European Trade Unions in the 21st Century

"This comprehensive and accessible volume provides a rich range of case studies of trade unions in Europe today, ranging across many 'varieties of capitalism' and identifying sources of trade union agency even at a time of huge political and structural challenges."

• Seán Ó Riain, Professor, National University of Ireland Maynooth

"This volume makes a significant contribution to an important topic." - Nils C. Bandelow, Professor, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany

"A welcome and highly relevant contribution to the St Antony's series." -Kalypso Nicolaïdis, Professor, European University Institute, Italy Trade unions in Europe face a range of cross-cutting challenges. This includes the near-universal contraction in union membership; the related decline of traditionally highly unionised blue-collar industries; and the rise of automation, microprocessing, and digitalisation, which can make it cheaper for employers toinvest in machines than to pay humans to work. The breakdown of the standard contract of employment and increasing rates of precarious work have further transformed the world of work. Taken together, this makes any collectivist vision of society, and the notion of solidarity upon which trade unionism is built, difficult to sustain.

All this raises tough questions for trade unionists, policy-makers, and researchers alike regarding the future of trade unions, the oldest and largest civil society movement in Europe. The contributions in this volume explore the prospects for union revival across a range of cases, including by focusing on the pursuit of legal remedies and on the opportunities associated with the network society to defend the interests of workers.

This interdisciplinary volume includes contributions that consider the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the EU level by researchers coming from a range of disciplines and backgrounds. The volume should especially appeal to researchers and practitioners working in the fields of political science, sociology, law, and business studies.

Barry Colfer is Research Fellow in Politics at St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, UK and Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

Auteur

Barry Colfer is Research Fellow in Politics at St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, UK and Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

Résumé

Trade unions in Europe face a range of cross-cutting challenges. This includes the near-universal contraction in union membership; the related decline of traditionally highly unionised blue-collar industries; and the rise of automation, microprocessing, and digitalisation, which can make it cheaper for employers to invest in machines than to pay humans to work. The breakdown of the standard contract of employment and increasing rates of precarious work have further transformed the world of work. Taken together, this makes any collectivist vision of society, and the notion of solidarity upon which trade unionism is built, difficult to sustain. All this raises tough questions for trade unionists, policy-makers, and researchers alike regarding the future of trade unions, the oldest and largest civil society movement in Europe. The contributions in this volume explore the prospects for union revival across a range of cases, including by focusing on the pursuit of legal remedies and on the opportunities associated with the network society to defend the interests of workers.

This interdisciplinary volume includes contributions that consider the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the EU level by researchers coming from a range of disciplines and backgrounds. The volume should especially appeal to researchers and practitioners working in the fields of political science, sociology, law, and business studies.

Contenu
Introduction Barry Colfer, University of Oxford

Chapter 1 : The renewal of trade unionism in France

Dominique Andolfatto, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté ; Dominique Labbé, Université de Grenoble-Alpes

Chapter 2: Macron's reform and trade union power in the field of health at work

Sylvie Contrepois. Centre de Recherches sociologiques et politiques de Paris (CNRS) Chapter 3: A Primordial Attachment to the Nation? French and Irish Trade Unions in Past EU Referendum Debates

Darragh Golden, University College Dublin; Roland Erne, University College Dublin, Elodie Bethoux, École normale supérieure, Paris

Chapter 4: The European Court of Justice's role in enhancing trade unions' power in Europe

Lorenzo Cecchetti, University of Bologna

Chapter 5: The « Gilets Jaunes » movement - Issues of leadership and purpose in fluid organizing

Yoann Bazin, EM Normandie

Barry Colfer, University of Oxford

Chapter 6: New forms of union organising in the Czech Republic

Martin Stefko, Charles University, Prague

Chapter 7: European Trade Unions in the Age of Migration: the state of the art

Rolle Alho, University of Helsinki

Chapter 8: Trade Union Participation and New Forms of Collective Action: Pension Reform in Spain as a case study

Eusebi Colàs-Neila, Univ. Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

Chapter 9: Confronting a moral abyss: Unions and the role of law in the France Telecom case

Julia López López, Univ. Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

Chapter 10: Political participation and local, national and international assemblies

Dario Cositore, Univ. Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

Chapter 11: The right to collective bargaining of economically dependent workers in the digital age

Pieter Pecinovsky, KU Leuven

Chapter 12: Normalcy of Militancy: Trade Union Activism and Power for Collection Change 1971-1974

Jordan Brown, University of St Andrews

Conclusion: Barry Colfer & Richard Hyman (LSE)

Afterword: Esther Lynch, Deputy Secretary General of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)