Dutch Works Councils in Times of Transition: The Effects of Changes in Society, Organizations and Work on the Position of Works Councils

Abstract

This article assesses the current position of Dutch works councils within their organizations and within the broader system of Dutch industrial relations. The authors use data from a recently conducted national survey on works councils to establish the impact that societal and organizational developments in the 1990s have had on the formal position and actual influence of the works council. These data show that, contrary to popular opinion, societal developments and the introduction of new management concepts have not had a negative impact on the position of the works council. An exception to this is the internationalization of firms, which curtails the range of works council influence. Further, the gradual increase in the actual influence of the works council that characterized the postwar period does seem to have levelled off in the 1990s.

Works council effectiveness in subsidiaries of MNCs during reorganizations: Case study evidence from the Netherlands

“…Looise and Drucker, 2003). The results in our study indicate that not all organizations deal with this in the same way and that it is important to take into account internal factors at the local level when looking at the role of industrial relations in MNCs, as suggested by several studies (e.g.…”

Organisation’s Commitment towards its Workers (OCW): Evidence from the Netherlands

“…Finally, the research was done within the Netherlands. Looise and Drucker (2003) refer to the Dutch culture as a "consultation culture", referring to the importance of voice in Dutch society. Although voice seems to be critical for POS in other countries as well, voice may be less important in those contexts that have serious shortcomings when it comes to satisfying workers" basic needs, namely, in terms of sufficient pay and benefits.…”

Managerial Perceptions of Works Councils’ Effectiveness in the Netherlands

“…Recently, a large nationally representative dataset was made available with all sorts of information about the way in which Dutch works councils operate, viewed from the perspective of both employee representatives and management (van het Kaar and Looise, 1999;Looise and Drucker, 2003). Using this database, the current paper reports the first econometric analyses on the perceived effectiveness of works councils in Dutch establishments, offering a threefold contribution to the literature.…”