The European Trade Union Confederation at the Crossroads of Change? Traversing the Variable Geometry of European Trade Unionism

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Taylor ◽  
Andrew Mathers
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Variable Geometry ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
European Trade

Trade Union Responses to Immigration in Europe

2019 ◽  
pp. 134-155
Author(s):  
Heather Connolly ◽  
Stefania Marino ◽  
Miguel Martínez Lucio
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
European Level ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
European Trade ◽  
Union Policy ◽  
The Way

This chapter explores the challenges of developing trade union responses to immigration at the European level. The issue of immigration is exacerbated at the European level by the search for a common framework of meaning and initiatives in the context of different national experiences and responses. This chapter draws on interviews with trade union officials at the European level and participant observation of initiatives around immigration to consider the way in which trade union policy on immigration has developed. Our research demonstrated that initiatives in European trade unionism were mainly aimed at increasing awareness of the issues surrounding immigration and to share and develop 'good practice' responses in trade unions and to benchmark these responses. One initiative that we document, ETUC's Workplace Europe project.

Building regional structures: ETUC and the European Industry Federations

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Erik Dølvik
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
European Experience ◽  
European Trade ◽  
European Industry ◽  
Political Governance ◽  
Transnational Trade ◽  
Important Building Block

This article reviews the evolution of co-operation within the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the role of the European Industry Federations (EIFs) in this regard, drawing particular attention to the political-institutional prerequisites of transnational trade unionism. The progress of European trade union co-operation can hardly be accounted for without looking at the process of European integration which, despite its ambiguous impact, has spurred the development of regional structures of trade unionism and industrial relations. While the lack of viable political interlocutors at the international level has severely impeded the growth of global trade unionism, the European experience indicates that the regional level might become an important building block between the national and global levels of trade union co-operation and political governance of the world economy.

Globalisation and the dilemmas of international trade unionism

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Trade Union Movement ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
Economic Developments

This article presents the author's reflections on the possibilities of a restructuring of the international trade union movement, on the basis of a collective research project to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) which seeks to open a debate within the movement over the lessons to be learned from its history as a guide for its future action. The most important question facing the trade union movement today is what is generally called 'globalisation', a phenomenon that goes back many years, both in terms of economic developments and labour struggles. From this perspective, the paper examines the basis for the existing divisions of the international labour movement, before going over the work of the ICFTU and of the International Trade Secretariats (ITSs) to achieve the regulation of the multinational corporations and of the international economy, and concluding on the prospects for unity of action in the unions' work around the global economy.

European trade union cooperation, union density and employee attitudes to unions

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-358
Author(s):  
Bengt Furåker
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Employee Attitudes ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
International Social Survey Programme ◽  
European Trade ◽  
Using Data ◽  
International Social

European trade unions have much to gain from cooperating with each other. Such cooperation does exist, but it is still fairly limited and many obstacles need to be overcome if cooperation is to be improved. According to our survey data, higher-level union officials regard differences concerning financial resources and national labour market regulations to be particularly substantial barriers to cooperation. The enormously varying union density across Europe, and its general decrease, also creates barriers. Therefore, employee attitudes to unions are examined using data from the International Social Survey Programme. As expected, union members tend to be more positive about trade unions than non-members. The most interesting finding, however, is that employees in some countries with low union density exhibit fairly positive views or at least views that are not less positive than what we find among employees in many countries with higher density rates. This suggests that there is potential for recruiting members.

scholarly journals How to beat the boss: Game Workers Unite in Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Woodcock
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
International Network ◽  
Trade Unionism

This article provides an overview of the growth of game worker organising in Britain. These workers have not previously been organised in a trade union, but over the last 2 years, they have developed a campaign to unionise their sector and launched a legal trade union branch. This is a powerful example of so-called ‘greenfield’ organising, beyond the reach of existing trade unions and with workers who have not previously been members. The article provides an outline of the industry, the launch of the Game Workers Unite international network, the growth of the division in Britain as well as their formation as a branch of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain. The aim is to draw out lessons for both the videogames industry, as well as other non-unionised industries, showing how the traditions of trade unionism can be translated and developed in new contexts.

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