Solo self-employment and membership of interest organizations in the Netherlands: Economic, social, and political determinants

Abstract

Falling in-between the category of employers and employees, solo self-employed persons are poorly accommodated by the traditional system of corporatist interest representation through which the interests of employers are represented in employers' associations, and the interests of employees are represented by trade unions. For business associations 'micro businesses' with no employees are difficult to reach and serve, as their interests are considered distinct from companies with employees. Trade unions in many countries even resisted the emergence of solo self-employment, fearing that these and other flexible arrangements would undermine not only secure working conditions but also union solidarity. This study examines differences in membership of interest organizations among solo self-employed workers. Various types of organizations are investigated, not only trade unions and business associations, but also new freelancer associations. Theoretically, three categories of determinants are examined to explain differences in membership: economic explanations, social explanations, and political explanations. Empirically, survey data are used from the Netherlands, a country with an increase in self-employment and a diverse supply of interest organizations. It is concluded that economic determinants explain both 'generic' membership (of any organization), as well as membership of specific organizations. Social and political determinants do not explain generic membership, but instead help to explain why some self-employed workers join particular types of organizations.

On the outside looking in? A micro-level analysis of insiders’ and outsiders’ trade union membership

“…A key example in the Netherlands is the establishment of solo self-employment branches by the two major trade unions (Jansen, 2017a). However, according to insider-outsider theory, such initiatives do not solve the fundamental problem for trade unions that labor market and welfare state policies that would be beneficial to outsiders are detrimental to their core constituency, the insiders.…”

“…We focus on three key groups of outsiders based on current labor market status: (a) employees with fixed-term contracts, (b) the solo selfemployed and (c) the unemployed. Based on recent insights from the literature on trade union strategies, trade unions face great difficulties in representing these three groups of outsiders (e.g., Gumbrell-McCormick, 2011;Heery, 2009a;Jansen, 2017aJansen, , 2017bPernicka, 2005). These groups are contrasted to the prime insider group: employees with permanent contracts.…”

Collective action and provider classification in the sharing economy

“…Trade unionism has long been presented as an iconic form of collective action, where collective action is understood as the activity of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. Recent literature, drawing on a long tradition of sociological research into trade union membership (Greer, ; Hodder and Edwards, ), including literature situated in specific European contexts (Goerke and Pannenberg, ; Scheuer, ; Gumbrell‐McCormick and Hyman, ; Jansen, ), has emphasised how unionisation can help precarious, vulnerable and self‐employed workers (Wynn, ; Johnston and Land‐Kaslauskas, ). Since non‐unionised workers often lack the resources, organisation or protections to engage in effective collective action (Pollert and Charlwood, ; Simms et al ., ), a global challenge has emerged of how to accommodate increasingly prevalent non‐standard working patterns within traditional infrastructures of industrial action (Kalleberg, ; Burgess et al ., ).…”

“…In the Netherlands, for instance, the Dutch Competition Authority had warned that the setting of minimum tariffs by a union of self‐employed individuals was in violation of competition law (NMA, ). Workers in the sharing economy are thus accommodated by neither traditional trade unions nor employer associations (Jansen, ). Collective action, in the form of class action lawsuits, is further hindered by the contractual ecosystem of the sharing economy.…”

“…As has been well established in the current literature, individuals partake in the sharing economy for a variety of reasons, ranging from monetary to social and hedonic benefits (Bucher et al ., ). These divergent interests can be further exacerbated by political differences (Korpi and Shalev, ), where previous studies have found that left‐wing orientations correlate positively with union membership (Kollmeyer, ; Jansen, ) and attitudes towards collective action (Hague et al ., ; Turner and D'Art, ).…”