Markus Hertwig

Stabilizing effects of European Works Councils: Examples from the automotive industry

This article presents a theoretical model in order to understand and explain forms of cross-border interest representation by European Works Councils. It argues that both their structures and activities and their outcomes can be explained by drawing on four theoretical rationales: the structures and coordination patterns of the company concerned, cultural-institutional factors linked to the ‘country-of-origin effect’, historical trajectories and actors’ strategies. This argument is supported by empirical data from case study research in three automotive assembly companies.

European Works Councils and the Crisis: Change and Resistance in Cross‐Border Employee Representation at Honda and Toyota

The article analyses the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the structures and activities of the European Works Councils (EWCs) at Honda and Toyota, which until 2007–8 were categorized as non�?efficient representation bodies. A theoretical concept is introduced to measure activation and to analyse the factors explaining change/stability. In the empirical part, the EWCs are analysed using data from expert interviews. Both EWCs have undergone different activation ‘paths’, which partly lead to a restructuring of the bodies and the implementation of new co�?ordination processes. Yet the basic logic was retained because of cultural and power related aspects.

Collective employee representation in German companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the distribution and the contextual conditions of statutory and non‐statutory forms of employee representation in Germany (works councils and non‐statutory employee representation (NSRs) respectively). It aims to contribute to the debate by proposing a theoretical model which improves our understanding of why works councils and NSRs exist in companies and by presenting an empirical analysis of the explanatory factors based on representative data.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a representative survey of 3,254 German private‐sector companies, descriptive statistics and regression models are calculated in order to identify the contextual conditions which promote or prevent the establishment of the different forms of employee representation.Findings – The data show that the distribution of works councils and NSRs differs considerably between industries. Works councils are more likely to be found in large and relatively old traditional‐sector companies ...

Defence is the Best Offence: Horizontal Disintegration and Institutional Completion in the German Coordinated Market Economy:

The article considers how (new) forms of horizontal disintegration, like onsite subcontracting, challenge and change the industrial relations institutions of the German coordinated market economy (CME). Focusing on firm-level co-determination practices, it analyses how works councils respond to strategies of onsite subcontracting and what effects their responses have for the employment system. Based on evidence from 12 case studies, it is argued that although onsite subcontracting might prompt institutional erosion, this does not pass uncontested. Rather, practices of network-oriented employee representation on the part of works councils might bring about an ‘institutional completion’, in this case, the institutionalisation of the network as an additional point of reference for employee representation. This may stabilise and even extend the scope of existing CME institutions through a process of ‘institutional upgrading’. In some areas of the economy, however, management and works council practices are more likely to exacerbate dualisation and social inequality.

European Works Councils during the financial and economic crisis: Activation, stagnation or disintegration?

The article compares changes in the European Works Councils (EWCs) at Ford and General Motors Europe during the financial and economic crisis. Previously, both were highly active and effective. Although both otherwise displayed quite different characteristics before the crisis, their reactions were quite similar. At both companies, competition and mistrust among representatives increased, resulting in a decline of integration and effectiveness. We explore the importance of personal relations as preconditions for stability and effectiveness in EWCs.

Patterns, ideologies and strategies of non-statutory employee representation in German private sector companies

Non‐statutory firm level employee representation (NSR), which in contrast to legally based works councils is composed of voluntary patterns, is by now only rarely recognised in German labour relations debate and research. Based on case studies, the article analyses the establishment, modes of operation and participation outcome of NSRs in German private sector companies. While previous NSR research in countries such as Britain and the United States mainly focused on employer‐initiated representation plans, the array of NSRs in German companies appears to be broader: Four types of NSRs are introduced, and a theoretical account is developed, which emphasises cultural–institutional arguments and actors strategies. Hence, it is argued that while NSRs appear to be instruments of management seeking to effectively organise company interest regulation, they strongly reflect cultural conditions and ideologies of non‐statutory employee representation.

Introduction: Transnational Interest Representation and the Articulation of Employee Interests

Transnational employee representation operates in a highly complex environment. Multinational companies (MNCs) typically consist of numerous operations distributed across a large number of countries, embracing a wide range of activities and diverse groups of employees. Against this background, this chapter draws attention to the two fundamental challenges confronting transnational employee representation within MNCs. The first of these is to understand and work within the interrelationships between the different levels and institutions of interest representation found in MNCs. The second challenge for transnational employee representatives is that of responding to the need to develop a shared social practice and aggregate employee interests across different operations, countries, and employee groups within companies. By taking stock of the current state of knowledge of transnational employee representation, this chapter argues that a wider framework is needed to guide empirical investigation of employee representation within MNCs.

Patterns of Articulation Between Transnational Workplace Employee Representatives and Trade Unions: Coordination and Trade Union Networks

Trade union articulation at the transnational level has a number of starting points. One is the activity of trade union coordinators, who provide support for international representative bodies. These are appointed by the European trade union federations, although they are officials of national trade unions. Their significance for transnational representation is modest, however. This is due to the scarcity of time they can make available and the fact that they are obliged to concentrate on their national duties. Secondly, trade unions can take on a higher profile during episodes of restructuring and transnational employee mobilisation; in this case, transnational coordination becomes a core function and is exercised by the European trade union federations. Transnational trade union networks, finally, are the most active form of transnational trade union articulation in multinational companies (MNCs). However, they require trade unions to make international work a much greater priority for their national organisations.

Articulation Practices in Comparison: Patterns, Conditions, and Outcomes of Employee Interest Representation

This chapter offers a systematic comparison of articulation patterns across ten multinational companies (MNCs), concentrating on two key questions: How does integration and coordination differ between different patterns of articulation? And what role is played in this by actors, resources, and interpretative schemes? In a period in which employee representatives in MNCs have been confronted by a range of new challenges, a wide spectrum of practices in exchange and coordination has emerged. This encompasses a simple exchange of information, the presence of European Works Council (EWC) members in local negotiations and EWC working groups that involve local representatives, and extends to coordination, mobilisation, and industrial action. These differences suggest that cross-border restructuring, which offers particular opportunity structures for interest articulation, will, on its own, not lead to any notable degree of articulation between the action fields of employee representation in MNCs. Rather, in order to understand how particular patterns of articulation emerge, specific organisational structures and actors’ diverging interpretations have to be taken into consideration. Our case studies indicate, however, that, in general, articulation practice has a positive effect on successful employee interest representation within MNCs.

Patterns of Articulation

There are considerable differences in how employee interests are integrated and coordinated across different representational levels. Based on case-study research in ten companies, this chapter highlights the diversity of patterns of articulation in interest representation within multinational companies (MNCs). Of the ten case studies, three were found to exemplify the patterns denoted as ‘comprehensive articulation’, three were characterised by ‘fragmented coordination’, and three by ‘international integration’. One case study was deemed to exhibit ‘disarticulation’. Both the patterns of comprehensive articulation and fragmented coordination show a high degree of vertical coordination between the transnational level and the national or local action fields of employee representation. In both patterns, the transnational level obtains inputs from the other levels and, based on transnational and national resources, produces an added value for interest representation in terms of better information, direct contact to group management, or a general strengthening of the local capacity of workforce representatives. The main difference between them is the role that specific sub-groups of employee representatives play within transnational action fields. In the other articulation patterns, this added value is reduced, at best, to information.