The role of social partners in bargaining over non-wage issues across Austria, Greece and Italy

Flexible specialisation, internationalisation, an ageing workforce, and the move into a service economy has placed growing pressure on trade unions and employers to strike new deals. Bargaining over ‘non-wage’ issues may potentially accommodate the needs of an ageing and increasingly feminised workforce and enable unions to increase or at least maintain given levels of membership. Little empirical work has been done, however, in examining different types of ‘non-wage’ issues that have arisen across countries and explaining why they arise. In this paper, we create a typology of four distinct types of ‘non-wage’ issues and seek to identify the conditions under which each is expected to be observed. We propose that two conditions (one political and one economic) determine different agendas which lead to the emergence of a particular type of ‘non-wage’ issue: the level of cohesion amongst unions; and the sector in which bargaining predominates (private or public). We then focus on how the bargaining over ‘non-wage’ issues has developed within three European economies: Austria, Greece and Italy. Each is representative of a different variant of corporatism, and therefore we look at the ability of social partners with variable institutional capacity to negotiate and agree on ‘non-wage’ issues through collective bargaining. Our initial findings suggest that union cohesion and the presence, or the lack, of a market constraint on employers helps explain the variation in the types of non-wage issues which arise in these three countries

United We Stand? Marketization, institutional change and employers’ associations in crisis

The continuous process of marketization of employment relations in a variety of European countries has raised questions about the power of collective social actors and their legitimizing role in policy-making. The article examines the responses of employers’ associations to institutional changes towards marketization in the context of the Greek economic crisis. The analysis exposes the hidden fractures between and within the peak-level employers’ associations and unveils a variation in their strategic responses towards institutional changes. To explain this variation, the article advances a power-based explanation and argues that the institutional changes altered the associations’ interest representation and power resources, which in turn, redefined their role and identities in the employment relations system

International and comparative human resource management

Book synopsis: Global Enterprise Management unites theory, academic knowledge, and practitioner experience to provide students, educators, and practitioners with the skills to succeed in the global managerial landscape

Power, institutional change and the transformation of Greek employment relations

Book synopsis: Greece’s economy and society have undergone important structural changes in recent years as a result of the financial crisis and consequent austerity policies that have been implemented. The Greek labour market and employment relations system have been subject to immense pressures, leading to fundamental changes both in the structure of institutions and in the behaviour of the main employment relations actors. The present volume constitutes a first attempt to appreciate the consequences of a decade of austerity politics on the Greek labour market. Offering a multidisciplinary perspective and building on original research by leading Greek scholars in the fields of labour economics, employment relations and the sociology of work, it will discuss the impact of the crisis and the resulting policies on the Greek labour market and employment relations. This volume will be of interest to policy makers, researchers and students interested in the past, present and future of Greek employment relations and the impact of austerity on Greece

Improving productivity: the case for employee voice and inclusive workplace practices

This policy brief examines the effectiveness of policies which aim to dismiss labour market institutions, in the name of competitiveness, across the European Union (EU). It also assesses the evidence which supports a positive relationship between deregulation and decentralization and productivity. The new publication also explores the negative consequences of deregulation, especially regarding the redistribution of power among the social actors, quality of work, and wage and income inequality, which cast doubt on the desirability of these policies as tools for the achievement of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth with ‘more and better jobs’ in the labour market. The policy implications, which suggest that if companies want to improve their productivity, then they should focus amongst other things on upgrading the human capital of their employees, reshaping job design towards more teamwork-oriented work organisation, and incentivise employees through group-based performance-related pay systems, is also examined within this new policy brief

Conceptualising the Lisbon Agenda: Europeanisation and Varieties of Capitalism

Conceptualising the Lisbon agenda: Europeanisation and varieties of capitalis

Conceptualising the Lisbon strategy: Europeanisation and varieties of capitalism

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The dark side of the labour market: institutional change, economic crisis and undeclared work in Greece

Book synopsis: Employment Relations in the 21st Century provides a full and integrated insight into labour law and industrial relations. It cannot be denied that in recent decades, for many, if not most people, work has become unstable and insecure, with serious risk and few benefits for workers. As this reality spills over into political and social life, it is crucial to interrogate the transformations affecting employment relations, shape research agendas, and influence the policies of national and international institutions. This implies to focus on transnational regulatory structures and new forms of social protection and representation for different typologies and forms of work as a way to avoid increasing inequalities across (and within) countries. This volume brings together thirty-nine scholars (both academics and experienced industrial relations actors) in the fields of employment relations and labour law in a forthright discussion of new approaches, theories, and methods aimed at ameliorating the world of work