Holm-Detlev Köhler

Industrial relations in European hypermarkets: Home and host country influences

In this article we examine the industrial relations practices of three large European food retailers when they transfer the hypermarket format to other countries. We ask, first, how industrial relations in hypermarkets differ from those in other food retailing outlets. Second, we examine how far the approach characteristic of each company’s country-of-origin (Germany, France and the UK) shapes the practices adopted elsewhere. Third, we ask how they respond to the specific industrial relations systems of each host country (Turkey, Poland, Ireland and Spain).

Organizing heterogeneity: challenges for the Spanish trade unions

Spanish trade unions are going through a process of transformation with uncertain outcomes. The Spanish trade union movement is having to face up to problems and challenges such as globalization, offshoring, and technological and organizational restructuring, while operating in a somewhat different situation to many of its European counterparts. The particular development of the Spanish industrial relations system since Spain’s transition to democracy, the structure of the Spanish economy and the 15-year (1994—2008) boom in start-ups and employment all shape the background to current union strategies. Following a short outline of the current situation the article focuses on the problems of recruiting and integrating new membership groups from a wide range of previously untapped sectors, and new trends in collective bargaining related to these new sectors. Les syndicats espagnols connaissent actuellement un processus de transformation dont les résultats sont encore incertains. Le mouvement syndical espagnol est confronté à des problèmes et à des défis tels que la mondialisation, l’offshoring et les restructurations technologiques et organisationnelles, tout en opérant dans un contexte assez différent de celui de bon nombre de ses homologues européens. L’évolution particulière du système espagnol de relations professionnelles depuis la transition du pays vers la démocratie, la structure de l’économie espagnole et les quinze années (1994-2008) de boom des startups et de l’emploi sont autant de facteurs qui ont déterminé le contexte des stratégies syndicales actuelles. Après un bref aperçu de la situation présente, l’article se focalise sur les problèmes du recrutement et de l’intégration de nouveaux groupes d’affiliés, issus d’un large éventail de secteurs précédemment inexploités, et sur les tendances nouvelles de la négociation collective dans ces nouveaux secteurs. Die spanischen Gewerkschaften befinden sich derzeit in einem Transformationsprozess, dessen Ausgang ungewiss ist. Die spanische Gewerkschaftsbewegung muss Probleme und Herausforderungen wie Globalisierung, Auslagerungen und technologische und organisatorische Umstrukturierungen bewältigen, und zwar in einem Kontext, der sich von dem vieler anderer Gewerkschaftsbewegungen in Europa unterscheidet. Die aktuellen Gewerkschaftsstrategien erklären sich durch die besondere Entwicklung des spanischen Systems der Arbeitsbeziehungen seit dem Übergang des Landes zur Demokratie, durch die Struktur der spanischen Wirtschaft und den Gründungsboom und das starke Beschäftigungswachstum über 15 Jahre hinweg (1994-2008). Nach einer kurzen Beschreibung der heutigen Situation geht der Beitrag auf die Probleme bei der Werbung und Integration neuer Mitgliedergruppen aus einer Vielzahl bislang unerschlossener Sektoren ein und stellt neue Trends bei Tarifverhandlungen im Zusammenhang mit diesen Sektoren dar.

Consequences of Enlargement for the Old Periphery of Europe: Observations from the Spanish Experience with European Works Councils

This book presents an evidence-based assessment of the impact of EU enlargement on industrial relations and social standards in old and new EU Member States. It combines chapters which give an overview of the process of enlargement/integration and comparative socio-economic data at EU and national level, with chapters that present an in-depth analysis of the impact of European integration on national industrial relations. These in-depth analyses cover both a number of old EU Member States in Western Europe and new Member States in Central and Eastern Europe. The book combines supranational European, Western and Eastern perspectives on the impact of European integration.

Industrial relations in Spain – strong conflicts, weak actors and fragmented institutions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the development of industrial relations (IR) in Spain since the democratic transition and analyses the current dilemmas of its social and political actors in the context of the long-lasting economic downturn. Design/methodology/approach Combining a political economy, identifying Spain as a particular variety of modern capitalism, and actor-centred historical institutionalism approach, outlining the formation and strategies of the main social actors, the paper draws on the broad range of research on IR in Spain and its theoretical debates, including proper research in the field. Findings The legacies of the latecomer industrialisation and the semi-peripheral development model still shape the Spanish economy and IR. The impact of the current economic and political-institutional crisis affects the entire institutional IR system and its actors shifting power towards the individual employer thus weakening trade unions, labour rights and collective bargaining. Regarding the theoretical debate on corporatism, the Spanish case provides ambiguous results. The lack of a coherent institutional system and efficient political administration limits the effectiveness of corporatist arrangements and reduces them to contingent concertation strategies. Spain confirms that IR still largely depend on the specific national variety of capitalism that condition economic development and resources for political exchange. Originality/value The paper presents an original, theoretical-informed reconstruction of the Spanish IR and allows an understanding of the current institutional transformations and strategic dilemmas in the light of historical legacies. Additionally, the theoretical debates on neo-corporatism and semi-peripheral development are enriched through its application to the Spanish case.

