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EUROPEAN TRADE UNIONS AND ‘PRECARIOUS’ WORKERS Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick and Richard Hyman

EUROPEAN TRADE UNIONS AND ‘PRECARIOUS’ WORKERS Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick and Richard Hyman. OVERVIEW. background: 10-country project varieties of ‘atypical’ and ‘precarious’ employment trade unions: challenges and responses concluding remarks.

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EUROPEAN TRADE UNIONS AND ‘PRECARIOUS’ WORKERS Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick and Richard Hyman

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  1. EUROPEAN TRADE UNIONS AND ‘PRECARIOUS’ WORKERSRebecca Gumbrell-McCormickand Richard Hyman

  2. OVERVIEW • background: 10-country project • varieties of ‘atypical’ and ‘precarious’ employment • trade unions: challenges and responses • concluding remarks

  3. 3-year grant from Danish Social Science Research Council 10 west European countries, 4 varieties of capitalism focus on trade union strategic responses to globalisation and other challenges major theme emerging from interviews: decline of ‘normal worker’ with ‘permanent’ full-time employment contract BACKGROUND: 10-COUNTRY PROJECT

  4. VARIETIES OF ‘ATYPICAL’ AND ‘PRECARIOUS’ EMPLOYMENT • part-time • precarious ?? • temporary • but what is ‘permanent’ ? • agency (TAW) • subcontracting / outsourcing • dependent self-employment • EU enlargement: avoids transitional restrictions • posted workers • enlargement and ECJ rulings • cross-national variation in regulation and deregulation • employer strategic choice

  5. TRADE UNIONS: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES • threat and/or opportunity ? • social dumping and divide-and-rule • almost universally: low unionisation rate • UK: permanent 28%, temporary 17%; • women F-T 33%, P-T 24% (men 27% / 13%) • why ? workers, unions, or both ? • key strategic choice: resist or include ? • recruitment, representation, mobilisation • but will ‘industrial model’ work ? • campaigns and alliances • political pressure for regulation • EU and global dimension

  6. CONCLUDING REMARKS • complex picture: variations across contract types and countries • parallels / interaction with age, gender, ethnicity • union responses: resist, control, include • insider / outsider conflicts ? • organising: will, capacity and resource allocation • tensions and constraints in ‘organising model’ • but some success stories !

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