Industrial Relations

1. Industrial Relations Catherine Voynnet Fourboul

2. Objectives • Introduce Industrial Relations • Describe the original model of Industrial Relations in Europe • Give information about the international TU structure and show its complexity • case study : Mc Donald US MNC policy in Germany (Europe)

3. Industrial Relations : definition

4. Variety of the definitions of the Industrial Relations

5. One definition of Industrial Relations « The study of strategic choice and collective action of labour, business and governments, their mutual relationships of conflict, cooperation and power, affecting the content and regulation of employment relations and the use and distribution of physical and human resources » Joris Van Ruysseveldt et Jelle Visser, Industrial Relations in Europe, Sage 1996

6. Social Relations and Industrial Relations

7. Basic Theory : Dunlop 1958 • First systemic theorization of the industrial relations • Emphasis on the network of standards and of rules which are developed by the interaction of the 3 actor types in an environment of technology, market, labour and regulation.

8. Dunlop 1958 • ideology or the shared values • the I.R. system is a separate and distinct system from the society • invented and declined standards at the national, sectoral and company level. • environnemental contexts: technology, market, relative power and the actors statutes.

9. The employer • MNC, Company with simple or multiple establishments, SME, public companies,holding, • employers' association at the regional, branch or national level • Employer and Human Resources Management Role

10. Labour • Workers • Employees • Trade Unions • Works Councils

11. Government • Different possible location in the Government structure  : • executive, • legislative, • judiciaries

12. Collective Bargaining • after 1945: became the regulation tool of employment relations • is a joint decision-making process based on conflictual cooperation   • may concern minimum hourly wages, min. or max working hours • procedural rules concern additional bargaining, rules for interpreting the agreement

13. collective bargaining criteria • Bargaining coverage (proportion of all employees covered / collective agreement) • Bargaining scope ( number and nature of the issues covered). • Bargaining level: • central, national  • sectorial (branches: printing, metal, banking) • region, company

14. Industrial Relations in Europe

15. The European Union's deepening economic integration • the EU is tending more and more to compare itself in many areas with the world's two other largest economies – Japan and the USA. • the EU's commitment: to become `the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion´ . • Industrial relations systems and developments play an important part in determining economic, employment and social outcomes. • Aim: highlight some of the main areas of difference and similarity.

16. European social model • the manner of regulating employment and social issues • the `social partners´ • bipartite and tripartite consultation and dialogue • collective bargaining • employee participation

17. The `social partners´ • the term often used at EU level and in many Member States to denote trade unions and employers' organisations

18. Bipartite and tripartite consultation and dialogue • At EU level, `social dialogue´ • between European-level trade union and employers' organisations, • at the overalllevel (known as `intersectoral´ or `interprofessional´ ) or at the level of individual economic sectors. • it involves discussions, cooperation, consultation (negotiations and agreement are possible) • bipartite, involving only unions and employers' organisations, • or tripartite, often instigated and structured by the European Commission or in response to Commission proposals. • In many EU Member States, there are consultative and cooperative relationships between trade union and employers' organisations

19. Collective bargaining • Process of establishing pay, terms and conditions of employment • Through bipartite negotiation and agreements • Among trade unions and either employers' organisations or individual employers. • In the EU Member States, collective bargaining may occur at many levels – intersectoral, sectoral, regional, company, workplace etc • The importance of level and relationships among them differ between countries

20. Employee participation • `indirect´ or representational employee involvement, through elected or appointed representatives, at company level. • Through `works councils´ or similar bodies, with information and consultation rights • (stronger `co-determination´ rights on some topics in some countries, such as Germany). • employee representation on the board of directors or supervisory boards • `direct´ employee involvement (ways of informing individual employees) or employee financial participation in company results.

21. Information and consultation

22. Negotiation and codetermination

23. Trade unionism in Europe

24. Trade unionism Contrast at the EU and national level • at the EU level: high degree of unity & coherence • at national level: enormous diversity and sometimes division. • The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) brings together major confederations in EU countries (74 in total). • managerial and professional staffbelong to the European Confederation of Executives and Managerial Staff (CEC);

25. Trade unionism Contrast at the EU and national level (2) • organisations (generally outside the trade union `mainstream´ ) affiliated to the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI). • affiliated to ETUC are 11 `European industry federations´, grouping most major EU trade unions in their respective sectors. ETUC claims a total affiliated membership of 60 million.

