Richard Hyman (2018) "What future for industrial relations in Europe?"

Hyman, Richard. 2018. “What Future for Industrial Relations in Europe?” Employee Relations 40(4): 569-79.

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to perform a systematic cross-country comparison of key features of industrial relations in Europe in a context where consolidated post-war institutions are under attack on many fronts. The author discusses a number of key similarities and differences across the countries of Europe, and end by considering whether progressive alternatives still exist.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws upon academic literature and compares the contributions to this special issue in the light of common problems and challenges.

Findings – The trend towards the erosion of nationally based employment protection and collective bargaining institutions is widely confirmed. In most of Central and Eastern Europe, where systems of organised industrial relations were at best only partially established after the collapse of the Soviet regime, the scope for unilateral dominance by (in particular foreign-owned) employers has been further enlarged. It is also clear that the European Union, far from acting as a force for harmonisation of regulatory standards and a strengthening of the “social dimension” of employment regulation, is encouraging the erosion of nationally based employment protections and provoking a growing divergence of outcomes. However, the trends are contradictory and uneven.

Originality/value – This paper contributes to an updated cross-country comparative analysis of the ongoing transformations in European industrial relations and discusses still existing progressive alternatives.

Keywords Europe, Trade unions, Industrial relations, Neoliberalism, Collective bargaining, Globalization, Austerity

Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick and Richard Hyman (2019) “Democracy in Trade Unions, Democracy through Trade Unions?”

Gumbrell-McCormick, Rebecca and Richard Hyman. 2019. “Democracy in Trade Unions, Democracy through Trade Unions?” Economic and Industrial Democracy 40(1); 91-110.

Abstract

Since the Webbs published Industrial Democracy at the end of the nineteenth century, the principle that workers have a legitimate voice in decision-making in the world of work – in some versions through trade unions, in others at least formally through separate representative structures – has become widely accepted in most West European countries. There is now a vast literature on the strengths and weaknesses of such mechanisms, and we review briefly some of the key interpretations of the rise (and fall) of policies and structures for workplace and board-level representation. We also discuss the mainly failed attempts to establish broader processes of economic democracy, which the eclipse of nationally specific mechanisms of class compromise makes again a salient demand. Economic globalization also highlights the need for transnational mechanisms to achieve worker voice (or more radically, control) in the dynamics of capital–labour relations. We therefore examine the role of trade unions in coordinating pressure for a countervailing force at European and global levels, and in the construction of (emergent?) supranational industrial relations. However, many would argue that unions cannot win legitimacy as a democratizing force unless manifestly democratic internally. Therefore we revisit debates on and dilemmas of democracy within trade unions, and examine recent initiatives to enhance democratization.

Keywords Capitalism, Europe, globalization, industrial democracy, trade unions

Richard Hyman (2019) “National Trade Unions and Internationalism"

Hyman, Richard. 2019. “National Trade Unions and Internationalism: The Example of the ETUC.” In Internacionalismo obrero:Experiencias del sindicalismo internacional (1888-1986), edited by Manuela Aroca Mohedano. Madrid: Fundación Francisco Largo Caballero and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Richard Hyman (2019) Is Forced Labour the New Normal?

Hyman, Richard. 2019. “Is Forced Labour the New Normal?” Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations 107: 171-79.

Richard Hyman and Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick (2020) “Collective Representation at Work"

Hyman, Richard and Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick. 2020. “Collective Representation at Work: Institutions and Dynamics.” In Comparative Employment Relations in the Global Political Economy, edited by Carola Frege and John Kelly. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick and Richard Hyman (2020) “In Search of Global Labour Markets”

Gumbrell-McCormick, Rebecca and Richard Hyman. 2020. “In Search of Global Labour Markets.” Journal of Industrial Relations 62(2): 167-84.

Abstract

In this introductory article, the Guest Editors consider key themes involved in discussion of cross-border labour migration, exploring the ambiguities of some of the main concepts involved. They summarise the six substantive articles which follow, and identify some major topics for further research.

Keywords Free movement, intermediaries, labour market regulation, labour migration, trade unions

Jochen Tholen (2019) Trade unions in CEE and SEE

Tholen, Jochen. 2019. “Trade Unions in CEE and SEE: Modernisation or Sinking into Insignificance?” Socio.hu 28-48.

Labour relations and employment policies in times of volatility :: Special issue in English No. 7 (2019)

Jenny Chan (2020) a precarious worker-student alliance

Jenny Chan. 2020. “A Precarious Worker-Student Alliance in Xi’s China.” The China Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China 20(1): 165-90.