Steffen Lehndorff

Working in the service sector : a tale from different worlds

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Service Economies Part I: Different Service Societies in Europe 2. Measuring Economic Tertiarisation 3. The Incidence of New Forms of Employment in Service Activities 4. Why Do Countries Have Such Different Service-Sector Employment Rates? 5. Services and the Employment Prospects for Women Part 2: The Organization of Service Work 6. The Family, The State, and Now The Market 7. The Reluctant Nurses 8. Work Hard, Play Hard? 9. Work Organisation and The Importance of Labour Markets in The European Retail Trade 10. Lean Banking Part 3: Common Challenges 11. The Shaping of Work and Working Time in The Service Sector 12. The Delegation of Uncertainty 13. Can Trade Unions Meet The Challenge? 14. Diversity and Regulation of Markets for Services

From the’ sick Man’to the ‘Overhauled Engine’ of Europe? Upheaval in the German Model

For most of the 1960s–80s the Federal Republic of Germany was regarded both at home and abroad as one of the countries that had been particularly successful in combining economic growth and social equality. For many economists and social scientists Germany was the exemplar of ‘Rhenish capitalism’ (Albert, 1992) which, by virtue of the ‘beneficial constraints’ (Streeck, 1997) imposed on German capital by strong labour unions and institutions, fostered long-term corporate strategies and an environment of trust relationships, not only within capital but also between the strong associations representing capital and labour. It was under these conditions that a system of high-quality and export-oriented production was developed, which in turn powered the entire employment system.

European Employment Models in Flux: Pressures for Change and Prospects for Survival and Revitalization

Institutions are the building blocks of social order; they shape, govern and legitimize behaviour. Not only do they embody social values but they also reflect historical compromises between social groups negotiated by key actors. It thus comes as no surprise to find major differences in the institutional arrangements of today’s capitalist societies. These differences apply especially to employment institutions, which shape the exchange of human labour. Employment contracts are necessarily incomplete contracts, since the actual performance required and rewards offered are constantly subject to new decisions after the contract has been initiated. To put some limits on this uncertainty, institutions, both formal and informal, have been established to influence not only the contractual conditions but also the rights of employees or their representatives to engage in some shared determination of their working conditions and the organization of the work process. The employment relationship is also a pivotal institution in economic systems, with consequences as much for social and family organization as for the production system. It not only shapes the terms under which labour is supplied to and utilized within firms, but also underpins systems of social stratification and determines standards of living. Furthermore, as welfare states have developed and provided support for citizens not in employment, so the employment relationship has become integrated into welfare arrangements, with time spent in an employment relationship often the basis for accumulated entitlements to benefits.

Before the crisis, in the crisis, and beyond: the upheaval of collective bargaining in Germany

The explanation of what has been called the ‘German employment miracle’ has much to do with the broad turn in German collective bargaining towards emergency coalitions at firm level, embedded in a larger environment of ‘crisis corporatism’. To understand this recent move, including its lessons and its limits, and to assess potential changes in the near future, it is useful to take into account the upheaval that took place within the collective bargaining system in the pre-crisis period. This article argues that there are good reasons to believe that very soon German collective bargaining will be at the crossroads again. The choice for unions and works councils will be either to return to traditional mixtures of concession bargaining and bargaining on retrenchment measures, or to revitalize their membership base in pursuit of ‘high road’ deals. A corner-stone for any revitalization strategy will include political pressure for a reformed back-up for collective bargaining by a renewal of statutory collective agreement extension procedures. L’explication de ce que l’on a appelé le « miracle allemand de l’emploi » est en grande partie liée au large tournant pris par la négociation collective allemande en faveur de coalitions d’urgence au niveau de l’entreprise, s’inscrivant dans un environnement plus large de « corporatisme de crise ». Pour comprendre cette évolution récente, ainsi que ses leçons et ses limites, et pour évaluer les changements potentiels dans un proche avenir, il est utile de tenir compte des vicissitudes du système de négociation collective dans la période antérieure à la crise. Cet article montre qu’il y a de bonnes raisons de penser que très prochainement, la négociation collective allemande se retrouvera de nouveau à un carrefour. Le choix pour les syndicats et les comités d’entreprise sera soit de revenir au mélange traditionnel de négociations de concession et de négociations des mesures de restriction, soit de revitaliser leur base d’affiliés en recherchant des accords ambitieux. Une pierre angulaire de toute stratégie de revitalisation inclura une pression politique destinée à donner un appui nouveau à la négociation collective grâce à un renouvellement des procédures d’extension obligatoire des conventions collectives. Die Erklärung des sogenannten ‘‘deutschen Beschäftigungswunders’’ steht in einem engen Zusammenhang mit der in einem allgemeinen Kontext des ‘‘Krisen-Korporatismus’’ verankerten Wendung der deutschen Tarifverhandlungen hin zu Not-Koalitionen auf Betriebsebene. Zum Verständnis dieser neueren Entwicklung, ihrer Lehren und ihrer Grenzen und zur Beurteilung der potenziellen Veränderungen in nächster Zukunft ist es sinnvoll, den Umbruch zu analysieren, der im deutschen Tarifverhandlungssystem in der Zeit vor der Krise stattfand. Dieser Artikel bestätigt, dass es gute Gründe für die Annahme gibt, dass die deutschen Tarifverhandlungen sich schon sehr bald wieder an einem Scheideweg befinden werden. Die Gewerkschaften und Betriebsräte werden vor der Entscheidung stehen, zu traditionellen Mischungen aus Verhandlungen über Zugeständnisse und Sparmaßnahmen zurückzukehren, oder ihre Mitgliederbasis zur Verfolgung einer ‘‘High-Road-Strategie’’ neu zu beleben. Zu den Eckpfeilern jeder Revitalisierungsstrategie gehört politischer Druck für eine bessere Unterstützung der Tarifverhandlungen durch Erneuerung der gesetzlichen Verfahren zur Allgemeinverbindlicherklärung von Tarifverträgen.

