Description

The annual ‘open issue’ of Transfer covers a series of different issues. Social pacts, security within flexicurity, solidarity and European Works Councils are some of the important subjects covered.

Oscar Molina shows that participation in social pacts by trade unions has been most successful when it has been accompanied by articulation strategies that enhance the participation of rank-and-file members in decision making and that strengthen representation at company level. Pascale Vielle and Jean-Michel Bonvin argue for a European social pact that would put security at the heart of the concept of flexicurity. Their proposals include complementing conventional social security by developing services of general interest and policies on the use of time and space.

Marius R. Busemeyer, Christian Kellermann, Alexander Petring and Andrej Stuchlík report on some 100 interviews carried out with trade union leaders and politicians on their positions on the European social model. They conclude that the transnational cooperation necessary for creating ‘Social’ Europe can only be achieved if unions acknowledge and reflect upon their continued embeddedness in national welfare state regimes.

Michael Whittall, Stefan Lücking and Rainer Trinczek examine problems associated with setting up European Works Councils in German multinationals. Their findings lead to proposals for the revision of the Directive.

Géraldine Rieucau draws on an employee labour survey to examine job-finding channels in the Spanish labour market. The most important results concern workers’ profiles: advertisements can be highly selective while social networks exclude those with poor connections in the labour market but can favour those without qualifications or experience.

Coordinators

Table of contents

Editorial

Obituary

Main articles

• Oscar Molina: Social pacts, collective bargaining and trade union articulation strategies
• Pascale Vielle and Jean-Michel Bonvin: Putting security at the heart of the European social pact – proposals to make flexicurity more balanced
• Marius R. Busemeyer, Christian Kellermann, Alexander Petring and Andrej Stuchlík: Overstretching solidarity? Trade unions’ national perspectives on the European economic and social model
• Michael Whittall, Stefan Lücking and Rainer Trinczek: Understanding the European Works Council deficit in German multinationals
• Géraldine Rieucau: Job advertisements and personal networks: two specific channels in the Spanish labour market

News and background

• Trade unions split in Irish Referendum on the Lisbon Reform Treaty
  (Kevin O’Kelly)
• France: Changes in the rules governing representativeness of trade unions and collective bargaining
  (Jean-Yves Boulin)
• The learning works council
  (Jan Cremers)

Book reviews

• Michael Whittall, Herman Knudsen and Fred Huijgen
  Towards a European Labour Identity. The case of the European Work Council
  (Romuald Jagodzinski)
• Sjaak van der Velden, Heiner Dribbusch, Dave Lyddon and Kurt Vandaele (eds.)
  Strikes around the World: 1968-2005
  (Lorenzo Bordogna)
• Verena Schmidt (ed.)
  Trade union responses to globalization. A review by the Global Union Research Network
  (Michael Fichter)
• Roland Erne
  European Unions. Labor’s Quest for a Transnational Democracy
  (Valeria Pulignano)
• Ashly Pinnington, Rob Macklin and Tom Campbell
  Human Resource Management – Ethics and Employment
  (Thomas Klikauer)
• Tanja van der Lippe and Pascale Peters (eds.)
  Competing Claims in Work and Family Life
  (Síle O’Dorchai)
• Steve Shelley and Moira Calveley
  Learning with Trade Unions – A Contemporary Agenda in Employment Relations
  (Jeff Bridgford)
• OECD
  Live Longer, Work Longer – Ageing and Employment Policies
  (Hedva Sarfati)

Reports

• 7th European Meeting of Employee Ownership in Brussels – new research findings presented, Brussels, 23 May 2008
  (Stefan Stracke)
• EWCs back on the European agenda
  ‘Managers’ role in EWCs’: CEC European Managers conference
  Toulouse, 5-6 June 2008
  and
  ‘On the offensive for stronger European Works Councils’: ETUC and Hans-Böckler-Stiftung conference
  Brussels, 9-10 June 2008
  (Romuald Jagodzinski)

[pdf of the whole issue]