Pub Date : 2021-11-23DOI: 10.1177/09596801211056836
Sinisa Hadziabdic, Lorenzo Frangi
Focusing on 13 OECD countries over 25 years, we examine the factors that explain why a sizable fraction of wage-earners exhibit an inconsistency between their union membership status and their confidence in unions by being either confident non-members or non-confident members. While structural factors associated with joining constraints generate inconsistency in specific labour market categories, wage-earners who have extreme ideological orientations and are highly interested in politics are much less likely to exhibit inconsistency across time and countries. For individuals who have intermediate ideological orientations and are not very interested in politics, differences in terms of non-member and member inconsistency between countries are explainable through contextual variables such as economic conditions, the level of employment protection, and historical legacies. Implications for union membership research and union strategies are discussed.
{"title":"Rationalizing the irrational: Making sense of (in)consistency among union members and non-members","authors":"Sinisa Hadziabdic, Lorenzo Frangi","doi":"10.1177/09596801211056836","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211056836","url":null,"abstract":"Focusing on 13 OECD countries over 25 years, we examine the factors that explain why a sizable fraction of wage-earners exhibit an inconsistency between their union membership status and their confidence in unions by being either confident non-members or non-confident members. While structural factors associated with joining constraints generate inconsistency in specific labour market categories, wage-earners who have extreme ideological orientations and are highly interested in politics are much less likely to exhibit inconsistency across time and countries. For individuals who have intermediate ideological orientations and are not very interested in politics, differences in terms of non-member and member inconsistency between countries are explainable through contextual variables such as economic conditions, the level of employment protection, and historical legacies. Implications for union membership research and union strategies are discussed.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"147 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45068286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-22DOI: 10.1177/09596801211052531
L. Cini, Vincenzo Maccarrone, Arianna Tassinari
Since 2016, mobilizations of gig workers across European countries have become increasingly common within location-based services, such as food delivery. Despite remarkable similarities in workers’ mobilization dynamics, their organizational forms have varied considerably, ranging from self-organization, to work councils, to unionization through rank-and-file or longstanding unions. To start making sense of this diversity in organizing practices, we compare two cases of mobilization in the food delivery sector: in Italy, where workers have initially opted for self-organization, and in the UK, where they have organized through rank-and-file unions. Drawing on interview and observational data gathered between 2016 and 2018, we find that the diversity of organizational forms across the two cases derives from the interaction between agential and contextual factors, namely: the capabilities of rank-and-file unions and the political tradition of militant organizing of the environment within which gig workers are embedded. These findings contribute to the emerging debate on labour relations in the gig economy by showing the central role that factors external to the labour process and to the institutional context play in shaping the structuring of labour antagonism in a still lowly institutionalized sector characterized by transnationally homogenous challenges.
{"title":"With or without U(nions)? Understanding the diversity of gig workers’ organizing practices in Italy and the UK","authors":"L. Cini, Vincenzo Maccarrone, Arianna Tassinari","doi":"10.1177/09596801211052531","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211052531","url":null,"abstract":"Since 2016, mobilizations of gig workers across European countries have become increasingly common within location-based services, such as food delivery. Despite remarkable similarities in workers’ mobilization dynamics, their organizational forms have varied considerably, ranging from self-organization, to work councils, to unionization through rank-and-file or longstanding unions. To start making sense of this diversity in organizing practices, we compare two cases of mobilization in the food delivery sector: in Italy, where workers have initially opted for self-organization, and in the UK, where they have organized through rank-and-file unions. Drawing on interview and observational data gathered between 2016 and 2018, we find that the diversity of organizational forms across the two cases derives from the interaction between agential and contextual factors, namely: the capabilities of rank-and-file unions and the political tradition of militant organizing of the environment within which gig workers are embedded. These findings contribute to the emerging debate on labour relations in the gig economy by showing the central role that factors external to the labour process and to the institutional context play in shaping the structuring of labour antagonism in a still lowly institutionalized sector characterized by transnationally homogenous challenges.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"341 - 362"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48328790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-16DOI: 10.1177/09596801211043094
L. Cigna
Trade unions are often said to be hostile to a universal basic income (UBI). Their judgement may be affected by factors such as their work ethic, perceptions of the unemployed and preferences for labour decommodification. Yet, most studies fail to sketch out the reasons for which unions oppose or support a UBI from a normative standpoint. To understand the impact of ideology on unions’ appreciation for a UBI, I integrate results from 62 questionnaires with 27 in-depth qualitative interviews. This study illustrates that unions’ preferences for a UBI are associated with their theoretical understanding of labour, diverging substantially across welfare regimes. Whereas unions from Bismarckian and Nordic countries are generally opposed to a UBI, organizations from Liberal and Mediterranean countries tend to see UBI as a legitimate policy option. However, in some circumstances they set aside the policy for pragmatic reasons, thus disconnecting their normative orientations from perceptions of its concrete viability.
