Comparative Industrial Relations

First published in 1985, Comparative Industrial Relations is a comprehensive introductory text exploring the subject of cross-national comparisons of industrial relations. The book surveys, integrates and reviews a wealth of literature and research relating to comparative industrial relations structures and procedures. It covers key themes within industrial relations and incorporates material from a wide range of areas, including Western Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia. The considerable variety of differing practices and institutions are highlighted and examined, and extensive analysis and explanation is given to their similarities and differences. Comparative Industrial Relations provides detailed and varied perspectives on the contemporary state of knowledge within this important field.

First published in 1985, Comparative Industrial Relations is a comprehensive introductory text exploring the subject of cross-national comparisons of industrial relations. The book surveys, integrates and reviews a wealth of literature and research relating to comparative industrial relations structures and procedures. It covers key themes within industrial relations and incorporates material from a wide range of areas, including Western Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia. The considerable variety of differing practices and institutions are highlighted and examined, and extensive analysis and explanation is given to their similarities and differences. Comparative Industrial Relations provides detailed and varied perspectives on the contemporary state of knowledge within this important field.

Table of Contents List of figures and tables Preface to the first edition Preface to the second edition 1 Introduction: comparative approaches 1 2 Trade unions 19 3 Employers and managements 51 4 Collective bargaining 74 5 The role of the state 102 6 Industrial conflict and strikes 130 7 Workers' participation in decision-making 160 8 Industrial relations in multinational enterprises 187 9 Industrial relations in developing countries 213 10 Industrial relations systems and economic outcomes 231 Notes 243 Bibliography 253 Author index 284 Subject index 291.

Thoroughly updated and revised by a team of international experts, this fifth edition continues to be the most authoritative and accessible overview of industrial relations practices around the world.

Employee relations in national contexts are significantly influenced not only by material forces but also by cultural and linguistic factors that are often highly nationally specific. In this innovative book, culture and language are analysed in terms of how they affect employee relations internationally, demonstrating the importance of recognising and understanding these elements in the face of increasing globalisation.

'Besides a well-written introduction by the two editors, the book presents seventeen other chapters, some by well-known writers on the subject or related social sciences. . . This is a substantial resource book for scholars and students of comparative ER, especially for those who look towards the evolution of ER in the new economic world that is in formation, and in a comparative perspective. . . the book contains intellectually stimulating analyses of employee relations realities across the globe. . . Scholars belonging to different disciplinary perspectives, from which ER has been studied in the past, will also find in it a good reference material of comparative analyses. . . The publishers too deserve accolades for their professionalism and first rate copy-editing and production.' – Debi S. Saini, Vision – the Journal of Business Perspectives 'The book is a comprehensive volume of studies on employment relations in a wide variety of settings. . .an enriching compendium.' – Silvia Florea, Management of Sustainable Development The Research Handbook of Comparative Employment Relations is an essential resource for those seeking to understand contemporary developments in the world of work, and the way in which employment relations systems are evolving around the world. Special consideration is given to the impact of globalisation and the role of multinational corporations, including their consequences for the fate of workers' rights under existing national systems of employment relations (ER) regulation. This Handbook is unique in taking an explicitly comparative approach by discussing ER developments through a series of paired country comparisons. These chapters include a wide selection of countries from all regions, looking beyond those that are frequently discussed. The expert contributors also examine comparative issues from a range of perspectives, including industrial and employment relations, political economy, comparative politics, and cross-cultural studies. These impressive features make this important reference tool the most comprehensive of its kind. Academics and students in final-year undergraduate and postgraduate courses interested in employment relations will find this compendium enriching and insightful.

With growing concern about the conditions facing low wage workers and new challenges to traditional forms of labor market protection, this book offers a timely analysis of the purpose and effectiveness of minimum wages in different European countries. Building on original industry case studies, the analysis goes beyond general debates about the relative merits of labor market regulation to reveal important national differences in the functioning of minimum wage systems and their integration within national models of industrial relations. There is no universal position on minimum wage policy followed by governments and social partners. Nor is it true that trade unions consistently support minimum wages and employers oppose them. The evidence in this book shows that interests and objectives change over time and differ across industries and countries. Investigating the pay bargaining strategies of unions and employers in cleaning, security, retail, and construction, this book’s industry case studies show how minimum wage policy interacts with collective bargaining to produce different types of pay equity effects. The analysis provides new findings of ‘ripple effects’ shaped by trade union strategies and identifies key components of an ‘egalitarian pay bargaining approach’ in social dialogue. The lessons for policy are to embrace an inter-disciplinary approach to minimum wage analysis, to be mindful of the interconnections with the changing national systems of industrial relations, and to interrogate the pay equity effects.