Equal opportunities and collective bargaining in the Netherlands: a good case in contract catering

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-271
Author(s):  
Jeanne de Bruijn ◽  
Inge Bleijenbergh
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Successful Outcome ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Female Employees ◽  
Consultative Body

Are there good practices of collective bargaining on equal opportunities in the Netherlands and, if so, what can we learn from them? The article answers these questions by means of extensive reference to a case-study on the Dutch contract catering sector, which has a collective agreement including detailed provisions on childcare and steps to tackle sexual harassment. Contract catering, a relatively new sector in the Netherlands, underwent rapid expansion in the nineties. The sector is characterised by a high proportion of female employees (75%), three quarters of whom are employed in a part-time capacity, and a relatively low degree of organisation. As in the rest of the Netherlands, industrial relations in this sector are strongly institutionalised and the whole process of preparation, bargaining and implementation of collective agreements takes place in a consultative body for labour and management, namely the Contract Catering Joint Committee. The attention paid to equal opportunities dates from the first bargaining round conducted in the catering sector at the end of the eighties. In that period societal attention to the topic was combined with strong economic growth in the sector and the employers'wish to attract female employees. Especially re-entering women were expected to combine the right service-directed attitude with the willingness to work flexible hours. An infrastructure of (female) experts on equal opportunities from within the trade unions activated personal involvement of some (male) negotiators in the topic. During consecutive bargaining rounds framework agreements were concluded on affirmative action, parental leave, child-care provision and sexual harassment. Especially the fact that working groups of labour and management were set up on the last two topics contributed to the relatively successful outcome in respect of these arrangements.

Unions and collective bargaining in Australia in 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bray ◽  
Johanna Macneil ◽  
Leslee Spiess
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Industrial Disputes ◽  
Wage Outcomes

There is a storm brewing over the roles of unions and collective bargaining in Australian employment relations. Unions, frustrated with what they see as practical and legislative restrictions on protection of workers’ rights, seek to ‘change the rules’. Employers, on the other hand, have been successful in restricting or rolling back bargaining rights, supported by their associations, the Coalition government and an assertive interpretation of the Fair Work Act. Add to this the impending federal election and the scene is set for a tempest that could bring industrial relations back to the centre of Australian politics in 2019. The review explores the various elements contributing to the coming storm, including trends in union membership, structure and strategy. It also surveys trends in the number and coverage of collective agreements, wage outcomes and industrial disputes. Two idiosyncractically Australian versions of collective agreement making are also discussed: cooperative bargaining facilitated by the Fair Work Commission and non-union collective agreement making.

The Right to Collective Bargaining in Malaysia in the Context of ILO Standards

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabiu Sani Shatsari ◽  
Kamal Halili Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Mechanism ◽  
Conditions Of Employment

Collective bargaining is the best mechanism to attain a cordial relationship between employers and employees. It is also an effective forum to agree on terms and conditions of employment. In order to achieve such purposes, industrial relations systems in a country must provide legal mechanism to enable parties to bargain collectively with a view to concluding a collective agreement. The ILO has adopted a convention providing a framework for member states to enact laws that would facilitate such a mechanism. In this respect, Malaysia has enacted the Industrial Relations Act 1967, which provides among others a mechanism for collective bargaining. In this article we argue on the extent of the right of Malaysian workers to collective bargaining in the context of the ILO standards. Here we argue that despite the legal mechanism available that facilitates collective bargaining between the two parties, Malaysian workers and their trade unions face some difficulties in bargaining with their employers.

scholarly journals Award, Agreement or Nothing? A Review of the Impact of S132(a) of the Labour Relations Act 1987 on Collective Bargaining

1970 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Harbridge ◽  
Stuart McCaw
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Court System ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Court Of Appeal

The on-going saga of the G.N. Hale redundancy dispute appears now to have run its course. From grievance committee, to the Labour Court, to the Court of Appeal, and back to the Labour Court, the case has attracted considerable attention - from the media and naturally from industrial relations practitioners, eager to learn the view of the New Zealand court system on the vexed matter of redundancy compensation. In the most recent Labour Coun decision on Hale (WLC89/90), Goddard C J held that while the employer was able to prove that the worker was genuinely made redundant the dismissal was unjustifiable because "the circumstances called for the payment of compensation; none was paid; and the amount that was offered and refused was fixed by unilateral decision of the employer and was inadequate". The effect of this decision is profound. Employers planning to make employees redundant have a new set of requirements to meet before their actions can be taken as justifiable. While it will remain the case that there is no right to compensation for a dismissal on the grounds of redundancy unless that right is conferred by a redundancy agreement or by an award or collective agreement, there may still be a right to compensation if the dismissal, although genuinely on the grounds of redundancy, is unjustifiable and thereby gives rise to a successful personal grievance. An employer will now need to focus on the circumstances of the redundancy to detetuaine whether it calls for compensation and where it does, the employer will need to offer, and have accepted, compensation that is both adequate and negotiated.

