Béla Galgóczi

The changing role of trade unions in the sustainable development agenda

Managing the large-scale restructuring away from the previously established resource-wasting industrial mass production and consumption model towards a socially balanced and resource-efficient economy requires an adaptation of interest reconciliation mechanisms, including also new strategic approaches by the main actors. As we are speaking of a transition towards a new model, the role of actors is essential, even if, in most of the climate-change literature, there is scant consideration or analysis of the actors, their interests, and their ideas. The basic question is not simply how ‘civil issues’ can be integrated into the established forms of social dialogue and how trade unions will need to adapt their agenda accordingly, but, more fundamentally, whether these structures are capable of giving a boost to a true paradigm shift in overcoming the unsustainable production model. In other words, are trade unions and social dialogue structures indeed ‘locked into’ this production model, and, if not, what is the way forward? We will examine in this article how dialogue structures and key actors develop new strategies and live up to new challenges in the context of sustainable development. After framing the main context of the climate-change debate in the first section, we present a critical view of the ‘capital–labour’ deal as it was established in the post-WW2 period. In the third section we put forward three main arguments as to how and why trade unions and social dialogue structures are actually in a position to take up broader issues, expand the dialogue, and move away from the resource-wasting consumer-industrial production model. We also show how the trade union movement – at its different organisational levels – takes up this narrative. This is a historical process entailing pitfalls and contradictions, in so far as the broader societal role of trade unions has no obvious roots in their origins and early history. Becoming involved in the great societal challenges of mankind, as in the exemplary case of the paradigm shift in production and consumer patterns of industrial society, may be liable to occasional tensions with their original membership-focused approach. The strategic considerations, on the other hand, of how the transformation to a low-carbon economy should be managed and how its unavoidable costs should be distributed (among employers, employees, the state and consumers) are issues more in line with their traditional role. Contradictions and differing visions necessarily appear also between different organisational levels of the trade union movement.

Intra-EU Labour Migration after Eastern Enlargement and During the Crisis

This paper by senior ETUI researchers Bela Galgoczi and Janine Leschke looks at recent trends in labour migration from new EU member states to the EU15, with a focus on the impact of the crisis on intra-EU labour mobility. Based on data from the European Labour Force Survey, the findings of the study contradict expectations, previously expressed in the literature, according to which deep recessions will result in a slowdown in migration flows. The overall stock of EU10 population in EU15 countries has continued to grow during the crisis, except in Ireland and Spain, two countries that were particularly hard hit by the recession and which, prior to the crisis, exhibited large EU10 migrant inflows.When looking at the direct impact of the crisis, the authors find that, in terms of both employment and unemployment rates, EU10 migrants in the majority of EU15 countries were harder hit by the crisis than were nationals and thus appear to have served, at least partially, as labour market buffers. Paradoxically, however, due to a stronger influx of EU10 migrants to EU15 labour markets during the crisis, their absolute numbers in employment grew, while the employment of nationals generally decreased.Other important issues addressed in the paper include the use of posted workers and (bogus) self-employment to circumvent restrictions on labour mobility imposed by transitional measures, and the mismatch between the skills of EU10 migrants and the jobs they take in the EU15.The findings show strong evidence of over-qualification and the corresponding underutilisation of EU10 migrant workers’ skills. This finding, insofar as it contradicts the expectation that greater labour mobility will automatically contribute to a better functioning of European labour markets, poses a major policy challenge.

Intra-EU Labor Mobility: A Key Pillar of the EU Architecture Subject to Challenge

Intra-EU labor mobility is often characterized as a major contributor to better functioning European labor markets. Does the evidence of recent cross-border labor mobility support this positive expectation? Does the EU live up to its potential of being a role model by showing that managing free movement of labor in turbulent times is possible? We will show that, in spite of its potential, the challenges facing free movement of labour are tremendous. We address four important aspects: enlargement; transitional measures and their consequences; the crisis and its effects; and the potential offered by free movement for better labor allocation.

Why Central and Eastern Europe Needs a Pay Rise

This working paper looks at wage developments in central and eastern Europe (CEE) over the past twenty years and shows that wages are not only low compared to western Europe but, as demonstrated by a number of variables, also tend to be lower than what the economic potential of these countries would allow for. It demonstrates that from the mid-90s until the crisis in 2008, wages in these countries caught up with wages in western Europe, but then came to a halt or even slowed down substantially.

Restructuring Work and Employment in Europe. Managing Change in an Era of Globalisation

complement and support the existing regulatory process and directly benefit workers and poor communities around the world? The author notes that there is some convergence underway in codes and monitoring regimes, though initiatives differ on issues such as the roles of workers and advocacy groups, transparency of results and remediation strategies. He concedes that there is no guarantee that voluntary initiatives naturally converge on more democratic and comprehensive systems of regulation. But coordinated efforts and strategic policies could move non-governmental regulation towards more credible, transparent and accountable systems. Efforts to create complementarity and interoperability among the different initiatives could help overcome the challenges of access, scope and credibility. The author concludes by stating that several of these initiatives are already working together in this direction.