Stefania Marino

Trade union inclusion of migrant and ethnic minority workers: Comparing Italy and the Netherlands

This article explores trade union policies and actions towards migrant and ethnic minority workers in Italy and the Netherlands, drawing on union documents and interviews with trade unionists at different organizational levels. It examines how far the explanatory factors addressed in the migration studies and industrial relations literatures help in explaining the observed differences. The findings suggest an inverse relationship between union institutional embeddedness and the perception of migrant workers as ‘power resource’. Of particular relevance, in comparative perspective, are differences in internal union structures and dynamics.

Trade union renewal and the challenges of representation: Strategies towards migrant and ethnic minority workers in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom

This article examines trade union responses to migration in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. We explore how national regulatory structures and industrial relations traditions shape these responses, reflected in different ways of working with the state, employers, union members and the migrant worker community. We identify three main logics that inform trade union action: class, race/ethnicity and social rights; these are used implicitly or explicitly in building representative action. Our analysis shows how trade unions in each country tend to give priority to certain specific logics rather than others. Our findings also show how, in each country, trade union renewal in relation to migration implies engaging with new logics of actions which have not been part of the historical trade union approach. Hence the question of migration brings specific challenges for union identity and strategy. We argue for an approach that goes beyond assumptions of path dependency, and stress the complexity of representation and the challenge of balancing different interests and strategies in the process of social inclusion.

Trade unions, special structures and the inclusion of migrant workers: on the role of union democracy:

The article compares migrant structures established in two trade unions in Italy and the Netherlands. The study relies on qualitative data to analyse the extent to and circumstances under which these structures promote the organizational inclusion of migrant workers. The analysis suggests that union procedures based on participatory democracy have a positive effect on organizational inclusion as compared to top-down and centrally driven procedures. The findings underline the importance of trade union support in the functioning of special structures and the relevance of union identity and organizational structure in explaining the differences across these two national cases. The findings also highlight the significance of internally generated resources in balancing the legitimacy and recognition of migrant structures.

Broadening and reimagining regulation: Trade unions, ‘active servicing’ and immigration in Spain since the early 1990s

This article shows the influence of regulatory traditions and history in shaping trade union responses to temporary labour migration. The case study of Spain is presented to illustrate this. Drawing on qualitative research which is part of a three-country study of trade union, migration and social exclusion/inclusion, the article highlights the importance of understanding established regulatory practices, parallel forms of regulation and historical legacies of previous practices in framing current responses. This subsequently furthers understanding of the politics and tensions that arise in debating inclusionary versus exclusionary responses.

'Justice for Janitors' goes Dutch: The Limits and Possibilities of Unions' Adoption of Organising in a Context of Regulated Social Partnership

Organizing has been adopted as a strategy for union renewal in the Netherlands, where the dominant repertoire has been consensus-based social dialogue. Certain Dutch unions have developed strategies inspired by the US ‘organizing model’ and have been relatively successful in recruiting and mobilizing under-represented workers. Despite some tensions emerging, the introduction of organizing resulted in the greater representation of workers in sectors such as cleaning, which has to an extent complemented social dialogue-based strategies. At the same time, the narrative and tactics of organizing have stimulated internal debate on union purpose and identity and indirectly contributed to a process of reform and democratization within parts of the union movement. The research demonstrates the pragmatic features of organizing as a strategy for union renewal in a context of regulated social partnership, but also points towards the potential for organizing to encourage shifts in the dominant sources of union legitimacy and power.

Organising as a strategy to reach precarious and marginalised workers. A review of debates on the role of the political dimension and the dilemmas of representation and solidarity

Organising as a trade union strategy has caught the imagination of the labour movement over the past 20 years or so. The vast possibilities of new forms of organising go hand in hand with concern about its highly constrained and sometimes hierarchical use. This article looks at key aspects of the debate, focusing on the question of how new forms of organising reach out to more vulnerable and precarious workers. Similar to other colleagues in the field, we conclude that there are political and organisational gaps in organising strategies and that new forms of organising can in some instances be bureaucratic and apolitical. Furthermore, it is important to extend our understanding of the role of trade unions in relation to the state, organised working class constituencies, and social rights, especially as, with regard to vulnerable workers and their organisations, questions of regulation are highly sensitive and challenging.

Trade unions and migrant workers: New contexts and challenges in Europe

This volume constitutes an extensive update of a previous comparative analysis – published by Rinus Penninx and Judith Roosblad in 2000 – that has become an important reference in the field. The book offers an overview of how trade unions manage issues of inclusion and solidarity in the current economic and political context, characterized by increasing challenges for labour organizations and rising hostility towards migrants. The qualitative analysis of trade union strategies towards immigration and migrant workers is based on a common analytical framework centred on the idea of ‘dilemmas’ that trade unions have to face when dealing with immigration and migrant workers. This approach facilitates comparative analysis and distinguishes patterns of union policies and actions across three groups of countries, identifying some explanations for observed similarities and differences. In addition, the book also includes theoretical chapters by expert scholars from a range of disciplinary fields including industrial relations, migration studies and political economy. Co-published with ILERA and Edward Elgar Publishing.

Negotiating better conditions for workers during austerity in Europe

Negotiating Better Conditions for Workers during Austerity in Europe : Negotiating Better Conditions for Workers during Austerity in Europe

Trade unions and migrant workers in Italy: Between labour and social rights: New Contexts and Challenges in Europe

Immigration to Italy is a recent phenomenon if compared with other European countries. From very early on, the Italian trade unions showed a strong solidaristic and inclusive attitude towards migrant workers and began to act as advocates of migrants’ rights in the labour market and in the society more broadly. Trade union action developed at different levels (for example, national, local, within workplaces) and through different instruments (for example, bargaining, lobbying and service provision). Although inclusive strategies and action still characterize the Italian unions, some criticism have emerged over time. Following the Penninx and Roosblad’s framework, the authors discuss the relationship between Italian trade unions and migrants and highlight continuity and discontinuity with the past, following the transformation of the socio-economic and political context. The chapter relies on first-hand data collected by the authors in relation to different research.

Towards More Disorganised Decentralisation? Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector Under Pay Restraint

While sector-level collective bargaining can provide the institutional leverage to sustain and improve employment standards, a proliferation of disorganised local settlements may reduce its effectiveness. This article examines this proposition for local government in the UK, highlights the risks of a ‘destructive’ disorganisation of employment relations and calls for a renewal of articulation mechanisms between sector and local levels of collective bargaining.