Abstract
This ‘open’ (non-thematic) issue of Transfer publishes nine articles spanning a variety of themes. The Transfer Editorial Committee has decided that as of 2014 thematic issues of Transfer will also, when space allows, publish articles submitted to the journal. As a consequence, we continue to welcome articles submitted to the journal on any theme relevant to its remit.
In the first article of this issue Berndt Keller and Hartmut Seifert contribute an article on atypical employment in Germany. It deals with long-term developments and the present extent and patterns, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of a broad range of atypical employment forms. It presents definitions and delimitations, explicitly differentiating between normal (or standard) employment and various atypical forms. In its description of developments and structures it focuses on long-term social consequences in the post-unification period (since 1990), introducing selected precariousness criteria which widen the perspective to include factors other than wages, the most frequently used indicator. This multidimensional approach enables a distinction to be made not only between atypical and precarious employment but also between various criteria and degrees of precariousness.
Jean-Yves Boulin and Gilbert Cette’s main focus is the diversity of labour market adjustment policies in Europe and the role of working time arrangements. After examining the main reasons for these differences, they highlight Germany, looking at the consensus between social partners on finding ways to prevent redundancies through job protection agreements. They then go on to discuss these job protection strategies from the point of view of the flexicurity principles promoted as the basis of the European Employment Strategy, concluding that the antagonism between job protection and employment protection could be minimized, were certain conditions to be respected when dealing with employees working short time. A further conclusion highlights the role of new working time arrangements and regulations – among them working time accounts – as a way of fostering flexibility and security for both employers and employees.
Jørgen Svalund and Heide Kervinen investigate local trade union power in the construction and manufacturing industries in Norway and Finland during the recent period which has been characterized by workplace adjustments and restructuring. Their general finding is that the cooperative system in the two countries played a major role in communication and problem-solving during the change processes. Trade unions have more say at companies where the voluntaristic system of dispute-solving is implemented. Moreover, where unions are powerful and less fragmented they have the strongest influence. Thus, unions in manufacturing are much more influential than in construction due not only to stronger union presence, but also to the fact that the construction industry by nature has less well-established norms and procedures. Despite many similarities between the two Nordic countries, the study observes significant differences in trade union opportunities to exert influence, as Finnish legislation provides unions with fewer alternatives to influence management decisions than in Norway, a country where the bargaining system is more decentralized, benefiting local unions in the consultation process with management over the restructuring measures that took place.
Trade union cooperation in Europe on the issue of statutory minimum wages is the key topic in the article by Bengt Furåker and Kristina Lovén Seldén. They observe that trade unions in Europe differ in their attitudes to this issue: while most unions are in favour, the unions in the Nordic countries in particular are very sceptical. The arguments in favour of statutory minimum wages have evolved around two themes: protecting workers from poverty and avoiding wage dumping. A number of unions also argue that the minimum wage might be a means of attracting more members. Opposition to a minimum wage is typically based on the argument that statutory minimum wages might be a threat to a successful bargaining model, in which wages are determined by independent social partners without state interference. This argumentation is seen as the typical difference between the Nordic countries and the main European unions.
The many years of trade union membership losses in Europe are the theme of the article by Carl Parker and James Rees. They look at the case of the UK union, Usdaw, charting its change of course in membership recruitment. Since 2006 the union has increased its membership by 84 000 members or 26 per cent, remarkable for a union traditionally organizing workers in the retail and distribution sector. The article describes the changes made and explains some of the main elements in the union’s success. Apart from the paradigm shift in its approach to organizing and the establishment of an Organising Academy, this includes new systems and practices for running the union. The article ends with some general lessons learned from the organizing experience.
Using three case studies as their base, Michael Gold and Chris Rees aim at identifying those factors promoting or hindering the effectiveness of European works councils (EWCs), and subsequently assess the policy implications for trade unions. Factors include path dependency, socio-institutional environments, stakeholder strategies and the internal dynamics of the companies and EWCs they discuss and analyse. Respondents generally agreed that EWCs offered many benefits. However, while information and consultation rights and procedures were assessed as relatively useful instruments, in general, they are not seen as tools for productive discussions between management and workers’ representatives on finding new solutions in such fields as productivity and competitiveness. The authors also found that a serious constraint to the development of EWCs is the lack of employee interest. Employees appear to be more interested in issues related directly to their workplace, and may not appreciate how European group-level activity affects them.
The article by Hermes Augusto Costa analyses EWCs in the Portuguese context with the aim of understanding to what extent the conditions defined in the formal regulation of EWCs allow for positive or negative expectations regarding EWCs. He concludes that the potential of EWCs is as yet not fully developed, with advances possible in such fields as exchanging experiences and making known the different working conditions found in different plants of the same company or group of companies. These in turn create conditions helpful for finding solutions to local problems, for providing timely access to information, and for fostering the practice of various forms of transnational solidarity on behalf of a cohesive collective identity of workers within a certain company or sector.
Banu Uçkan analyses the basic structures of Turkish industrial relations in the light of the ongoing modernization process and the numerous changes of state regulations since 1980 when the military took power and severely limited collective bargaining. The current rulers, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government which came into power in 2002, eventually passed new legislation in 2012 that was supposed to lift the constraints on interest representation and collective bargaining. The article examines this legislation with special reference to the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike, concluding that – despite the stated intention of the legislation to strengthen trade unionism – it can be assumed that the decline in trade union membership will continue (already below 10 per cent) and that the new legislation does not remove any restrictions on strikes, instead emphasizing that the state is legitimized to intervene in industrial conflicts.
In the final article of this issue of Transfer, Jérémy Pierre and Sébastien Buisine deal with EU-level social dialogue in the sports sector. They conclude that the sectoral social dialogue is a new form of governance and has changed the way the sports sector functions in the EU. The 2008 establishment of social dialogue in the football sector was the first and most important step in regulating professional sports in Europe, and experience from this landmark achievement is still spreading to other forms of sport.