Transfer 2/2006: Mobility of services and posting of workers in the enlarged Europe
Description
The increasing movement of services and workers between the new EU Member States and the old EU/EEA Member States since 1 May 2004 has stirred controversial debates about the impact of enlargement on labour market conditions and regulations in Europe. This special issue of Transfer publishes articles from leading specialists in the field, analysing the regulatory frameworks, trends and experiences related to the recent proliferation of posting of workers in the enlarged Europe.
With a nominal East-West wage gap between 1:10 and 1:5, the growing cross-border mobility of service providers, hiring firms and posted workers has led to fiercer regime competition and challenged established notions of fair competition and equality. These developments have been highlighted by the furore surrounding the proposed Services Directive and by highly charged, transnational labour disputes - the Laval-Vaxholm, Irish Ferries and Viking cases - all the subjects of articles in this issue.
The rights of posted workers have, partly thanks to the 'Polish Plumber', come to crystallise virtually the whole range of conflicting interests, principles and political ideas in the European project. The asymmetry between restricted movement of labour and free movement of services has, as shown in articles on the French, Nordic and German experiences, strengthened the demand for posted and self-employed workers from the new Member States, spurring also circumvention and dubious labour practices through fictitious posting. Whereas middlemen and user companies can reap swift profits, posted workers have often no other option than to accept the insecure conditions offered to them at the bottom end of transnational production chains.
This issue of Transfer provides up-to-date coverage and discussion of crucial issues related to free movement, social regulation and basic rights in the single market and the enlarged Europe and will be of interest to trade unionists, policy-makers, researchers and journalists.
The coordinators of this issue are Jon Erik Dølvik and Line Eldring,
Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research
Table of contents
Main articles
- Kerstin Ahlberg, Niklas Bruun and Jonas Malmberg: The Vaxholmcase from a Swedish and European perspective
- Jan Cremers: Free movement of services and equal treatment of workers: the case of construction
- Markus Kahmann: The posting of workers in the German construction industry: responses and problems of trade union action
- Bruno Lefebvre: Posted workers in France
- Jon Erik Dølvik and Line Eldring: Industrial relations responses to migration and posting of workers after EU enlargement: Nordic trends and differences
- Wolfgang Kowalsky: The Services Directive: the legislative process clears the first hurdle
- Thomas Blanke: The Viking case
News and background
- Mobile worker disputes jolt Ireland's 'social partnership' model
(Gerald Flynn) - Posted workers: Italian regulation and dilemmas
(Massimo Pallini) - Minimum wages in Europe
(Thorsten Schulten)
Book reviews
- Laima Muktupavela
The Mushroom Covenant: Baltic Blacks among Celts
(Astra Roze) - Note on reading the Lithuanian translation of the The Mushroom Covenant
(Gintare Kemekliene) - Thorsten Schulten, Claus Schäfer and Reinhard Bispinck (eds.)
Mindestlöhne in Europa
(Richard Pond) - Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.)
Working and Employment Conditions in the EU Member States - Convergence or Diversity?
(Hedva Sarfati)
Reports
- The 'capability approach' as the high road to job quality,freedom of choice and voice
EUROCAP conference, Nantes, 9-10 February 2006
(Hedva Sarfati) - Transnational collective bargaining: a tool in the service of the Lisbon strategy?
(Isabelle Schömann)
