Sustainability as Solidarity Unbound

Abstract

This chapter begins by considering the concept of 'solidarity', which I argue can and should be promoted in a way that is 'unbound' in terms of both geography and temporality. I offer an inclusive understanding of its dimensions, including acting for and with others, involving empathy rather than merely shared identity. I also explain how operationalising solidarity can require political and social action, including collective worker representation and voice. In this context, I detect connections between solidarity and sustainability, observing that realisation of the latter entails cross-border intra-and inter-generational commitments as well as activity by civil society, including trade unions. The chapter then goes on to examine the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution on the 2030 Agenda and the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015, 1 scrutinising evidence of engagement with solidarity but also recognising the limitations of UN texts in this respect. The chapter continues by itemising how the European Pillar of Social Rights 2017 shares many of the aspirations set out in the 2030 Agenda, but also displays comparable tensions between economic and social objectives. This part considers how the Pillar (and indirectly the SDGs) is being translated into the European Commission's new policy agenda for sustainability. It emerges that there is potential for unbounded solidarity between those at work to be actualised through both soft and hard EU law, and that this initiative is gaining momentum. UNBOUNDED SOLIDARITY AND SUSTAINABILITY: CONCEPTUALISATIONS AND CONNECTIONSHere I briefly explore the different ways in which two controversial ideas have been conceptualised: 'solidarity' and 'sustainability'. I reject an exclusive or 'bounded'

There and gone again? Migration to and posting of third-country nationals from Slovenia and Poland

“…26 In some cases, TCN statuses, as already discussed, can be quite complex and when combined with particularly precarious forms of employment, such as via shady intermediaries, might produce legal uncertainty, which some scholars have argued foster unfree labour relations. 27 Furthermore, posted TCNs are reportedly undemanding in respect of their labour and social rights when posted from their sending EU countries to other EU countries. 28 Despite a few attempts to incorporate the home and sending country perspectives in the analysis, 29 the literature on the posting of TCNs remains largely focused on the receiving countries' perspective.…”