International Framework Agreements and the Future of Collective Bargaining in Multinational Companies

This article emphasizes the contribution of International Framework Agreements (IFAs) to collective bargaining within multinational companies (MNC). For this purpose, we used various data, including content analysis of 42 IFAs and interviews with representatives of the five Global Union Federations (GUFs) involved in the negotiation of these IFAs, in order to assess the content and efficiency of these agreements. Our analysis reveals that IFAs usually include a commitment by the signatory MNC to conform to ILO’s core conventions in all its operations, and to inform its business partners of their obligations under the agreement. Regular meetings are held with unions’ representatives for the monitoring of thes e agreements to ensure their respect by the signatory multinational companies and their business partners. According to GUFs’ representatives, the IFAs have been effective in protecting basic trade union rights covered by ILO conventions 87 and 98. In the last part, we emphasize the IFAs’ contribution to collective bargaining within MNCs and discuss the prospects for future development of international collective bargaining, particularly in light of Levinson’s seminal work (1972) on this subject

L’action syndicale internationale et transnationale dans le contexte de la mondialisation

Cet article examine les transformations du syndicalisme aux plans international et transnational au cours des trois dernières décennies durant lesquelles s’est consolidée l’influence des entreprises multinationales sur l’économie mondiale. Cette période est également caractérisée par l’émergence de nouvelles formes d’action syndicale en vue d’assurer la protection des droits des travailleurs, tant aux plans international et transnational qu’au sein des entreprises multinationales. Notre analyse porte plus particulièrement sur l’évolution durant cette période des structures et des actions des organisations syndicales internationales, et de la coopération syndicale transnationale dans le cadre de l’Union européenne et de l’ALÉNA.This article examines the transformations of unionism at the international and transnational levels over the last three decades. In the context of the growing influence of multinational firms on the world economy, this period is characterized by the emergence of new forms of international and transnational union action in order to ensure the protection of worker rights within these firms. Our analysis focuses on the evolution of structures and strategies of international union organizations, and on transnational union cooperation in the contexts of European Union and NAFTA

Présence syndicale et autonomie des équipes d’opérateurs cuvistes dans l’industrie de l’aluminium

Cet article présente les résultats d’une recherche sur l’autonomie d’équipes de travail d’opérateurs cuvistes de deux alumineries utilisant une technologie similaire, dont l’une est syndiquée et l’autre non syndiquée. L’hypothèse voulant que la présence syndicale favorise l’autonomie des équipes de travail est infirmée par les résultats de notre étude. La discussion des résultats met en évidence les facteurs qui ont contribué à une plus grande autonomie des équipes de travail dans l’établissement non syndiqué et conduit à une réévaluation de l’effet de la présence syndicale sur le travail en équipe.The introduction of teamwork constitutes a radical change for managers and workers because it involves flexible forms of work organization which foster the individual and collective empowerment of team members. Two models of work organization can be distinguished regarding the degree of autonomy that characterizes work teams. The lean production model gives a dominating role to managers in decision-making related to team-based work organization, whereas the socio-technical model lends much more importance to decisions made by team members in managing their work.Several studies confirm that labour-management cooperation in managing organizational changes contributes to employee empowerment and involvement in work teams (Cohen-Rosenthal and Burton, 1993; Cooke, 1994; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Kochan and Verma, 1991; Havlovic, Kroll and Bushe, 1993). Other studies show that the presence of a strong and independent union involved in work organization is a determining factor in the autonomy of work teams and the success of organizational changes (Cohen-Rosenthal, 1997; Frost, 2000; Lapointe, 2001; Lévesque et al., 1996; Wright and Edwards, 1998). These studies thus support the hypothesis that trade union presence has a positive effect on work team autonomy. This hypothesis is backed up by numerous studies conducted at aluminum plants in Quebec which underline the beneficial effect of trade union presence on employee job security and teamwork (Bélanger, 2001; Bélanger, Dumas and Monette, 1995; Edwards, Bélanger and Wright, 2002; Lapointe, 1991; Socher, 2000).However, this hypothesis runs counter to other research studies which establish that trade union presence is negatively associated with employee autonomy in work organization (Cappelli and Sherer, 1989; Kirmeyer and Shirom, 1986). According to these studies, the negative impact of trade unions on employee autonomy could be explained by the rigidity of collective agreements in terms of work organization due, in particular, to the great number of job categories and task descriptions which restrict employee multiskilling and operational flexibility.Our research aimed first to confirm the hypothesis of a positive effect of trade union presence on work team autonomy, and if such proved not to be confirmed, to highlight other factors likely to contribute to this autonomy. Thus, we conducted a study in two aluminum plants that used similar technology, one of which is unionized and the other is non-unionized. In each plant, we first conducted two sessions of direct observation in the pot-rooms as well as semi-structured interviews with HR managers and members of the union executive in the unionized plant, and non-structured interviews with pot operators during the direct-observation sessions. Second, a questionnaire was distributed to members of two teams of pot operators in each of the plants in order to assess the degree of autonomy of work teams in each plant.The hypothesis that trade union presence has a positive effect on the autonomy of work teams is not confirmed by our research results. Indeed, the team members in the non-unionized establishment express a higher degree of autonomy than those in the unionized plant, for most indicators of our operating model, and the differences for each of the six dimensions of this model are significant at the 10% (2 dimensions), 5% (2 dimensions), or 1% (2 dimensions) levels. Moreover, these assessments are in line with the information obtained during our interviews with managers and pot operators, and confirm our direct observations of how work teams operate in the two plants, highlighting the greater flexibility and autonomy of work teams in the non-unionized plant.These results thus lead us to consider other factors likely to explain the differences observed regarding the degree of autonomy of work teams. The first factor refers to the model of team-based work organization, which relates to the lean production model in the unionized aluminum plant, whereas in the non-unionized plant, it is closer to the socio-technical model of work organization. In addition, the management style applied in the non-unionized plant is much more participatory than that in the unionized plant where, since the start-up of operations, management has exerted more rigid control over work organization.The striking difference in the climate of labour relations in the two establishments adds to the complexity of an analysis of the link between union presence and work team autonomy. At the time of our survey, the climate of labour relations was considered to be highly positive by employer representatives and members of work teams in the non-unionized plant whereas it was considered to be conflictual by employer and trade union representatives and pot operators in the unionized plant. Due to the conflictual climate of labour relations which has existed in this plant since its unionization, labour-management cooperation has not been able to develop and thus employee involvement in teamwork has not been fostered.Our research results therefore show that the hypothesis of a positive relation between trade union presence and work team autonomy should be qualified. These results and other studies consulted show that the main explanatory factors of work team autonomy are forms of individual and collective participation integrated into the managerial approach to teamwork and the climate of labour relations. These two factors play a determining role both in the initial implementation of teamwork and at different stages of its development (Bourque, 1999; Cohen-Rosenthal, 1997; Harrisson, Laplante and St-Cyr, 2001). Union presence proves to be a moderating variable rather than a causal variable of work team autonomy because it can positively or negatively influence employee involvement in work teams according to whether it is associated with a cooperative or conflictual work climate.Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación sobre la autonomía de los equipos de trabajo de operadores de cubetas de dos fábricas de aluminio con tecnologías semejantes ; una de ellas sindicalizada y la otra no sindicalizada. La hipótesis que la presencia sindical favorece la autonomía de los equipos de trabajo es invalidada por los resultados de nuestro estudio. La discusión de los resultados pone en evidencia los factores que han contribuido a una mayor autonomía de los equipos de trabajo en el establecimiento no sindicalizado y conduce a una re-evaluación del efecto de la presencia sindical sobre el trabajo en equipo

