Abstract
The second issue in 2014 of Economic and Industrial Democracy deals primarily with issues of long-term development in working time regimes, relations between unions and employers, but also issues of civil society, as well as challenges for an older workforce.
The first article in this issue, ‘Searching for equilibrium in labour relations before the EU accession: Developing grassroots trade unions in private companies in Poland’, by Piotr Ostrowski, University of Warsaw, Poland, discusses the emergence of new trade unions in Poland during 2004. Based on seven case studies, the author identifies three main reasons why unions were formed in Poland. First, a sense of the importance of justice among the workers, second, a hierarchical management style, which was found unacceptable to the workers, and third, the role of the workers’ leaders were all important aspects, according to the author. Ostrowski also emphasizes that the initial role of local trade union leaders was indeed important in the Polish cases.
The second article, titled ‘Bridge employment quality and its impact on retirement adjustment: A structural equation model with SHARE panel data’, by Gabriela Topa, Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED), Spain, Carlos-María Alcover, Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain, Juan A Moriano, Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED), Spain, and Marco Depolo, University of Bologna, Italy, investigates the bridge for older workers between part-time participation in the workforce and the final retirement from working life. Health indicators, job satisfaction and quality of life indicators are all found to be important predictors in this respect.
Heidi Nicolaisen, Fafo – Institute for Labour and Social Research, Norway, is the author of ‘The end of the normal working day? A study of change in Irish, Norwegian and Swedish banking’, wherein she investigates working time regulations within the banking sector in three countries. Nicolaisen points out that the majority of the working time regulations have been rather constant over the years. The practice has however changed towards more flexibility in terms of more uncompensated working time patterns. These patterns could be found in all countries studied.
The fourth article in this issue, and the second article from Norwegian authors, discusses industrial relations in mergers. The article ‘Industrial relations in merger integration’, by Eivind Falkum, Work Research Institute (AFI-WRI), Norway, Helene Loe Colman, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway, and Mona Bråten, Fafo, Norway, finds for example that local industrial relations, and their implementation, are indeed important in explaining the outcomes of mergers. Also, the local industrial relations tradition might be affected as well by a merger process. The authors suggest that local collaborative cultures might be important in this context, not only national industrial relations regimes.
The fifth article, ‘The bitter recent history of employee involvement at Royal Mail: An aggressive management agenda versus resilient workplace unionism’, by David Beale and Stephen Mustchin, University of Manchester, UK, discusses how an aggressive management relates to workplace unionism. In a longitudinal case study, the authors conclude that over a long period of time, the union handled the management rhetoric of involvement and aggressive management practices. The clash between aggressive management practices and resilient union strategies is characterized as a growing gap over time. However, the authors also recognize the important role of changing union practices at Royal Mail.
In the article ‘Trade unions, equal pay and the law in the UK’, Hazel Conley, Queen Mary University of London, UK, investigates the exception from the voluntarist tradition in the UK, the role of equal pay. The role of the courts and how the unions came to choose this strategy is discussed. The author also points to recent legislative changes that have been important in union strategies in terms of equal pay when collective bargaining was failing.
The seventh article, ‘Interaction patterns in a steering group: Power and action outcome’, is written by Kerstin Arnesson and Gunilla Albinsson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden. In it, the authors show that interaction patterns, new dimensions of power, also affect the outcome of steering groups, with implications for the allocation of resources among other things. The case study was conducted as part of an EU structural funds project, based in the southern part of Sweden. The authors conclude the importance of a common positive attitude in the steering committee. Also the role of power relations in situations of conflict was emphasized by the authors.
The next article in this issue, ‘Declining autonomy at work in the EU and its effect on civic behavior’, by Helena Lopes, Dinâmia’CET–ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, Sérgio Lagoa, Dinâmia’CET–ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, and Teresa Calapez, BRU-IUL, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, suggests that work autonomy is indeed important in terms of positive effects on volunteer work. However, the authors also conclude that autonomy in workplaces is on a downward trend in the EU, with a distinctly different development in the Scandinavian countries. This challenge is discussed in terms of its implications for civil society.
The final article, ‘International Framework Agreements and the democratic deficit of global labour governance’, by Christina Niforou, Birmingham Business School, UK, deals with the interaction between global labour standards and the global economic development. Of special interest, as argued by the author, is the developing governance deficit in the international global labour regime, with an increasing tension between MNCs and labour rights.