scholarly journals Explaining divergent bargaining outcomes for agency workers: The role of labour divides and labour market reforms

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Benassi ◽  
Lisa Dorigatti ◽  
Elisa Pannini
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Vicious Circle ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Labour Market Reforms ◽  
Divide And Rule

Under what conditions can unions successfully regulate precarious employment? We compare the divergent trajectories of collective bargaining on agency work in the Italian and German metal sectors from the late 1990s. We explain the differences by the interaction between trade unions’ institutional and associational power resources, mediated by employers’ divide-and-rule strategies and by union strategies to (re)build a unitary front. In both countries, the liberalization of agency work allowed employers to exploit labour divides, undermining unions’ associational power and preventing labour from negotiating effectively. However, while Italian unions remained ‘trapped’ in the vicious circle between weak legislation and fragmented labour, German unions were able to overcome their internal divides. The different degree of success depended on the nature of the divides within the labour movements.

Trends in the association of different forms of precarious employment and self-rated health in Germany. An analysis with the German Socio-Economic Panel between 1995 and 2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 1002-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo-Kolja Pförtner ◽  
Holger Pfaff ◽  
Kira Isabel Hower
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Adjusted Risk ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Labour Market Reforms ◽  
Working Poverty ◽  
Perceived Job Insecurity

BackgroundPrecarious employment has increased in Germany by means of labour market flexibilisation throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In this study, trends in the association of self-rated health (SRH) with different dimensions of precarious employment by gender in Germany between 1995 and 2015 were assessed considering different periods of labour market reforms and the Great Recession.MethodsAnalyses were conducted using the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1995 to 2015. All employed individuals aged 18–67 years and living in private households were considered for analysis to examine the risks of poor SRH by low wage, working poverty, non-standard working time arrangements and perceived job insecurity by gender. Predicted probabilities, adjusted risk ratio (ARR), adjusted risk difference (ARD) and trends were examined using pooled interval logistic regression with individual-clustered standard errors.ResultsRelative and absolute differences in SRH rose significantly over time by perceived job insecurity for men, but not for women. Working poverty appeared to be significantly associated with SRH in the Great Recession and the post-Recession period for both gender. Non-standard working time arrangements were not significantly associated with SRH for both gender, and low wage appeared to be significantly associated with SRH only for men in the post-Recession period.ConclusionsThe results highlighted the relevance of labour market reforms of deregulation and flexibilisation in Germany to differences in SRH by specific forms of precarious employment and gender differences in the impact of labour market reforms on precarious employment and health.

Trade union revitalisation: Where are we now? Where to next?

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lyhne Ibsen ◽  
Maite Tapia
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Institutional Frameworks ◽  
Institutional Contexts

In this article, we review and assess research on the role of trade unions in labour markets and society, the current decline of unions and union revitalisation. The review shows three main trends. First, trade unions are converging into similar strategies of revitalisation. The ‘organising model’ has spread far beyond the Anglo-Saxon countries and is now commonplace for unions as a way to reach new worker constituencies. Thus, even in ‘institutionally secure’ countries like Germany and the Nordic countries, unions are employing organising strategies while at the same time trying to defend their traditional strongholds of collective bargaining and corporatist policy-making. Second, research has shown that used strategies are not a panacea for success for unions in countries that spearheaded revitalisation. This finding points to the importance of supportive institutional frameworks if unions are to regain power. Third, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, unions are building external coalitions with other social movements, including across borders, to compensate for the loss of power resources that were tied to national collective bargaining and policy-making. Research has shown that unions, even in adverse institutional contexts, can be effective when they reinvent their repertoires of contention, through political action or campaigning along global value chains.

scholarly journals Spanish trade unions against labour market reforms: strategic choices and outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-435
Author(s):  
Pablo del Rio Loira ◽  
Menno Fenger
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Labour Market Reforms ◽  
The Government ◽  
General Strike

Trade unions are considered to be key political actors in the formation of welfare states. Their importance for the current fate of welfare states, however, has been disputed within academia. Aiming to contribute to this vast body of literature, this article analyses the participation of Spanish trade unions in labour market reforms since the restitution of democracy in Spain. The article analyses the strategic choices open to trade unions, particularly the choice of calling for mobilisation, and why unions make the choices that they do. Mobilisation in the form of a general strike constitutes unions’ last and most extreme resort for confronting the government. We also explain the context in which such mobilisations are able to prevent retrenchment measures attempted by the government.