{"title":"Looking for a North Star? Ideological justifications and trade unions’ preferences for a universal basic income","authors":"L. Cigna","doi":"10.1177/09596801211043094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211043094","url":null,"abstract":"Trade unions are often said to be hostile to a universal basic income (UBI). Their judgement may be affected by factors such as their work ethic, perceptions of the unemployed and preferences for labour decommodification. Yet, most studies fail to sketch out the reasons for which unions oppose or support a UBI from a normative standpoint. To understand the impact of ideology on unions’ appreciation for a UBI, I integrate results from 62 questionnaires with 27 in-depth qualitative interviews. This study illustrates that unions’ preferences for a UBI are associated with their theoretical understanding of labour, diverging substantially across welfare regimes. Whereas unions from Bismarckian and Nordic countries are generally opposed to a UBI, organizations from Liberal and Mediterranean countries tend to see UBI as a legitimate policy option. However, in some circumstances they set aside the policy for pragmatic reasons, thus disconnecting their normative orientations from perceptions of its concrete viability.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"129 - 146"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41630383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1177/09596801211023262
Dries Lens, Ninke Mussche, I. Marx
The importance of the posting of workers across EU borders has grown considerably in the past decade, causing concern regarding its impact on labour standards in Europe. This article asks why posting has taken such a flight. Building on quantitative analysis and in-depth interviews set against other sources, we shed light on employer motives for deploying posted workers. We develop a typology of posting which shows that while cost minimization is a crucial motive, especially in sectors where labour cost is an important competitive concern, a much wider set of motives are at play. Skill shortages across all levels of the skills spectrum play a crucial role in every sector. In addition, companies use sub-contracting for highly specialized temporary work as well as for routine tasks. Posting is also used for career development, especially of high potentials. Based on the wide array of employer motives for the use of posting, our typology distinguishes between ‘competition posting’, ‘specialisation posting’ and ‘expert posting’. The article discusses some implications for EU policy vis-a-vis posted work.
{"title":"The different faces of international posting: Why do companies use posting of workers?","authors":"Dries Lens, Ninke Mussche, I. Marx","doi":"10.1177/09596801211023262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211023262","url":null,"abstract":"The importance of the posting of workers across EU borders has grown considerably in the past decade, causing concern regarding its impact on labour standards in Europe. This article asks why posting has taken such a flight. Building on quantitative analysis and in-depth interviews set against other sources, we shed light on employer motives for deploying posted workers. We develop a typology of posting which shows that while cost minimization is a crucial motive, especially in sectors where labour cost is an important competitive concern, a much wider set of motives are at play. Skill shortages across all levels of the skills spectrum play a crucial role in every sector. In addition, companies use sub-contracting for highly specialized temporary work as well as for routine tasks. Posting is also used for career development, especially of high potentials. Based on the wide array of employer motives for the use of posting, our typology distinguishes between ‘competition posting’, ‘specialisation posting’ and ‘expert posting’. The article discusses some implications for EU policy vis-a-vis posted work.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"27 - 45"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09596801211023262","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47779184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-02DOI: 10.1177/09596801211027400
Veronika Lemeire, P. Zanoni
Based on an analysis of gender equality provisions in national collective agreements, this article investigates the influence of European Union (EU) gender and macro-economic policy on gender equality outcomes in Belgium since the signature of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. We show that, over time, EU gender equality policies have led to the adoption of provisions promoting formal gender equality and the integration of women in the labour market. At the same time, EU macro-economic policies have stimulated labour flexibility, promoting part-time work largely filled by women, and imposed wage moderation, which has fundamentally hampered the correction of historical indirect gender discrimination in wages. Overall, EU policies have stimulated the transformation of the conservative male breadwinner model of this coordinated market economy (CME) into a gendered ‘one-and-a-half earner’ model, a transformation partially enforced through the increased interference of the state transposing EU policies. Our study advances the current literature by pointing to the limitations of prevalent methodologically nationalist explanations of gender equality outcomes in CMEs. More specifically, it shows that the gender equality provisions of national collective bargaining agreements in CMEs cannot be understood independent of EU gender and macro-economic policies.
