scholarly journals Trade union strategies against precarious work: Common trends and sectoral divergence in the EU

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten Keune ◽  
Marcello Pedaci

We present comparative research on precarious work and trade union strategies in three sectors (construction, industrial cleaning, temporary agency work) across seven European countries. Specific sectors have a profile of precarious work that is remarkably similar across countries, originating from similar employer strategies and work organizations. This results in unions facing comparable challenges concerning precarious work at sectoral level and developing comparable sectoral strategies to combat precarious work. The success of these strategies depends to a large extent on the available power resources. Between sectors within single countries, we observe some similarities but also very substantial differences in their institutional configuration and in actors’ constellations, power resources and repertoires of action. National institutional contexts seem much less significant than often assumed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Lovén Seldén

This article addresses recent developments in the debate on a European minimum wage and tries to shed light on the Swedish standpoint, which from a European perspective might be difficult to comprehend. The article argues that even though the ETUC secretariat has tried to find a balance among the member organisations regarding the EU initiative on a fair minimum wage, it is far from enough from a Swedish and Nordic perspective. Issues such as how to approach collective bargaining, how to think about minimum wages and the role of the government in industrial relations cause problems when unions that operate in relatively diverse institutional contexts try to cooperate. It is therefore likely that the EU minimum wage will continue to be at the core of European trade union discussions in the coming years. At the same time, institutional differences between countries are not the only factors determining union cooperation in Europe. Contextual factors also matter.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holm-Detlev Köhler

The aim of this chapter is to develop a conceptual framework for analysing the collective actions and organisational practices of delivery and transportation gig-workers, building on Rosa Luxemburg’s colonisation concept and on the power resources theory employed in current trade union analysis. The empirical bases are recent surveys and studies on platform work, the analysis of websites and social media communities for the collective action of platform workers and conversations with platform activists in several European countries. The specific characteristics of platform workers’ collective actions and organisational practices are examined with a view to identifying their potential and the opportunities they afford in the light of different trade union power resources.


Author(s):  
Adam Mrozowicki ◽  
Branko Bembič ◽  
Kairit Kall ◽  
Małgorzata Maciejewska ◽  
Miroslav Stanojević

This chapter studies trade union responses to the precarization of work in the retail sector in three post-socialist East European countries: Estonia, Poland, and Slovenia. The aim of the chapter is to analyse the influence of sectoral specifics, different institutional factors, and trade unions’ power resources on union approaches towards precarious work, and to explore the potential for new patterns of solidarity. The main thrust of the argument is that unions’ power is crucial for developing and sustaining the industrial relations institutions, which in turn shape constraints and opportunities for trade unions’ actions. However, the strategic choices exerted by trade union leaders also matter. While higher institutional and associational power still enables Slovene unions to regulate the conditions of precarious workers to a certain extent, the institutional weakness of Estonian and Polish unions make them increasingly reliant on their network embeddedness and narrative resources to mobilize against precarization.


Author(s):  
Sylwia Małażewska ◽  
Edyta Gajos

The aim of the article was to present the changes in the profitability of milk production in farms associated in EDF and situated in Poland and selected European countries in 2006–2012. It was found that after the Polish accession to the EU, the situation has improved for milk producers – economic and production results have risen. In 2008–2009, there was a significant deterioration in the profitability of milk production due to, among others, significant declines in milk prices. Since 2010, gradual improvement of the situation is observed. Similar changes occur in dairy farms in other European countries, such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. This shows how big the interconnectedness between countries is and that the situation of agricultural producers in Poland does not depend only on the local and national market fluctuations, but primarily on fluctuations in the European and global markets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract The European Observatory established the Health Systems and Policy Monitor (HSPM) network in 2008, bringing together an international group of high-profile institutions from Europe and beyond with high academic standing in health systems and policy analysis. An important step was taken in 2011, when the Bertelsmann Health Policy Monitor, a 20-country-project with already significant overlap with the current HSPM network, merged with the Observatory's network of national lead institutions. Today, the network includes 40 institutions from 31 countries, with members participating in a wide range of activities and collaborations, such as writing the Observatory's flagship health system reports (HiTs), keeping the health policy community up-to-date on health system developments via the HSPM web platform, and contributing their expertise to reports, studies and knowledge transfer exercises co-ordinated by the Observatory for a variety of audiences, including ministries of health and international organisations such as the World Health Organization and the European Commission. In addition, network members participate in an annual meeting, hosted in a different member country every year, coming together over two days to exchange knowledge and experiences about the various health system reforms happening in their countries. The aim of these meetings is to present, discuss and start comparative research collaborations of the members that can inform policymaking. As part of a collaboration with the journal Health Policy, researchers of the HSPM network have published more than 100 articles on cross-country comparisons of policies or on ongoing nation health reforms in a special section - the Health Reform Monitor - of the journal. This workshop aims to provide the audience with an overview of the network and its expanding range of activities. An introductory presentation will briefly introduce the origins of the network and discuss its current line of work. The second presentation will provide an overview of reform trends that are routinely collected during the annual meetings as part of the “reform roundup”. The third presentation will give an example of how the network has contributed to the European Commission's State of Health in the EU initiative, by performing a 'rapid response” that informed the companion report to the State of Health in the EU country health profiles 2019. The fourth presentation is a typical example of the kind of collaborative work that the network is undertaking, i.e. involving multiple countries on a topic of shared interest. The workshop will conclude with a debate with the audience about the conceptual and methodological challenges as well as opportunities and future directions of cross-country comparative research and the HSPM network in particular. Key messages The Health Systems and Policy Monitor Network provides detailed descriptions of health systems and provides up to date information on reforms and changes that are particularly policy relevant. The Health Systems and Policy Monitor Network increasingly engages in comparative health systems research and knowledge transfer activities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 1900941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charis Girvalaki ◽  
Manolis Tzatzarakis ◽  
Alexander Vardavas ◽  
Christina N. Kyriakos ◽  
Katerina Nikitara ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Czasonis ◽  
Michael Quinn

