conditions and collective bargaining in Slovakia’s care services sector.

The workshop, organised within the DEVCOBA project and co-hosted by CELSI, SOZZaSS and OZPŠaV, created an important space for dialogue on how to improve jobs in social services and pre-primary education. These sectors are essential for society, yet burdened by staff shortages, low pay, and high emotional demands.

Throughout the day, participants discussed the realities facing frontline care workers, challenges with recruitment and retention, the role of employers and municipalities, and the potential of collective bargaining to deliver fairer and more sustainable conditions.

The programme offered two thematic panel discussions:

🔹 Panel Discussion 1: "Stronger Together: The Future of Collective Bargaining"

• Ingrid Kováčová, OZPŠaV
• Michal Gedaj, SOZZaSS
• Jana Gavorníková, DSS and ZpS Kaštieľ

🔹 Panel Discussion 2: "At the Edge of the System: Where Collective Bargaining Is (Not) Needed"

• Shoshana Chovan, Cesta von
• Lucia Brandstetter, Union of Private Kindergartens and Nurseries
• Zuzana Saganová, ASŠŠZ
• Anna Ghannamová, APSS SR

These sessions were followed by group discussions capturing experiences, concerns, and priorities directly from workers, employers, and representatives of local government.

The CELSI team, led by Managing Director Marta Kahancová together with researchers Lenka Hanulová, Simona Brunnerová and Iida Nokkala, contributed throughout the workshop by sharing research findings on working conditions in Slovak care services and facilitating exchanges between practitioners and social partners.

In her remarks, Marta Kahancová underlined the importance of combining evidence-based research with the voices and lived experiences of those who provide essential care every day.

We sincerely thank all participants for their open and constructive contributions and for helping move forward the debate on how to strengthen care services in Slovakia.

The workshop was organised as part of the DEVCOBA project funded by the European Commission (project no. 101126385).

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