scholarly journals Frontal assault versus incremental change: A comparison of collective bargaining in Portugal and the Netherlands

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Hijzen ◽  
Pedro S. Martins ◽  
Jante Parlevliet
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Gradual Evolution ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis

Abstract Collective bargaining has come under renewed scrutiny, especially in Southern European countries, which rely predominantly on sectoral bargaining supported by administrative extensions of collective agreements. Following the global financial crisis, some of these countries have implemented substantial reforms in the context of adjustment programmes, seen by some as a ‘frontal assault’ on collective bargaining. This paper compares the recent top-down reforms in Portugal with the more gradual evolution of the system in the Netherlands. While the Dutch bargaining system shares many of the key features that characterise the Portuguese system, it has shown a much greater ability to adjust to new challenges through concerted social dialogue. This paper shows that the recent reforms in Portugal have brought the system more in line with Dutch practices, including in relation to the degree of flexibility in sectoral collective agreements at the worker and firm levels, the criteria for administrative extensions, and the application of retro- and ultra-activity. However, it remains to be seen to what extent the top-down approach taken in Portugal will change bargaining practices, and importantly, the quality of industrial relations.

scholarly journals The Influence of External Information on Collective Bargaining: Survey Evidence of Union and Firm Negotiators in the Netherlands

2015 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Lehr ◽  
Agnes Akkerman ◽  
René Torenvlied
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
External Information ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Information Spillovers ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Organizational Power ◽  
Economic Information ◽  
Different Types

This paper seeks to answer two questions: 1- To what extent are negotiators in collective bargaining influenced by different types of external information? 2- How can differences in the influence of external information between negotiators be explained by the characteristics of the negotiators and bargaining units? A standardized questionnaire measuring self-reported influences of different types of external information was developed and administered to a representative sample of union and firm negotiators in the Netherlands. In total, 123 negotiators participated in the survey. Four types of external information were investigated: 1- economic information; 2- information on organizational power; 3- institutional information; and 4- information spillovers. Descriptive analyses show that economic information, particularly when referring to the sector level, was very influential, as was institutional information on national and sectoral collective agreement developments. Information reflecting organizational power, e.g. militancy, carried less weight, while information on other bargaining events, i.e. spillover, was also very important. From extant theory, empirical findings and common assumptions in labour relations literature, the paper developed and tested a number of hypotheses concerning the influence of external information. It was found that the influence of spillovers increased with the proximity of their source. Union negotiators were generally more influenced by external information than firm negotiators. There was some evidence that influence increased with experience, but this effect was rather modest. Evidence that negotiators in sector bargaining were less affected by the economic environment than negotiators in company bargaining was weak, but they were found to be less influenced by spillovers and international collective agreement developments.

scholarly journals Industrial Relations in New Zealand: New Vista for Collective Bargaining: Extension or Restriction?

1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Szakats
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreement

The seemingly unimportant change of term from “industrial agree­ment” as it appeared in the now repealed Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1954 to “collective agreement” in the Industrial Relations Act 1973 replacing the former statute has signified an immense sociological restructuring which affects the whole field of industrial relations, particularly the potentiality for genuine collective bargaining

scholarly journals Neoliberalisation of industrial relations: The ideational development of Dutch employers’ organisations between 1976 and 2019

2021 ◽  
pp. 0143831X2110200
Author(s):  
Saskia Boumans
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Institutional Perspective

This article considers the debate about the process of liberalisation of industrial relations from an ideational institutional perspective. While the gradual liberalisation of industrial relations has increased employer discretion, the role of employers’ organisations in this process is unclear. The case study is the Netherlands, a neo-corporatist country described as stable and robust but where institutional outcomes have undergone major shifts. To understand how this happened, the author analysed 40 years of collective bargaining policy using an ideational approach. The article argues that Dutch organised employers had the confidence that the strength of their ideas was enough to gradually but surely change industrial relations within the existing neo-corporatist framework by redefining the role of the firm, the state and the employee in the economy. The article also shows that since the early 2010s Dutch organised employers have changed their strategy leading to further de-collectivisation of industrial relations.

