Europe And The Nordic Collective Bargaining Model

One of the special features of the Nordic countries is that the determination of wages and working conditions is largely left up to the negotiations between the social partners. The purpose of this report is to illuminate a number of the challenges faced by the labour-law systems of the Nordic countries in the light of an increasingly well-developed European law system. The first part of the report was prepared by Dr. Jur. Jens Kristiansen, the editor-in-chief, and focuses on a number of the general challenges facing the labour-law systems of the Nordic countries in the form of European rules and court decisions. The second part of the report was prepared by various representatives of employer and employee organisations in the Nordic countries and illustrates some of the challenges faced by the social partners in their interaction with the European court system and the way in which these challenges have been addressed in the individual countries.

This title was first published in 2000: The contributions to this volume have been brought together and edited from presentations made to a two-day seminar held in Brussels with the financial and organisational support of the social affairs directorate of the European Commission on 15th and 16th May 1995. That seminar provided an important first opportunity, following accession to membership of the European Community by Finland and Sweden, for representatives of the Commission to discuss with delegates from all of the significant labour market organisations throughout the Nordic countries some of the challenges and fears raised by the superimposition of a European-level framework upon the fabled social structures of those Nordic countries.

Within the framework of the new European economic governance, neoliberal views on wages have further increased in prominence and have steered various reforms of collective bargaining rules and practices. As the crisis in Europe came to be largely interpreted as a crisis of competitiveness, wages were seen as the core adjustment variable for ‘internal devaluation’, the claim being that competitiveness could be restored through a reduction of labour costs. This book proposes an alternative view according to which wage developments need to be strengthened through a Europe-wide coordinated reconstruction of collective bargaining as a precondition for more sustainable and more inclusive growth in Europe. It contains major research findings from the CAWIE2 – Collectively Agreed Wages in Europe – project, conducted in 2014–2015 for the purpose of discussing and debating the currently dominant policy perspectives on collectively-bargained wage systems under the new European economic governance.

This open access book discusses transnational trade union cooperation in Europe – its forms, focuses, conditions, and obstacles. It provides an overview of existing trade union cooperation and includes detailed analyses of two specific questions: the debates on statutory minimum wages and the Posting of Workers Directive. Drawing on empirical research, the authors take a comparative approach, considering national industrial relations regimes as well as individual sectors. With the ongoing processes of integration in Europe, it has become increasingly important for unions to cooperate with regard to employers and EU institutions. The authors illustrate the interconnections between national and European industrial relations, and explore the process of European integration in labour markets. Illustrating the potential for and difficulties involved in deepening trade union cooperation across Europe, this work is a vital read for trade unionists, researchers and students interested in European trade unionism and labour markets.

Examines the main characteristics of the labour relations systems in the Nordic countries (except Iceland). Labour union movement has a great impact on these systems due to high rates of affiliation among workers and this text presents new aspects on the Nordic model for labour relations.

Trade unions in most of Europe are on the defensive: in recent decades they have lost membership, sometimes drastically; their collective bargaining power has declined, as has their influence on government; and in many countries, their public respect is much diminished. This book explores the challenges facing trade unions and their responses in ten west European countries: Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Italy. Based on a substantial number of interviews with key union representatives and academic experts in each country, together with the collection of a large amount of union documentation and background material, the book gives an account of how trade unionism has evolved in each country, the main recent challenges that unions have faced, and their responses. The book engages with the debates of the past two decades on union modernization and revitalization, and more generally with theories of institutional change and the literature on varieties of capitalism. Some observers ask whether unions remain relevant socio-economic actors, but challenging times can stimulate new thinking, and hence provide new opportunities. This book aims to show why trade unions are (still) important subjects for scientific analysis: first, as a means of collective 'voice' allowing employees to challenge management control and bringing a measure of balance to the employment relationship; second, as a form of 'countervailing power' to the socio-economic dominance of capital; and third, their potential as a 'sword of justice' to defend the weak, vulnerable and disadvantaged, express a set of values in opposition to the dominant political economy, and offer aspirations for a different—and better—form of society.

Hannu Piekkola and Kenneth Snellman ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, Helsinki, Finland The Labour Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki, Finland 1 The Basic Issues Wages have traditionally been agreed on collectively in Europe. The articles in this volume examine the current state of collective bargaining as well as the ch- lenges it is currently facing. The issues examined in these papers have a wide applicability to problems on the European labour markets. Torben M. Andersen and Steinar Holden review challenges from globalisation and inter-industry trade and the adaptation to a low-inflation environment. The other contributions are part of the project investigating collective bargaining in Finland, carried out by ETLA (the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy) and the Labour Institute for E- nomic Research. Some of them use results from a Finnish survey carried out by the two institutes ETLA and the Labour Institute on the views of employers and employees about labour relations and the labour market negotiation system. Bargaining systems are complex and their future development depends on their historical evolution, recent and past experiences, and the current situation in the labour market, as well as changes in the international environment. By examining the past functioning of the bargaining system one can observe how different e- ments in it have interacted with various factors in the environment of the system.