26. Key differences between European I.R. systems • Trade Unions density and structure • Trade Unions strategies • Managerial styles in I.R. • collective bargaining levels • industrial conflict and strikes • industrial democracy and employee participation

27. Degree of unionization : density

28. Trade Unions structure • Trade Unions • craft, • industrial, • general or conglomerate • historic origin and variation explained by the state of technology • no matching system

29. Trade Unions Structure in Europe

30. Comparison with USA and JAPAN • USA: structure of trade unionism is relatively similar to that in Ireland and the UK. (single main national centre, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), made up of a relatively large number of industrial and occupational unions. • Japan: 2 confederations of significant size. Rengo organises over 60% of unionised workers. Rengo's membership is based on enterprise-level unions, organised in sectoral federations (similarities with France). The second confederation, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), represents 7% of all unionised workers.

31. Basic trade union organisation, EU, Japan and USA

32. Trendtowardsmerger of trade union organisations. • The number of European industry federations affiliated to ETUC has been reduced by mergers recently (eg in the food and agricultural sectors, and in services), while the number of member unions of most national union confederations has declined • A particularly notable recent merger was the creation in Germany in 2001 of the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di), which is thought to be the largest union in the democratic world, with nearly 3 million members.

33. Divergence of Trade Unions strategies source Bamber & Lansbury 1987 • maximalist  respons : CGT • interventionnist approach : Italians Trade Unions, • defensive-particularistic strategy : UK • corporatist strategy : Swedish Trade Unions

34. Pursuit of flexibility in order to respond to fast changing markets centrally co-ordinated decentralization prevails (parallel with managerial responsibilities MNC’s strong influence Sweden : central agreement - important Germany : works councils UK : no sectorial bargaining, plant bargaining formalized Decentralization of collective bargaining

35. Strike patterns

37. Threats posed to unions by MNCs  Kennedy, T 1978, European Labour Relations , London Associated Business Programmes

38. Centralization : HQ / subsidiary source : Hamill J., 1984, IRJ

39. International TU's structure

40. Reasons for the lack of success of international trade unions • Good wages and working conditions provided by MNCs • strong resistance from multinational managements to transnational bargaining and consultation • ideological, structural and political differences between national Unions • differing national laws et regulations

41. International trade unions structure • ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Union • WFTU :World Federation of Trade Unions • ITS: International Trade Secretariat • ETUC : European Trade Union Confederation • UNICE : Union of Industries of the European Community

42. ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Union • anti communism • developed with companies becoming multinational • international cooperation between national Trade Unions : a network • at different levels : world, regional, national, professional • through International Trade Secretariat

43. ITS: International Trade Secretariat • They bring together individual national unions in particular sectors of industry. • The ITSs are autonomous and self governing organizations but follow the ICFTU on broad policy issues. • the larger : International Metalworkers’ Federation IMF • A general conference of ITSs once a year

44. Some ITS

45. ICFTU: A complex membership system • member federations opposed at the national level (FO/CFDT) • no membership rules between federations, confederation, ITS and ICFTU • the most integrating and representative organization: • 124 millions of members represented by 213 members in >143 pays et territories

46. ICFTU relations with other organiszations • ICFTU and ETUC : same address in Brussels but competition. • continuous dialogue between ITS and ICFTU • ITS  : operational approach, ICFTU  : political approach • ICFTU and UNO  : recommendation IMF, UNESCO, Commission United-Nations, International Labor Organization

47. ETUC : European Trade Union Confederation • creation : 1973 linked to Europe • play a part at the European institutions • claim difficulty at the European level • no authority on its trade unions members • meeting and exchange location between national trade unions • 60 million affiliated members

48. ETUC : European Trade Union Confederation • Disparity in the representation • favorable to the British TUC et DGB • unfavorable to the French trade unions • tries to find a consensus • membership condition : • not belonging to WFTU • take into account the opinion of the oldest • independent from the ICFTU

49. An example : French CFDT • In 74 : CFDT become member of the ETUC • french FO was opposed • compromise with German DGB. • French CGT is refused still march 99 • work with other European trade unions • Jacques Delors et Jacques Moreau CFDT. • En 89 become member of the ICFTU the at the steering committee

50. Employers' organisations