Regulation
— Political
and Economic Context
— Purpose:
to facilitate social and economic production
— Stability;
expectations, rules, social control
— Market
regulation (de-regulation) versus Interventionism
Regulatory Issues
— Values
— Isomorphic
pressures – sanctions
— Mimetic
– voluntary; best way or best practice
— Power
struggles i.e. De-regulation in the UK 1980s/1990s
¡ Management
consultants (PWC – flexibility)
¡ Politically
right wing think tanks (CPS in the UK; Heritage Foundation in the US)
¡ Union
busting consultancies
¡ Thatcherism
— Increasing
importance of CSR
— Beyond
the nation state
— 1990s:
New politics of labour management
— Reaction
against unfettered power of MNCs
— New
actors
¡ Increasing
concern with labour standards
¡ Social
conditions of employment
¡ Minimum
standards
— Formal
and informal codes of conduct
¡ Remains
uneven and weak
New Projects of Regulation
— Standardisation
of labour markets
— Health
and safety
— Labour
standards and codes of practice (ILO, OECD, UN, EU)
¡ Both
market oriented and left of centre
— Ethical
¡ OXFAM,
WoW, Fairtrade etc.
¡ Shape
political framework, educate consumers
Trade Unions
— ‘a
continuous association of wage earners
for the purpose of maintaining and improving the conditions of their working
lives’
— Structure
— Membership
— Orientation
— Objectives
TU structures
— Industrial
(Specific Industries – UNISON)
— General
(Across industries – GMB)
— Specific Occupation
(UCU)
— Enterprise
(Japan, South Korea)
— Confederations:
single (i.e. UK, USA, Nigeria) or multiple
¡ Based
on political i.e. Belgium, Cyprus
¡ Religion i.e. Italy
¡ Occupation
i.e. Nordic countries
— Supra-national
(ETUC, ITUC-Africa)
Membership
— Sweden
70.8%
— Finland
70.3%
— Denmark
69.1%
— UK
24.9%
— Hungary
16.9%
Decline in
membership in developing countries
Growth in
other areas, for example, South Africa - COSATU
— China
92%
— US 11.6%
— France 7.8%
— Singapore
around 17%
— Hong
Kong 22.48%
— Venezuela
20% (of formal workforce – 47% of workers in the informal economy)
— Decline
in developed capitalist economies
— South
Africa COSATU – growth in membership in 1990s
— Explanations
for decline
— Business
Cycle
— Unemployment
— Legal
reforms and state policy i.e. Privatization
— Employer
policies
— Rise
of HRM
TU Orientations
— Europe
¡ German,
UK: Instrumental (pay, conditions, etc.)
¡ France
, Italy: Political, religious
— USA
¡ Origins
in socialism and class consciousness
¡ Late
19th century emphasis on instrumental issues
— Japan
¡ Collusion,
company loyalty
Employers Associations
— Supra-national
¡ EU
‘Business Europe’ – negotiates with ETUC
¡ 26
sectoral committees
— National
level
¡ Single
or multiple
Employee Participation
— Works
councils in Europe discuss issues such as redundancy, profit sharing, changes
to conditions, financial plans, working practices, personnel policies, health
and safety
— USA:
non-unionised focus on self-managing teams, QCs, dissemination of corporate culture. Partnership agreements in unionised companies
— Japan:
QCs, team-work, problem-solving groups etc.
Employment Relations and MNCs
— Adaption
to host country circumstances or assertion of home country custom and practice?
— Depends
on vested interests and power i.e.
¡ US
multinationals in UK less likely to recognize trade unions (within limited TU
rights to recognition) but more likely to localize practice in Germany and
Sweden
¡ US
MNCs more likely to set up subsidiaries in less regulated regions
— MNCs
have the power to disrupt national agreements through relocation
Examples of International ER Issues
— Support
for migrant workers (ITUC)
— Support
for low paid garment workers – linked to 2012 London Olympics (ITUC)
— Support
for Colombian trade unionists (ITUC)
— Future
of collective bargaining in Europe (ETUC)
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