الثقة، الصراع والسلوك التعاوني مع الاخذ بالاعتبار العلاقات التبادلية داخل المنظمات

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (48) ◽  
pp. 349
Author(s):  
سعد علي حمود العنزي
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Cooperative Behaviour ◽  
Resources Management

كثيرة هي البحوث والدراسات التي نراجعها في السلوك التنظيمي، بحكم عملنا كأستاذ دراسات عليا بتخصص ادارة الموارد البشرية ونظرية المنظمة، ووقع بيننا بحثاً نظرياً متميزاً للباحثين (Karin Sanders & Birgit Schyns)([1])، نشر في مجلة اصيلة هي (Personnel Review)، في عام (2006)، بمجلدها (35) وبالعدد (5)، تحت عنوان (Trust, Conflict and Cooperative Behaviour: Considering Reciprocity Within Organizations) . ولنقل الفائدة العلمية للمتخصصين والمعنيين والمهتمين بهذا الموضوع الحيوي، أرتأينا ترجمته بالتصرف الذي يفيد القارئ باللغة العربية. فالبحث يصب غرضه في دراسة قضية محددة تتعلق بالثقة، الصراع، والسلوك التعاوني كحلقات مهمة في العمل التنظيمي، ذلك لأن مخرجات العاملين (Employees Outcomes) المتعلقة بإتجاهاتهم، وسلوكياتهم، تأتي من العلاقات التبادلية التي تقع بينهم، والتي ينبغي اختبارها كخصائص لعلاقاتهم هذه، وليس كسمات لهم. ففي اطار ذلك، تتمثل قيمة هذا البحث برأينا بمحاولة ملئ فجوة التبادلية في علاقات المدراء- والمرؤوسين- المرؤوسين، والتركيز عليها بشدة لتفسير تلك القضية المحددة آنفة الذكر. وبحكم كون البحث الحالي، طبيعته تتصف بالمراجعة العامة للفكر الاكاديمي المطروح على الساحة، فإنه يرتبط بمصطلحات علمية سلوكية كثيرة ابرزها: سلوك العاملين (Employees behaviour) اتجاهات العاملين (Employees attitudes)، احتواء العاملين (Employees involvement) العلاقات الصناعية (Industrial relations)، ادارة الموارد البشرية التطبيقية (Applied human resources management).   [1])) ان  (Karin Sanders) استاذ علم النفس التنظيمي والعمل بجامعة (Twenke, The Netherlands) و (Birgit Schyns)، استاذة مساعدة بدراسات الموارد البشرية بجامعة (Tilburg, The Netherlands).

Managing Decentralization: The Strategy of Institutional Differentiation in German Industrial Relations

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Schroeder ◽  
Rainer Weinert
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Bargaining Agreement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Institutional Differentiation ◽  
The Welfare State

The approach of the new millennium appears to signal the demiseof traditional models of social organization. The political core ofthis process of change—the restructuring of the welfare state—andthe related crisis of the industrywide collective bargaining agreementhave been subjects of much debate. For some years now inspecialist literature, this debate has been conducted between theproponents of a neo-liberal (minimally regulated) welfare state andthe supporters of a social democratic model (highly regulated). Thealternatives are variously expressed as “exit vs. voice,” “comparativeausterity vs. progressive competitiveness,” or “deregulation vs.cooperative re-regulation.”

Legal Expertise: A Critical Resource for Trade Unionists? Insights into the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Guillaume
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Collective Redress ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
The Law ◽  
Legal Expertise

Abstract Based on in-depth qualitative research conducted in one of the major French trade unions (the CFDT), this article explores to what extent and under what conditions trade unions adopt different legal practices to further their members’ interests. In particular, it investigates how ‘legal framing’ has taken an increasingly pervasive place in trade union work, in increasingly decentralised industrial relations contexts, such as France. This article therefore argues that the use of the law has become a multifaceted and embedded repertoire of action for the CFDT in its attempt to consolidate its institutional power through various strategies, including collective redress and the use of legal expertise in collective bargaining and representation work.

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