Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

This introductory article to the special issue proposes a more encompassing view of transnational collective action in Europe, which goes beyond the classical, country-by-country oriented, comparative industrial relations approach. Instead, we propose an extension of focus to capture also other actors, action repertoires, places and levels. Specifically, we introduce and integrate the contributions to this issue, by extending our analytical perspectives from traditional forms of employment to precarious and posted workers; from national and European trade union structures to informal groups of workers and social movements; from unions’ traditional strongholds in manufacturing multinationals to workers in the meat industry, health care or occupied factories; from national unions seen as coherent units to a perspective that emphasizes their internal contradictions; from the analysis of discrete actions to historically more encompassing perspectives; and from utilitarian views on collective action to a larger perspective that assesses the analysis of the importance of collective struggles for the making and unmaking of a new European working class.

Since 2010 European economic governance has not only had an impact on the framework for collective bargaining but also, subsequently, on the power and legitimacy of the unions. European unions, under attack, are seeking to react through a relaunch of their earlier European initiatives in favour of a European coordination of national collective bargaining. They are also formulating a new demand for a European minimum wage. This article argues, however, that in order to achieve these euro-demands an additional step is needed: transnational social mobilization. On the basis of the 14N case (14 November 2012 general strike), it analyses how transnational social mobilization has been increasing in pace and intensity since the onset of the crisis. The article concludes on the crucial link between transnational mobilization and wage coordination. Both constitute the first steps in the process of Euro-unionism representative functions on the road towards a genuine European collective bargaining system, refounded above the institutionalized social dialogue process.

In the ongoing crisis in, and of, the eurozone, the fates of trade unions in different countries are more than ever linked to each other, while the respective national areas of conflict are drifting apart. Most notably, the damage caused by the widely hailed German labour market ‘reforms’ before the crisis, which have resulted in a substantial decline in the impact of trade union policy in Germany, has in the course of the eurozone crisis become a threat for unions at the ‘periphery’. This article argues that, while unions in individual countries will necessarily continue to fight the dominant EU crisis management policies primarily at national level, their prospects of success will increasingly depend on their transnational cooperation. The argument is developed through a comparison between the problems faced by trade unions in Greece and Spain on the one hand, and in Germany on the other.

The 2011 ETUC Congress in Athens adopted a proposal by two Spanish trade union confederations that called on the ETUC to examine the possibility of undertaking coordinated European strikes, including a European general strike. These strikes never materialized and the ETUC’s European Day of Action on 14 November 2012 was less a powerful expression of pan-European solidarity than a reflection of precisely the social division that it was mounted to combat. This article explores some major determinants of solidarity. It then identifies major constraints on building international solidarity. This is followed by a brief outline of the preconditions of collective action. The transnational campaign of dockworkers against the so-called Port Packages in 2003 and 2006 and the mobilization against the Bolkestein Directive in 2006 are chosen as examples of successful transnational action that illustrate both the challenges met by unions and the factors that favour success. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the more difficult conditions and prospects for transnational action against the current European austerity measures.

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007 simultaneously extended the freedom of movement to workers from new Member States and sharpened existing economic inequalities within the EU. Drawing on the data of three projects, this article examines the conditions under which, and in what ways, real (as opposed to rhetorical) solidarity is forged by trade unions within and across boundaries in relation to migrant workers. Sectoral dynamics provide important insights into cross-country commonalities. In particular, the data demonstrate the importance of the strategies of individual unions and the agency of individuals within them in explaining ‘varieties of solidarity’ and their varying success. The article concludes by arguing that the growth of right-wing xenophobic parties and the failure of social democratic parties to offer an alternative narrative mean that trade union strategies are being formulated and executed in an increasingly hostile political climate.

This article traces the course of a transnational action in the German meat industry involving an alliance of transnational posted workers, a local civil society organization and the trade union NGG (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten). As labour’s channels of influence have broken down and posting of low-wage workers has intensified, trade unionists have responded by building coalitions with societal actors. The case illustrates a complementary approach to studying how resistance unfolds in transnational workplaces under conditions in which traditional avenues for protest are blocked or marginalized.

This article describes the development of cross-national labour movement networks between Italy and Greece and explains why some of their efforts produced concrete results, while others did not. A typology of transnational movement networking is presented and then specific instances are examined: (a) the Italian and Greek trade union confederations’ efforts to coordinate their actions for the European Days of Action; (b) the 2005/2006 attempt to import to Greece the experience and practices of precarious workers in Italy; and (c) the cross-national campaign by workers occupying factories to bring together their experiences and to construct a common discourse on alternative modes of production. The article, based on rich empirical data gathered during six years, concludes with three main points: (i) Collaborative networks are more difficult to construct, but may prove stronger and richer than any other networking type. (ii) Cross-national structural similarities are not considered sufficient for labour collaboration: each national discursive context needs to be taken into account. (iii) Transnational action stands more chance of success if its immediate goals are tangible and rooted in real-life experiences.

On 14 November 2012, southern Europe witnessed its first transnational one-day general strike wave. This article compares the 14 November experience with the previous western European mobilizations of 1968 and 1995, assessing (i) their transnational dimension, (ii) their links to the European economic integration process, (iii) their historical specificities and action repertoires, and finally (iv) their impact on social class formation and labour movement organization. In conclusion, this historical comparison contends that the 14 November movement not only indicates a certain transnationalization of the social class struggle, but also a substantial recomposition of western Europe’s working classes with potentially far-reaching implications for the traditional labour movement.