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The importance of Sectoral Employers’ Organisations and Social Dialogue

Free This document is prepared by the European Health and Fitness Association as an explanation of the core values and purpose of the work that it is doing to promote cooperation and understanding of the area of social dialogue. A new not-for-profit association known as EHFA-E has been established for the purpose of helping to build capacity for employers and employer groups of the fitness sector all across Europe. The role to civic society and the promotion of health and well-being by the fitness sector is becoming better understood and integrated into key policies being developed at national and European levels. The economic value of fitness is estimated to exceed 22 billion Euros a year, it employs over 400,000 people and it is growing at around 3% a year. Social dialogue is used to improve the exchange of information between and amongst the representatives of governments, employers and workers on issues of common interest related to economic policy and we are at an important stage of our development and now need to become more structured and organised. EHFA has taken the initiative to form EHFA-Employers to act as a representative body for employers in the health and fitness sector at European level. The Eurofound report on the representativeness of European social partner organisations has identified EHFA as a European representative of employers, business associations and individual companies in the fitness sector. It highlights that the majority of EHFA’s affiliated members are not directly active in collective bargaining in the fitness sector. On this basis, EHFA-Employers will act, with the support of the EHFA secretariat, as a Sectoral Employers’ Organisation to represent fitness employers in sectoral social dialogue.1 EHFA has the capacity to do this as, according to the Eurofound study, all of the European level organisations examined “each within its own domain – largely remain unchallenged in their position as EU-wide representatives of the sector’s employees and employers.” EHFA-Employers was founded in November 2012 and the four founding members are ukactive, FRISK, DFHO and SNELM. Once the legal process has been fully completed for the creation of EHFA-Employers, all national federations will be invited to join.