Neoliberal trends in collective bargaining and employment regulation in Spain, Italy and the UK: From institutional forms to institutional outcomes

Abstract

This article discusses the effect of neoliberal trends in employment regulation during the 2008 recession. Liberalization in employment institutions is a long-term trend reinforced by the implementation of austerity policies. I use EU-SILC panel data to discuss these trends in Spain, Italy and the UK in three periods: before the crisis (2004–2007), during the crisis (2007–2010) and under austerity (2010–2013). Although liberalization reforms interacted with the existing institutional architectures, I find a common trend towards greater employer discretion. Crucially, this trend in institutional outcomes appears in countries with different formal institutional characteristics in employment and collective bargaining.

The Impact of Neoliberal Policies During the Great Recession on Youth Transition Regimes in Spain and the UK

“…For example, this trend can be identified in the growing role of the family in youth transitions in the UK and in the trend towards reduction of employment protection and flexibilization of the Spanish labour market. However, it has also been noted that these trends began before the recession, showing that liberalization tendencies are far from being new and have been affecting welfare models for a long time (López-Andreu, 2019b). Therefore, this article remarks on the importance of gradual change (Streeck and Thelen, 2005) when discussing the impact of neoliberal policies.…”

Breaking Fragmentation through Mobilization: The Development of a Collective Identity during Movistar’s Contractors’ and Technicians’ Strike in Spain

“…The deep economic crisis has been accompanied, since 2010, by several labour market reforms that specifically targeted collective bargaining institutions and crucially diminished the institutional capacities of unions (López-Andreu, 2019). The response from organized labour was three general strikes between 2010 and 2012, but since 2013 there has been a low degree of labour mobilization and ‘crisis corporatism’ agreements based on wage moderation have dominated (Begea and Balbona, 2014; López-Andreu, 2018).…”

Violation and lack of awareness of employment rights in the United Kingdom's hotel industry: Isolation, fragmentation and barriers to labour enforcement

“…The UK model of industrial relations changed substantially during the 1970s and 1980s through a process of direct erosion of the industrial relations institutions characterised by a shift from free collective bargaining and tripartite institutions to statutory individual employment rights (Colling, 2006;Hyman, 2003). This process of decollectivisation resulted in trade union decline, decentralised collective bargaining, the strengthening of managerial prerogative and the increasing tendency towards treating problems at work as individual legal cases (dealt by tribunal) instead of collective issues handled by trade unions (Colling & Terry, 2010;Howell, 2005;L opez-Andreu, 2019). Not reversed by the New Labour government (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010), the current framework gives unions the role of raising awareness about employment rights, but it does not deviate from the deregulatory agenda that promotes an individualised employment environment and sustains the current absence of legislative support for the collective regulation of the employment relationship (Dickens, 2014;Lewis, 2019).…”