Skill development research in India: a systematic literature review and future research agenda

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 2242-2266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Cabral ◽  
Rajib Lochan Dhar
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Reforms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the literature and provide new insights on skill development research in India. Objectives in the study are twofold. First is to conduct descriptive analysis in terms of structural dimensions such as geographical context, focus on skill development, research methods, economic sector, type of training and origin of the study. The second objective is to conduct thematic analysis on importance of skill development, institutional and regulatory mechanisms, skill development as an antecedent for technology adoption, role of skill development in women empowerment, integrating skill development with secondary education and labour market reforms for skill development. Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review method is employed to review 45 articles on skill development research in India conducted between 2004 and 2017. Findings The review discusses about the importance of skill development, the role of institutions such as NSDA and PMKVJ, skill development as a necessity in the advent of technological changes, an effective measure to empower women in the country and the need of integrating skill development with secondary education. Labour market reforms are required to overcome challenges such as mismatch between theory and practice, low quality of skills assimilated, the mismatch between demand and supply of skilled labour force, low level of in-house training, low cooperation from students and employees due to lack of incentives and lack of qualified teachers. Originality/value This study is the first to offer a systematic literature review on skill development. The study provides insights into the concept of skill development, specifically for academicians to carry out research in a niche area and for government authorities in policy formulation.

Reforming the Labour Market in Good and Bad Times

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Gehrke ◽  
Enzo Weber
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Markov Switching ◽  
Matching Theory ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Structural Reforms ◽  
Labour Market Reforms ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Business Cycle

This chapter discusses how the effects of structural labour market reforms depend on whether the economy is in expansion or recession. Based on an empirical time series model with Markov switching that draws on search and matching theory, we propose a novel identification of reform outcomes and distinguish the effects of structural reforms that increase the flexibility of the labour market in distinct phases of the business cycle. We find in applications to Germany and Spain that reforms which are implemented in recessions have weaker expansionary effects in the short run. For policymakers, these results emphasize the costs of introducing labour market reforms in recessions.

Party System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaad Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Intermediate Variable ◽  
Labour Market Flexibility ◽  
Labour Market Reforms ◽  
The Impact

The chapter discusses the party system in the macro context of politics. It highlights the limitations of political party and interest group analysis without reference to the political competition that shapes behaviour in politics. The chapter discusses theoretically the impact of party system on labour market flexibility and proceeds to show the interrelation between party competition and the behaviour of political parties, composition of socio-economic support bases, and the behaviour of interest groups that influence reform. In the context of labour market flexibility, the party-system operates as an intermediate variable facilitating reforms. The chapter contradicts the conventional notion that party system fragmentation impedes reform by showing how increasing party competition corresponds to greater labour market reforms. It shows that increases in the number of parties, facilitates labour market reforms through marginalization of the issue of labour, realignment of class interests within broader society and fragmentation of trade union movement.

scholarly journals Inequality between capital and labour and among wage-earners: the role of collective bargaining and trade unions

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-46
Author(s):  
Maarten Keune
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Union Density ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Union Bargaining Power ◽  
Wage Earners ◽  
The Relationship

In the context of rising inequality between capital and labour and among wage-earners in Europe, this state-of-the-art article reviews the literature concerning the relationship between collective bargaining and inequality. It focuses on two main questions: (i) what is the relationship between collective bargaining, union bargaining power and inequality between capital and labour? and (ii) what is the relationship between collective bargaining, union bargaining power and wage inequality among wage-earners? Both questions are discussed in general terms and for single- and multi-employer bargaining systems. It is argued that collective bargaining coverage and union density are negatively related to both types of inequality. These relationships are however qualified by four additional factors: who unions represent, the weight of union objectives other than wages, the statutory minimum wage, and extensions of collective agreements by governments.

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