Challenges posed by the EU minimum wage initiative to the ETUC and European trade union cooperation

Seldén, Kristina Lovén

doi:10.1177/1024258920945111

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Jordan et al, 2021) and whether these directives will push towards a further individualization of wage negotiations (e.g. Lovén Seldén, 2020) or instead offer possibilities to trade unions to negotiate narrowing pay ranges and challenge gendered pay discriminations and the undervaluation of women’s work (e.g. in the care sector).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond methodological nationalism in explanations of gender equality: The impact of EU policies on gender provisions in national collective agreements in Belgium (1957–2020)

Lemeire¹,

Zanoni²

2021

European Journal of Industrial Relations

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Based on an analysis of gender equality provisions in national collective agreements, this article investigates the influence of European Union (EU) gender and macro-economic policy on gender equality outcomes in Belgium since the signature of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. We show that, over time, EU gender equality policies have led to the adoption of provisions promoting formal gender equality and the integration of women in the labour market. At the same time, EU macro-economic policies have stimulated labour flexibility, promoting part-time work largely filled by women, and imposed wage moderation, which has fundamentally hampered the correction of historical indirect gender discrimination in wages. Overall, EU policies have stimulated the transformation of the conservative male breadwinner model of this coordinated market economy (CME) into a gendered ‘one-and-a-half earner’ model, a transformation partially enforced through the increased interference of the state transposing EU policies. Our study advances the current literature by pointing to the limitations of prevalent methodologically nationalist explanations of gender equality outcomes in CMEs. More specifically, it shows that the gender equality provisions of national collective bargaining agreements in CMEs cannot be understood independent of EU gender and macro-economic policies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond methodological nationalism in explanations of gender equality: The impact of EU policies on gender provisions in national collective agreements in Belgium (1957–2020)

Lemeire¹,

Zanoni²

2021

European Journal of Industrial Relations

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“…Among other things, there was a serious disagreement between the Nordic organisations, rejecting any interference in wage setting at EU level, and those from Central and Eastern Europe, who supported the idea of a directive. Czarzasty et al (2020) and Lovén Seldén (2020) have described this dispute in Transfer articles. In the end, the ETUC supported the Commission’s proposal on the draft Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, while the Nordic unions separately submitted their own negative opinion to the European Commission.…”

Section: The Mirage Of ‘Europeanisation’ Of Industrial Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective. The mirage of Europeanising industrial relations. What possibilities for East-West trade union cooperation?

Adamczyk,

Surdykowska

2024

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

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This article outlines possibilities for deepening relationships between trade unions from the so-called old EU Member States and those from Central and Eastern Europe. We set out the possibilities for what we describe as enhanced multi-union transnational cooperation. By this we mean multilateral rather than bilateral cooperation that is deep enough to include the joint definition of goals and strategies, and willingness to build a transnational dimension to industrial relations, including, ultimately, conducting collective bargaining on some topics. A critical analysis of the so-called Europeanisation of industrial relations is the background to our discussion. We find the participation of trade unions in this process to be limited to responses to external impulses which results in the degree of enhanced multi-union transnational cooperation in areas of core trade union activity being low. We present the thesis that in-depth cooperation may be possible in relation to new challenges for the world of work, where the transnational dimension is of key importance and where trade unions are less bound by their own national traditions and industrial relations practices.

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“…For example, the Council of Nordic Trade Unions is an effective sub-organisation within the ETUC, but the Nordic network is also able to lobby separately from the ETUC due to strong internal coherence and coordination, and organisational and financial resources. In contrast, overall the Eastern European unions are characterised by a lack of resources (Kahancová and Kirov, 2021;Lovén Seldén, 2020). But sectoral and inter-professional differences have also been highlighted (Furåker and Larsson, 2020b).…”

Section: The Role Of Social Partners In the Eu Multi-level Governance...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the original idea of a European minimum wage was first put forward by a handful of trade unionists in 2004 (Schulten, 2014) and further developed as a concept in the aftermath of the Athens Congress of 2011 (Seeliger, 2017), it was not at the forefront of discussion at the Vienna Congress in May 2019 (Lovén Seldén, 2020). In fact, the most recent policy process was initiated by EU institutional actors.…”

Section: Cleavages With Respect To the Introduction Of The European M...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Minimum Wage Directive – and why it is a challenge to trade unions’ but not employers’ unity

Dingeldey

Bitran

2023

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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The proposal of a European minimum wage directive by the European Commission was supposed to improve working conditions. This article asks why such an initiative created a challenge to the unity of unions, but not of employers’ associations at transnational level. The authors provide a network analysis of the communication structure of social partners. Applying Scharpf’s concepts of positive and negative integration and Hirschman’s typology of exit, voice and loyalty, the authors use qualitative methods to show how employers stayed loyal and united towards negative integration, while different voices arose within the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) leading to the temporary ‘exit’ of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.

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Challenges posed by the EU minimum wage initiative to the ETUC and European trade union cooperation

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Beyond methodological nationalism in explanations of gender equality: The impact of EU policies on gender provisions in national collective agreements in Belgium (1957–2020)

Beyond methodological nationalism in explanations of gender equality: The impact of EU policies on gender provisions in national collective agreements in Belgium (1957–2020)

Perspective. The mirage of Europeanising industrial relations. What possibilities for East-West trade union cooperation?

The European Minimum Wage Directive – and why it is a challenge to trade unions’ but not employers’ unity

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