On October 15, 2025, CELSI researcher Simona Brunnerová contributed to the final conference of the CEECAW project held in Brussels — an event led by our partners at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA, Poland) and dedicated to discussing the future of collective bargaining and adequate minimum wages in Central and Eastern Europe.

Over the past 24 months, the CEECAW project has brought together researchers and social partners from across the region to explore how to strengthen organising and collective bargaining in three crucial sectors — care, public administration, and waste collection — across EU Central and Eastern European countries and Serbia.

At CELSI, our contribution focused on Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia, delivering research on the state of social dialogue and collective bargaining in these sectors.

The project was supported by several CELSI researchers, with Barbora Holubová initially leading our efforts before continuing her career elsewhere, and Simona Brunnerová later taking over the coordination role.

As the project concludes, we look back with gratitude and pride. CEECAW has provided valuable insights that will help social partners and policymakers better understand the challenges of collective bargaining and work towards achieving the EU’s goal of increasing collective bargaining coverage in line with the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive.

We look forward to seeing how this research and collaboration will continue to inspire and strengthen social dialogue across the region. 🤝

🔗 More information about the project, including all CEECAW reports, can be found at: https://celsi.sk/en/ceecaw/

🔗 The recordings about the challenges for collective bargaining in Central and Eastern Europe created as part of the project: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL5a50xnJ4VobvbiBtHXmtm4xyIrUevfZ

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