Giedo Jansen

Effects of Union Organization on Strike Incidence in EU Companies

The author reinvestigates the relationship between the organizational power of trade unions and strikes based on data from the European Company Survey 2009 (ECS-2009) and the Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State Intervention and Social Pacts (ICTWSS) database, which include more than 5,000 firms across all 27 European Union (EU) member states. He shows that the incidence of strikes is higher in companies for which workplace union membership is high, the number of workplace unions is high, and unions dominate establishment-level works councils. These factors interact to affect strike incidence. In addition, the company-level effects of union organization on strike incidence vary across countries. These country differences can partially be explained by differences in national trade union systems, such as decentralization and membership density.

Explaining the Breakdown of the Religion–Vote Relationship in The Netherlands, 1971–2006

This article examines the extent to which changes in the effect of religion on voting in The Netherlands since the 1970s can be explained by ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ approaches. The first includes religious integration and education. The latter category encompasses the restructuring of the party system and changes in party positions. Hypotheses are tested employing logistic and conditional logistic regression analyses of the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (1971–2006) supplemented by data from the Comparative Manifesto Project. Weakening religious integration largely explains the decline of political boundaries between non-religious voters and Catholics and Calvinists. In line with earlier research, the article finds that the creation of a single Christian Democratic Party (CDA) has reduced the religion–vote relationship. However, this merger effect largely disappears after taking into account party positions. Moreover, party positions influence the religion–vote association: the effect of religion on voting increases as religious parties emphasise traditional moral issues in their manifestos.

Undermining mobilization? The effect of job flexibility and job instability on the willingness to strike

This article addresses the question of whether, and to what extent job flexibility is detrimental to mobilization with regard to the willingness to take part in industrial action. The authors examine the influence of job flexibility (‘standard’ versus ‘non-standard’ work) and job instability (changes from one job to another) on employees’ willingness to strike. Based on Dutch survey data it is shown that only minor differences exist between ‘standard’ and ‘non-standard’ employees in their willingness to participate in a strike. While this study did not establish a major direct effect of job flexibility on strike participation, tests of interaction effects reveal that job flexibility moderates other mobilizing factors, such as union membership and job dissatisfaction. Job instability, on average, has no effect on strike participation.

Solo self-employment and membership of interest organizations in the Netherlands: Economic, social, and political determinants

Falling in-between the category of employers and employees, solo self-employed persons are poorly accommodated by the traditional system of corporatist interest representation through which the interests of employers are represented in employers’ associations, and the interests of employees are represented by trade unions. For business associations ‘micro businesses’ with no employees are difficult to reach and serve, as their interests are considered distinct from companies with employees. Trade unions in many countries even resisted the emergence of solo self-employment, fearing that these and other flexible arrangements would undermine not only secure working conditions but also union solidarity. This study examines differences in membership of interest organizations among solo self-employed workers. Various types of organizations are investigated, not only trade unions and business associations, but also new freelancer associations. Theoretically, three categories of determinants are examined to explain differences in membership: economic explanations, social explanations, and political explanations. Empirically, survey data are used from the Netherlands, a country with an increase in self-employment and a diverse supply of interest organizations. It is concluded that economic determinants explain both ‘generic’ membership (of any organization), as well as membership of specific organizations. Social and political determinants do not explain generic membership, but instead help to explain why some self-employed workers join particular types of organizations.

The Diffusion of Strikes: A Dyadic Analysis of Economic Sectors in the Netherlands, 1995–2007

This study examines the extent to which strikes diffuse across sectors and to what extent this diffusion of strikes can be explained by similarities and interdependencies between sectors. For this purpose, the authors examine a unique temporally disaggregated and dyadic database on strikes in Dutch sectors during the 1995–2007 period. Based on a series of discrete-time event-history models, their study clearly supports the relevance of intersectoral interdependencies to understanding when strikes in one sector are followed by strikes in other sectors. Sector-to-sector labor mobility has a significant and positive impact on the diffusion of strikes across sectors.