Towards a European Labour Identity

Towards a European Labour Identity
Author: Michael Whittall
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2007-05-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134139543

Since 1996 a growing number of European employees have access to a European works council (EWC), a transnational employee body designed to complement national forms of labour representation . This volume brings together a hep hive of contributors who present valuable new insights into how employee representatives from different European countries perform their jobs as members of European Works Councils in an attempt to develop some sense of a common European labour identity The transnational character of the EWC makes it an ideal microscopic structure through which the wider discourse surrounding identity – especially when associated with globalization, Europeanization, and mobility – can occur. ‘Towards a European Labour Identity’ examines not only the workings of the EWCs, utilising individual case studies, but also analyses and asses the link with the broader discussions on European identity as well as European trade union co-ordination and solidarity.

Transnational Labour Solidarity

Transnational Labour Solidarity
Author: Katarzyna Gajewska
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2009-06-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 113401838X

Why and how to study European solidarity? -- Analytical categories in conceptualizing solidaristic behaviour -- Presentation of cases -- The vertical dimension of Europeanization of the trade union movement -- Interaction and action as transformational mechanisms -- Framing solidarity : interests, identification and reciprocity -- Situational mechanisms : market integration and trade unions.

Domestic Service and the Formation of European Identity

Domestic Service and the Formation of European Identity
Author: Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2004
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783039105892

Before the Servant Project began its activities, on the initiative of the editor of this book, the long term history of domestic service was still in its beginning stage. This volume is the first wide-ranging attempt to determine the role of domestic workers both in past and present times. Domestic service was of major importance in the multi-secular process of urbanization and socio-economic development of European societies. Today, domestic workers (mainly women) represent an important component of international labour migrations to Western countries. Instead of disappearing, as expected for a long time, paid domestic work is currently experiencing a kind of «resurgence». The contributions assembled in this volume analyze the situation of domestic workers, and contribute to improve knowledge concerning their individual characteristics (gender, ethnic group, religion), origin, motivation and cultural identity, relationship with their own families and those of the employers. Further topics are connections with the home country and place of destination, legal status, rights and duties, in order to understand the current globalization of domestic work.

Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis

Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis
Author: Andreas Bieler
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2015-07-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1783482796

Processes of neoliberal globalization have put national trade unions under pressure as the transnational organization of production puts these labour movements in competition with each other. The global economic crisis has intensified these pressures further. And yet, economic and political integration processes have also provided workers with new possibilities to organize resistance. Emphasizing the importance of agency, this book analyzes transnational labour action in times of crisis, historically and now. It draws on a variety of fascinating cases, across formal and informal collectives, in order to clarify which factors facilitate or block the formation of solidarity. Moving beyond empirical description of cases to an informed understanding of collective action across borders, the volume provides an insightful theorization of transnational action.

Finding a Voice at Work?

Finding a Voice at Work?
Author: Stewart Johnstone
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2015-02-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0191644846

How much 'say' should employees have in the running of business organizations, and what form should the 'voice' take? This is both the oldest and latest question in employment relations. Answers to these questions reflect our fundamental assumptions about the nature of the employment relationship, and inform our views on almost every aspect of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Employment Relations. Voice can also mean different things to different people. For some, employee voice is a synonym for trade union representation which aims to defend and promote the collective interests of workers. For others voice, is means of enhancing employee commitment and organisational performance. Others advocate workers control as an alternative to conventional capitalist organisations which are run for shareholders. There is thus both a moral and political argument for a measure of democracy at work, as well as a business case argument, which views voice as a potential link in the quest for increased organisational performance. The key debate for employment relations is which of the approaches 'works best' in delivering outcomes which balance competitiveness and productivity, on the one hand, and fair treatment of workers and social justice on the other. Policy makers need pragmatic answers to enduring questions: what works best in different contexts, what are the conditions of success, and what are the drawbacks? Some of the most significant developments in employee voice have taken place within the European Union, with various public policy and employer experiments attracting extensive academic research. The book offers a critical assessment of the main contemporary concepts and models of voice in the UK and Europe, and provides an in-depth theoretical and empirical exploration of employee voice in one accessible and cohesive collection.

European Works Councils and Industrial Relations

European Works Councils and Industrial Relations
Author: Jeremy Waddington
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2010-09-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136913505

Aspects of the employment relationship are central to numerous courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Paradoxes of internationalization

Paradoxes of internationalization
Author: Thomas Fetzer
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2017-10-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1526129973

Paradoxes of internationalization deals with British and German trade union responses to the internationalization of corporate structures and strategies at Ford and General Motors between the late 1960s and the early twenty-first century. The book is based on research in numerous archives in Britain, Germany and the United States. The book points to the paradoxical effects of internationalization processes. First, it demonstrates how internationalization reinforced trade unions’ national identities and allegiances. Second, the book highlights that internationalization made domestic trade union practices more similar in some respects, while it simultaneously contributed to the re-creation of diversity between and within the two countries. Third, the book shows that investment competition was paradoxically the most important precondition for the emergence of cross-border cooperation initiatives. The book will be of interest to academics and students in a range of disciplines from comparative industrial relations, to international political economy, business studies and transnational history.

Reinventing social solidarity across Europe

Reinventing social solidarity across Europe
Author: Ellison, Marion
Publisher: Policy Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2011-10-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1847427286

As Europe's public realms face upheaval, this is the first book to identify how social solidarity is being reinvented from below and redefined from above. Interdisciplinary transnational approaches provide new insights into the relationship between national and transnational social solidarity across Europe.Valuable to students, policy makers and scholars, it reveals social solidarity as the defining pillar of European integration, bringing a greater dimension and integrity beyond democracy across nation states.

Reinventing Social Solidarity Across Europe

Reinventing Social Solidarity Across Europe
Author: Marion Ellison
Publisher: Policy Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2012
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1847427278

This valuable collection is the first to identify how social solidarity across Europe is being re-invented from below and redefined from above.

Market Expansion and Social Dumping in Europe

Market Expansion and Social Dumping in Europe
Author: Magdalena Bernaciak
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2015-06-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317660943

The term ‘social dumping’ regularly appears in public debates and in policymaking circles. However, due to its ambiguity it is used in a manner that is convenient for individual discourse participants, thus opening the door for misconceptions and ill-grounded accusations. This book systematically examines social dumping in the context of the European integration process. It defines social dumping as the practice, undertaken by self-interested market participants, of undermining or evading existing social regulations with the aim of gaining a competitive advantage. It also shows how the two major EU integration projects the creation of the Internal Market, and EU enlargement to the east and to the south have provided market actors with new incentives and opportunities to contest existing social ‘constraints’. The empirical chapters examine social dumping practices accompanying labour migration, employee posting and cross-border investment distribution. In addition, they outline the process of formation of social standards and trace initiatives at EU and national levels that contribute to the spread of social dumping in Europe. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of employment relations, EU studies, international political economy, globalisation studies, welfare studies, social policy and migration studies.