L'influence des institutions sur l'action syndicale durant la crise de la construction navale en France et au Québec

Cet article traite de l'influence des systèmes nationaux de relations industrielles sur l'action syndicale dans la construction navale en France et au Québec durant la période de crise des années 1970 et 1980. Nos analyses révèlent que malgré la convergence des revendications présentées par les syndicats en France et au Québec pour atténuer les effets de cette crise sur l'emploi, les actions mises en oeuvre par les organisations syndicales dominantes dans les chantiers navals français et québécois sont de nature et de portée substantiellement différente.This article deals with the influence of national industrial relations institutions on union action in the French and Quebec shipbuilding industries during the 1970s and 1980s. Our central thesis is that, to a large extent, legal and institutional structures determined the scope and nature of labour responses to managerial policies and practices during the crisis faced by the shipbuilding industries in the two countries beginning in 1975.The analysis reveals that the decline in both production and jobs during that period elicited similar demands by unions for employment protection in both French and Quebec shipyards. However, union approaches to the ensuing conflicts over employment protection were very different in the two countries. The institutional framework of industrial relations, specifically the rules relating to the status and role of labour unions, and the legal framework for collective bargaining and dispute resolution, had a decisive influence on the range of options avallable to unions in the two countries.The conceptual framework used to compare the determinants of union action in the two countries is based mainly on the theoretical contributions to the comparative analysis of industrial relations made by Dunlop (1958) and Poole (1986). The empirical evidence shows that, while the positions and proposals adopted by unions at the local and national levels were quite similar in the two countries, the points at issue and the conduct of conflicts in the shipyards were very different. In French shipyards, management attempts to reduce the labour force in a situation of declining production were generally opposed by all the unions present at the local level and very often culminated in work stoppages intended to modify or diminish the effects of job suppression. In contrast, in Quebec shipyards, the right of management to lay off workers and to reduce the labour force is usually recognized in the labour contract and conflicts thus related to monetary issues and job flexibility rather than to reduction of the work force.The institutional framework of union action appears to be an important determinant of the level, focus and issues of labour conflict in French and Quebec shipyards. Our main conclusion is that union action is largely determined by the rules defining the identity and rights of the actors directly involved in the industrial relations System at different levels of interaction. Such action is also strongly influenced by the rules governing the interchange between employers and unions in the course of collective bargaining and industrial conflict. These rules are, according to Dunlop and Poole, the major factor in the continuing diversity among industrial relations Systems

Arnaud Mias, John T. Dunlop. « Industrial Relations Systems » : les règles au cœur des relations de travail

L’essai d’Arnaud Mias s’appuie sur une lecture minutieuse et bien informée de l’ouvrage classique de John T. Dunlop, Industrial Relations Systems, dont la première édition en langue anglaise date de 1958. La parution de cet ouvrage fondateur de la discipline des « relations industrielles » aux États-Unis et dans les principaux pays anglo-saxons n’a pas suscité beaucoup d’intérêt en France, contrairement à un autre ouvrage sorti en 1960 auquel Dunlop a participé, et qui est associé à la thèse ..