{"title":"Beyond methodological nationalism in explanations of gender equality: The impact of EU policies on gender provisions in national collective agreements in Belgium (1957–2020)","authors":"Veronika Lemeire, P. Zanoni","doi":"10.1177/09596801211027400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211027400","url":null,"abstract":"Based on an analysis of gender equality provisions in national collective agreements, this article investigates the influence of European Union (EU) gender and macro-economic policy on gender equality outcomes in Belgium since the signature of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. We show that, over time, EU gender equality policies have led to the adoption of provisions promoting formal gender equality and the integration of women in the labour market. At the same time, EU macro-economic policies have stimulated labour flexibility, promoting part-time work largely filled by women, and imposed wage moderation, which has fundamentally hampered the correction of historical indirect gender discrimination in wages. Overall, EU policies have stimulated the transformation of the conservative male breadwinner model of this coordinated market economy (CME) into a gendered ‘one-and-a-half earner’ model, a transformation partially enforced through the increased interference of the state transposing EU policies. Our study advances the current literature by pointing to the limitations of prevalent methodologically nationalist explanations of gender equality outcomes in CMEs. More specifically, it shows that the gender equality provisions of national collective bargaining agreements in CMEs cannot be understood independent of EU gender and macro-economic policies.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"47 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09596801211027400","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48410163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-30DOI: 10.1177/09596801211023270
Danijela Dolenec, Daniela Širinić, Ana Balković
Addressing the debate regarding the impact of the Great Recession on changing union strategies in post-socialist Europe, our analysis shows that in Croatia and Serbia the crisis, while depressing strike numbers, was nevertheless met with substantial union resistance. Developing a paired comparison and relying on protest event data for the period 2000–2017, we argue that the differences among the two countries’ respective varieties of capitalism drive divergent union strategies described as social movement unionism. In Serbia, the role of unions in protests articulating workers’ demands remained more central and unions were overall more present in the protest arena, while in Croatia, unions have exhibited stronger propensity to forge alliances and adopt innovative policy strategies. While taking on board scholarship that portrays social movement unionism as signalling union weakness, we argue that strategies which increase union mobilization capacity may also be understood as increasing union resilience in changing social circumstances.
{"title":"Resisting the Great Recession: Social movement unionism in Croatia and Serbia","authors":"Danijela Dolenec, Daniela Širinić, Ana Balković","doi":"10.1177/09596801211023270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211023270","url":null,"abstract":"Addressing the debate regarding the impact of the Great Recession on changing union strategies in post-socialist Europe, our analysis shows that in Croatia and Serbia the crisis, while depressing strike numbers, was nevertheless met with substantial union resistance. Developing a paired comparison and relying on protest event data for the period 2000–2017, we argue that the differences among the two countries’ respective varieties of capitalism drive divergent union strategies described as social movement unionism. In Serbia, the role of unions in protests articulating workers’ demands remained more central and unions were overall more present in the protest arena, while in Croatia, unions have exhibited stronger propensity to forge alliances and adopt innovative policy strategies. While taking on board scholarship that portrays social movement unionism as signalling union weakness, we argue that strategies which increase union mobilization capacity may also be understood as increasing union resilience in changing social circumstances.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"105 - 121"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09596801211023270","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48688162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-31DOI: 10.1177/09596801211018318
Igor Guardiancich, Ó. Molina
We explore the factors behind the long-term erosion of National Social Dialogue Institutions (NSDIs) to provide insights about the conditions for their revitalization. By applying policy analysis insights into the industrial relations field, we argue that limited policy effectiveness goes a long way towards explaining the erosion experienced by many NSDIs worldwide in recent years. Drawing on a global survey and on case studies of NSDIs in Brazil, Italy and South Korea, we show that these institutions’ policy effectiveness crucially depends on combinations of their problem-solving capacity, an encompassing mandate to deal with relevant socioeconomic issues and an enabling environment that grants the inclusion of social dialogue into decision making. With regard to rekindling their role, the article provides substantial evidence that two sub-dimensions of effectiveness are key: enjoying political support and having an ‘effective mandate’ as opposed to relying on just a formal remit to deal with socioeconomic issues of interest.
