Documents Bridgen, Paul 3 results

"Since the turn of the century UK pension politics has been dominated by legislative and regulatory efforts to increase the state's redistributive role in the pension system. Such developments are unexpected by the theoretical literature on welfare states. This predicts regulatory disputes in multi-pillar pension systems, but does not expect egalitarian reforms in liberal systems like the UK where organised labour is weak. We explain these reforms as a product of a temporary cross-class alliance, facilitated by a cohesive pension policy network, and formalised by an independent Pensions Commission. The consensus was possible because the public/private nature of the UK pension system politicised the non-state sphere, shaping the preferences of pension policy actors, and leading business to reach a compromise agreement with unions. "

" This article considers whether organized labour's engagement with shareholder activism represents a shift in unions' traditional stakeholder preferences on corporate governance under pension fund capitalism. It does so in light of recent critiques of the class power thesis of corporate governance which suggest greater fluidity and fragmentation in labour's approach. Adopting a diverse case study strategy to compare organized labour's actions in the United States, United Kingdom and France, the article explains these activities as innovative strategies, similar to other revitalization initiatives, designed to advance traditional agendas by alternative means. The article thus concludes that, while organized labour's shareholder activism is unexpected under the class power thesis, its core preferences remain largely unchanged."