Surviving the EU? The Future for National Employment Models in Europe

The claim by the European Union (EU) to be both the moderniser and the effective saviour of distinctive European ways of doing things is challenged by this review of the multi-tiered influence of the EU on change in national models. Competition and macroeconomic policy is argued to be more significant than soft law in reshaping national models and in constraining innovation and change to meet new conditions. Lip service is paid by the EU to different paths of development, but the contradictions and synergies across institutional and policy approaches that underpin the notion of varieties of capitalism go unrecognised. European employment models are seen as primarily contributing to social protection, but the potential role for distinctive models to promote comparative advantage, as under varieties of capitalism analysis, is not on the policy agenda.

Acting in different worlds. Challenges to transnational trade union cooperation in the eurozone crisis

In the ongoing crisis in, and of, the eurozone, the fates of trade unions in different countries are more than ever linked to each other, while the respective national areas of conflict are drifting apart. Most notably, the damage caused by the widely hailed German labour market ‘reforms’ before the crisis, which have resulted in a substantial decline in the impact of trade union policy in Germany, has in the course of the eurozone crisis become a threat for unions at the ‘periphery’. This article argues that, while unions in individual countries will necessarily continue to fight the dominant EU crisis management policies primarily at national level, their prospects of success will increasingly depend on their transnational cooperation. The argument is developed through a comparison between the problems faced by trade unions in Greece and Spain on the one hand, and in Germany on the other.

Negotiating Employment Security: Innovations and Derogations

This book examines the ways in which collective bargaining addresses a variety of workplace concerns in the context of today’s global economy. Globalization can contribute to growth and development, but as the recent financial crisis demonstrated, it also puts employment, earnings and labour standards at risk. This book examines the role that collective bargaining plays in ensuring that workers are able to obtain a fair share of the benefits arising from participation in the global economy and in providing a measure of security against the risk to employment and wages. It focuses on a commonly neglected side of the story and demonstrates the positive contribution that collective bargaining can make to both economic and social goals. The various contributions examine how this fundamental principle and right at work is realized in different countries and how its practice can be reinforced across borders. They highlight the numerous resulting challenges and the critically important role that governments play in rebalancing bargaining power in a global economy. The chapters are written in an accessible style and deal with practical subjects, including employment security, workplace change and productivity, and working time.

It’s a long way from norms to normality: The 35-hour week in France

The present overview on existing research addresses the double implication of working-time standards as legal (or contractual) norms, on the one hand, and socially established normality, on the other. Looking primarily at the evidence on the statutory 35-hour week in France, the author discusses the question of how changes in norms as stipulated by law or collective agreements may affect working-time practices in the society. Given the specific institutional and policy tradition of statist intervention in France, a comparison with the effects of the contractual 35-hour week on actual hours in the West German metal industry highlights particular strengths and weaknesses of the French approach. While the empirical evidence underscores the crucial importance of statutory norms and the interaction between governments and social actors, it equally reveals the increasing difficulties to set limits to normal hours for growing shares of the workforce just by setting statutory or collective norms. The transformation of new working-time norms into normality leading to a generalized shorter standard workweek is a long-term social process that requires continual intervention of actors at various levels and must be embedded in agreements both at the workplace and within households.

Working Time And Operating Time In The European Car Industry

There is a cycle that governed the production of cars in Europe for some 20 years: work on the early shift lasts eight hours and is interrupted by a 20–30 minute meal break. The late shift takes over in the afternoon; the two shift teams alternate. If the early shift began work at 6.00 a.m., the production lines are shut down at about 11 p.m. Before production begins again the next morning, there is time for maintenance and, if necessary, repair work. Cars are produced from Monday to Friday; in periods of particularly strong demand, an extra shift is worked on Saturdays.1 Based on a 40-hour, 5-day working week, 80 operating hours per week and about 3,700 to 3,900 hours per year were the standard figures for a car factory and were the basis for the long-established working-time arrangement within the industry.

Den Arbeitsmarkt verstehen, um ihn zu gestalten

Was wir brauchen, ist eine Vision für die Zukunft, in der Migration und Um allen Menschen weltweit Mobilitätschancen zu ermöglichen, müssen Die wenigsten kennen und verstehen die anderen Einwanderungsmöglichkeiten Migrant_innen sind besonders gefährdet, in ausbeuterische Arbeitsverhältnisse zu geraten Zuwanderer. Wir wollen Vielfalt gestalten, Chancengleichheit herstellen und Integration fördern. für besondere Zielgruppen in adäquate Maßnahmen um.