{"title":"From gradual erosion to revitalization: National Social Dialogue Institutions and policy effectiveness","authors":"Igor Guardiancich, Ó. Molina","doi":"10.1177/09596801211018318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211018318","url":null,"abstract":"We explore the factors behind the long-term erosion of National Social Dialogue Institutions (NSDIs) to provide insights about the conditions for their revitalization. By applying policy analysis insights into the industrial relations field, we argue that limited policy effectiveness goes a long way towards explaining the erosion experienced by many NSDIs worldwide in recent years. Drawing on a global survey and on case studies of NSDIs in Brazil, Italy and South Korea, we show that these institutions’ policy effectiveness crucially depends on combinations of their problem-solving capacity, an encompassing mandate to deal with relevant socioeconomic issues and an enabling environment that grants the inclusion of social dialogue into decision making. With regard to rekindling their role, the article provides substantial evidence that two sub-dimensions of effectiveness are key: enjoying political support and having an ‘effective mandate’ as opposed to relying on just a formal remit to deal with socioeconomic issues of interest.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"85 - 103"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09596801211018318","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42656136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-09DOI: 10.1177/0959680121996675
Paulina Broniatowska, P. Strawiński
This study concentrates on the effect of foreign ownership of companies on worker wage distribution. Using an innovative methodological approach that combines the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and the modified DiNardo et al. reweighting approach, we estimate the wage gap between domestic-owned and foreign-owned firms. The study confirms that firm ownership (domestic or foreign) influences the wage distribution of workers, as a worker employed in a foreign-owned firm earns, on average, 5 percent more than a matched worker in a domestic-owned firm with similar characteristics. We link that gap with an origin of foreign capital. This analysis demonstrates that the origin of capital has an impact on wage distribution in the firm and may affect wages in the whole section.
{"title":"Foreign- and domestic firm ownership and its impact on wages. Evidence from Poland","authors":"Paulina Broniatowska, P. Strawiński","doi":"10.1177/0959680121996675","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680121996675","url":null,"abstract":"This study concentrates on the effect of foreign ownership of companies on worker wage distribution. Using an innovative methodological approach that combines the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and the modified DiNardo et al. reweighting approach, we estimate the wage gap between domestic-owned and foreign-owned firms. The study confirms that firm ownership (domestic or foreign) influences the wage distribution of workers, as a worker employed in a foreign-owned firm earns, on average, 5 percent more than a matched worker in a domestic-owned firm with similar characteristics. We link that gap with an origin of foreign capital. This analysis demonstrates that the origin of capital has an impact on wage distribution in the firm and may affect wages in the whole section.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"27 1","pages":"445 - 466"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0959680121996675","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44333630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-07DOI: 10.1177/09596801211011355
M. Goyer, M. Glatzer, Rocio Valdivielso del Real
The adjustment to the financial crisis was particularly brutal for Eurozone countries targeted by private bondholders. Financial assistance through the newly created Eurozone governance system was conditional on the implementation of austerity measures and the introduction of structural reforms in industrial relations (decentralization of collective bargaining and liberalization of employment protection). Our analysis focuses on the formation process and the structural features of Eurozone supranational institutions. Building from the insights of actor-centred institutionalism, we illustrate the importance of coalitions among some, but not all, important actors based on the overlapping of their non-monolithic preferences in the process of institutional innovation. The structural features of Eurozone institutions curtailed member states’ ability to effectively resist the imposition of internal devaluation policies. A contested outcome, these institutional features were secured by a specific coalition of important actors – most notably, the German government and the European Central Bank – based on their overlapping interests around internal devaluation policies.