One of the motivations for a country to join the European Union is the belief that this will boost short- and long-run incomes. Researchers have tested the hypothesis of income convergence in different settings using either regression or unit root analysis, with mixed results. In this paper, we use both methods on the same samples over a significant time period. This allows us to judge differences in results across varied time-frames and methodologies. The focus of these tests is on convergence to German and EMU average incomes by Eastern European countries and those within the Euro-zone from 1971–2007. The evidence for convergence is mixed. Among the Euro-zone countries, there is more evidence of convergence in the 1970s and 1980s than recently. There is significant evidence that Eastern Europe experienced convergence and that capital formation was one of the root causes. While the results do not support the hypothesis that joining the EU increases convergence, reforms undertaken in the 1990s by Eastern European countries in preparation for joining may have helped them to “catch up”, even if the act of joining the EU did not directly impact convergence.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 507-514
Author(s):  
Ivan Vuković

In this paper we researched European Union starting with the Agreement from Maastrich from year 1992, even though the European Union has a long traditional history and its origin is founded on regulations of economical integrations in Europe beginning from the 1950’s through the Roman treaty from year 1957 and the forming of the European Union Committee in year 1965. Further we follow her expansion and introduction of the European economic and monetary policy, to last, the joining perspective of Croatia. According to the Agreement from Maastrich, European Union lies on three posts: 1) Legal-political and regulative post, 2) Economical post, where the forming of European economical and monetary policy is in the first plan, especially the introducing of Euro as the unique European currency, 3) Post of Mutual foreign security policy within European Union. In that context we need to highlight the research conducted here and in European Union, including the world, regarding development of European Union and its economical, legal, political and cultural, as well as foreign diplomatic results, which are all perspectives of European Union. All the scientists and researches which were involved in exploring the development of EU with its modern tendencies and development perspective, agree that extraordinary results are achieved regards to economical, legal, political, foreign-security and diplomatic views, even tough many repercussions exist in progress of some particular members and within the EU as a whole. The biggest controversy arises in the perspective and expanding of European Union regarding ratification of the Constitution of EU from particular country members, but especially after the referendum was refused from two European countries, France and Netherlands. According to some estimates, the Constitution of EU would have difficulty to be adopted in Switzerland and some other Scandinavian countries, but also in Great Britain and other very developed countries. However the European Community and European Union were developing and expanding towards third European countries, regardless of Constitutional non-existence, where we can assume that if and when the Constitution of EU will be ratified, the EU will further develop as one of the most modern communities. This will enable economical development, especially development of European business, unique European market and free trade of goods and services, market of financial capital and labour market in free movement of labour. Being that EU has become one of the most largest dominating markets in the world, it offers a possibility to all new members to divide labour by using modern knowledge and high technology which insure economical, social and political prosperity. This results to forming a society of European countries which will guarantee all rights and freedom of development for all nations and ethnic groups. As well as, all European countries with somewhat less sovereignty, but in international relations will be stronger and significant, not only in sense of economics, but also in politics and military diplomatic relations. Therefore, Croatia has no choice and perspective if she does not join the European Union till year 2010, but until than it needs to create its strategy of economical and scientific-technological development, including demographic development, which will insure equal progress of Croatia as an equal member of European Union.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinando Ofria ◽  
Massimo Mucciardi

PurposeThe purpose is to analyze the spatially varying impacts of corruption and public debt as % of GDP (proxies of government failures) on non-performing loans (NPLs) in European countries; comparing two periods: one prior to the crisis of 2007 and another one after that. The authors first modeled the NPLs with an ordinary lest square (OLS) regression and found clear evidence of spatial instability in the distribution of the residuals. As a second step, the authors utilized the geographically weighted regression (GWR) to explore regional variations in the relationship between NPLs and the proxies of “Government failures”.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first modeled the NPL with an OLS regression and found clear evidence of spatial instability in the distribution of the residuals. As a second step, the author utilized the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) (Fotheringham et al., 2002) to explore regional variations in the relationship between NPLs and proxies of “Government failures” (corruption and public debt as % of GDP).FindingsThe results confirm that corruption and public debt as % of GDP, after the crisis of 2007, have affected significantly on NPLs of the EU countries and the following countries neighboring the EU: Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Montenegro, and Turkey.Originality/valueIn a spatial prospective, unprecedented in the literature, this research focused on the impact of corruption and public debt as % of GDP on NPLs in European countries. The positive correlation, as expected, between public debt and NPLs highlights that fiscal problems in Eurozone countries have led to an important rise of problem loans. The impact of institutional corruption on NPLs reports that the higher the corruption, the higher is the level of NPLs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-53
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Ustymenko ◽  
Alevtyna Sanchenko

The article provides a general overview of the course of forming Ukraine’s legal and policy basis for cross-border cooperation in connection with economic development. Specific attention is given to its cross-border cooperation with the neighbouring Eastern European countries in the frameworks of bilateral treaties, the Madrid Outline Convention and the EUUkraine Association Agreement. Their cooperation within four Euroregions, supported by the EU European Neighbourhood Instrument, is observed. The complex of cross-border cooperation advantages, shortcomings of their realisation and the current prospects for cross-border cooperation advancement in the light of sustainable development are characterised.


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