Strategic labour inspection in fissured workplaces and transnational employment relations: Lessons from co-enforcement approaches and transgovernmental cooperation

Abstract

This paper examines strategic enforcement approaches relying on co-enforcement and transgovernmentalist. It examines three cases in the construction industry in Austria, Asturias (Spain), and Poland, as well as three cases in maritime shipping in Finland, Spain, and Poland, focussing on Labour Inspection’s (LI)s motivations for engaging in co-enforcement and transnational cooperation. Data collection involved desk research, semi-structured interviews (39 construction and 14 in maritime), observation of inspections, and participant observation in EU seminars we organised together with regulatory actors (specific details are provided in the appendix). Findings show that LI’s selection of co-enforcement and transnational alliances are driven by the specific and highly contingent challenges each organisation faces. LI organisations are seeking to exploit synergies, but both the material reality and perception of these depends on diverse pre-existing infrastructures and organisation-specific assets.