{"title":"The management of the Eurozone in crisis times: Actors, institutions and the case of bailout packages","authors":"M. Goyer, M. Glatzer, Rocio Valdivielso del Real","doi":"10.1177/09596801211011355","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211011355","url":null,"abstract":"The adjustment to the financial crisis was particularly brutal for Eurozone countries targeted by private bondholders. Financial assistance through the newly created Eurozone governance system was conditional on the implementation of austerity measures and the introduction of structural reforms in industrial relations (decentralization of collective bargaining and liberalization of employment protection). Our analysis focuses on the formation process and the structural features of Eurozone supranational institutions. Building from the insights of actor-centred institutionalism, we illustrate the importance of coalitions among some, but not all, important actors based on the overlapping of their non-monolithic preferences in the process of institutional innovation. The structural features of Eurozone institutions curtailed member states’ ability to effectively resist the imposition of internal devaluation policies. A contested outcome, these institutional features were secured by a specific coalition of important actors – most notably, the German government and the European Central Bank – based on their overlapping interests around internal devaluation policies.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"7 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09596801211011355","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49088572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-07DOI: 10.1177/09596801211005765
Paulo Marques, Dora Fonseca
The insider-outsider politics approach conjectures that moderate unions and centre-left parties safeguard the interests of insiders and neglect outsiders in labour market reforms. This article challenges this hypothesis. By comparing the positions taken by centre-left parties and moderate union confederations during labour market reforms in Portugal and Spain (1975–2019), it shows that while they may indeed protect insiders, they sometimes do the opposite. To explain this, the article argues that more attention must be paid to the configuration of left parties and confederations. In Portugal, where communist and radical left parties were strong, the centre-left was afraid of losing outsiders’ electoral support, and thus it did not follow a pro-insider strategy. This was reinforced by the fact that the centre-left had to face the opposition of a strong class-oriented confederation that was not willing to commit to two-tier reforms. This was not what happened in Spain. The centre-left, supported by a union confederation, undertook a two-tier reform in 1984 because there was a different configuration of left parties and confederations. Notwithstanding, this was not a stable equilibrium because this confederation changed its position over time when it realized the negative consequences of these reforms. Henceforth, their strategy became more pro-outsider.
{"title":"Understanding the positions taken by moderate union confederations and centre-left parties during labour market reforms in Portugal and Spain: Why the configuration of left parties and trade union confederations matters?","authors":"Paulo Marques, Dora Fonseca","doi":"10.1177/09596801211005765","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211005765","url":null,"abstract":"The insider-outsider politics approach conjectures that moderate unions and centre-left parties safeguard the interests of insiders and neglect outsiders in labour market reforms. This article challenges this hypothesis. By comparing the positions taken by centre-left parties and moderate union confederations during labour market reforms in Portugal and Spain (1975–2019), it shows that while they may indeed protect insiders, they sometimes do the opposite. To explain this, the article argues that more attention must be paid to the configuration of left parties and confederations. In Portugal, where communist and radical left parties were strong, the centre-left was afraid of losing outsiders’ electoral support, and thus it did not follow a pro-insider strategy. This was reinforced by the fact that the centre-left had to face the opposition of a strong class-oriented confederation that was not willing to commit to two-tier reforms. This was not what happened in Spain. The centre-left, supported by a union confederation, undertook a two-tier reform in 1984 because there was a different configuration of left parties and confederations. Notwithstanding, this was not a stable equilibrium because this confederation changed its position over time when it realized the negative consequences of these reforms. Henceforth, their strategy became more pro-outsider.","PeriodicalId":47034,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":"28 1","pages":"65 - 84"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09596801211005765","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48766578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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