Diálogo social y negociación colectiva a escala sectorial en la Unión Europea. Limitaciones y perspectivas

The lack of stable and clear structures for dialogue and negotiation at sectoral level represents a fundamental problem threatening future developments in European industrial relations. In fact, whereas interprofessional and firm level European industrial relations underwent an important improvement after the Social Protocol of Maastricht, advances in sectoral level have been much more limited. This article attempts to analyze the two different but not mutually exclusive ways to develop this level of dialogue and negotiation: the European Sectoral Social Dialogue and the various trade union initiatives for transnational coordination of collective bargaining. We will present the current situation of the debate on these topics and we will connect our arguments with the consequences the latests economic and political projects of the European Union (Economic and Monetary Union and enlargement) are having on European industrial relations.

Reconstruction and restoration: the legacies of post-war German Industrial Sociology

The article reconstructs the re-birth of Industrial Sociology in Germany after the Second World War in a comparative perspective. Although sharing the main context conditions and maintaining a constant and fluent exchange with their colleagues in other countries, the German intellectual traditions and specific institutional context motivated several particular interests and perspectives that shape a distinct German Industrial Sociology until today. The dominance of qualitative in-depth research, the focus on the emancipative potentials in high-skill-based work organization, the cooperative industrial relations tradition and the constant attempts to link employment studies with general social theory on modern capitalist society and social change characterize German Industrial Sociology. The richness of distinct national institutional settings for comparative social research on employment regimes may be another lesson to be learned from critical reconstruction of labour sociology.

Hacia un sistema de relaciones industriales europeo

A finales del ano 2002, en 709 de las 1.870 empresas multinacionales con actividades en mas de un pais miembro de la UE se habia formado un Comite de Empresa Europeo siguiendo la Directiva Europea del ano 1994. En el presente articulo se analiza la evolucion de este organo europeo de representacion de trabajadores en empresas multinacionales desde sus origenes hasta la actualidad. Para muchos analistas, sindicalistas y politicos, el CEU es una pieza fundamental en la construccion de un marco europeo de relaciones laborales y de un modelo social europeo. Las experiencias, sin embargo, demuestran muchas dificultades y obstaculos a la hora de convertir este organo de representacion de los intereses de los trabajadores en algo eficaz y operativo. Por otro lado, han surgido algunas experiencias positivas y progresivas que muestran las potencialidades del CEU mas alla de la normativa minimalista y denuncian el poco interes de muchas organizaciones sindicales nacionales y locales como poco adecuado en una situacion de creciente necesidad de cooperacion internacional de los sindicatos.

Contested industrial democracy discourses in transnational companies. The case of the ArcelorMittal European Social Dialogue Group

This article discusses the potential of European transnational company agreements for developing industrial democracy at European company level. It describes the experience of the ArcelorMittal European Social Dialogue Group, established in 2009 through a European transnational company agreement as an innovative channel for trade union involvement in corporate decision-making. The conceptual framework draws on a cross-national comparison of industrial democracy discourses in two European countries, Germany and Spain. A qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with trade union representatives and management is used to identify divergent national discourses of employee voice giving rise to common misunderstandings of industrial democracy at European level. The findings illustrate the persisting communication challenges faced by trade unions when engaging in employee representation structures at transnational company level. The article also shows that trade union representatives are able to adapt their national discourses on industrial democracy under the influence of European practice.

The Automobile Demand in Spain

Spain is one of the most prominent victims of the global economic crisis following the subprime crash in 2007. The international financial crash coincided with the homemade real estate bubble, and after 14 years of growth, it caused the deepest economic downturn in democratic Spain. The present chapter starts with a general overview of the main characteristics and recent trends in Spain’s automotive sector. The second section outlines the automotive policies which always had significant impacts on the development of the sector and currently attempt to promote e-mobility. The following part provides a detailed look at the automobile demand structure and its relation to income and wealth distribution. We conclude with some reflections on the structural changes and future prospects of car markets in Spain.