Documents Marginson, Paul 90 results

"At the 21st SASE Conference in Paris, in July 2009, a group of political economy and industrial relations scholars discussed whether the current legitimation crisis of financial capitalism could be viewed as a turning point for labour internationally. Following are an introduction by the panel organizer, Lucio Baccaro, and revised versions of presentations by Robert Boyer, Colin Crouch, Marino Regini, Paul Marginson, Richard Hyman and Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick, and Ruth Milkman."

"Questo articolo si basa su quattro argomentazioni. In primo luogo la contrattazione collettiva è in grado di mitigare gli effetti negativi generati dalla volatilità del mercato e dal processo di adattamento alle sue regole, attraverso la definizione di intese che garantiscono certezza sostanziale e procedurale sia ai lavoratori sia ai datori di lavoro, e una maggiore sicurezza ai lavoratori. In secondo luogo le intese contrattuali multi-employer sono più idonee a svolgere questa funzione rispetto a quelle single-employer. In terzo luogo vi sono differenze istituzionali fra le intese contrattuali multi-employer relative alla governance della contrattazione aziendale che influenzano in misura notevole la loro capacità di promuovere certezza e sicurezza del lavoro. In quarto luogo la pressione dovuta alla crisi sta accelerando l'adattamento al mercato della contrattazione collettiva multi-employer, con effetti potenzialmente dannosi sulla sua capacità di attenuare le spinte negative."

"Purpose

The paper surveys developments in four aspects of collective employment relations since the mid-1960s: collective representation and organisation; collective bargaining coverage and structure; the collective bargaining agenda; and joint consultation arrangements. It considers the reasons underlying change.



Design/methodology/approach

A range of published sources are drawn on, including quantitative, survey-based and qualitative, case-study and other evidence.



Findings

The landscape of collective employment relations has changed markedly over the past half century. Membership of trade unions has fallen from around half of the workforce to one quarter. Employers who mainly conducted collective bargaining through employers' associations now negotiate, if at all, on a firm-by-firm basis. Collective bargaining coverage has sharply declined and now only extends to a minority of the private sector workforce. The bargaining agenda has been hollowed out. Joint consultation arrangements too are less widespread than they were around 1980.



Originality/value

The paper contends that change has been driven by three underlying processes. ‘Marketization' of collective employment relations entailing a shift from an industrial or occupational to an enterprise frame of reference. The rise of ‘micro-corporatism', reflecting increased emphasis on the common interests of collective actors within an enterprise frame. Finally, the voluntarism, underpinning Britain's collective employment relations became more ‘asymmetric', with employers' preferences increasingly predominant."

"This article draws on the findings of research in metalworking and financial services in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the UK to explore the impact of three challenges to established sector-level bargaining arrangements: further decentralization to company level and a reorientation of the bargaining agenda towards competitiveness and employment; the cross-border dimension to bargaining prompted by the single European market; and the emergence of new business activities. It finds similarity within each sector across countries, and similarity within each country across sectors. Implications are drawn out for the balance between company and sectoral bargaining; the relationship between sector-level bargaining arrangements in different countries; and the capacity of sectoral systems to adapt to new contingencies."

"European integration has led to considerable reflection about the trajectory of industrial relations in Europe. In the event, rather than the `two extremes of social union versus a completely deregulated free-for-all', a multi-level system is emerging which is simultaneously prompting both convergent and divergent developments, reflecting the different intensity of pressures for change at sector and company levels. For the foreseeable future, complexity, uncertainty and instability look set to be the defining characteristics, with policy-makers and practitioners seeking to influence directions to their own advantage. Especially uncertain is the impact of enlargement, bearing in mind the accession states' very different industrial relations systems and levels of economic development."