Collective Bargaining Developments in Times of Crisis

Collective Bargaining Developments in Times of Crisis discusses the evolution of collective bargaining systems (structure and content) since 2008 with a comparative perspective. In many EU Member States, the various economic crises of recent years provided grounds for a rarely equalled level of state intervention in the regulation of labour relations with an explicit aim: the decentralization of collective bargaining. An extensive body of research – summed up and analysed expertly in the chapters of this very important book – reveals that the process of decentralization has more often than not led to a situation where salaries and labour conditions are evermore frequently determined by direct negotiations between employer and employees, with the State becoming the sole guarantor of employee protection even as it encourages decreasing labour costs to ensure that companies remain competitive.

What’s in this book:

The comparative approach offered in this book adds to the above-mentioned synthesis by providing examples of specific recent developments in fourteen Member States and Turkey. Among the numerous topics and issues that arise are the following:

• 'opt-out’ clauses that derogate unfavourably from sectoral agreement standard extension of the employer’s unilateral decision-making power;
• extension of the employer’s unilateral decision-making power;
• ‘memoranda of understanding’ imposed by the ‘troika’ (EU, ECB, and IMF); and
• ‘standby arrangements’ imposed by the IMF.

However, notwithstanding the strong emphasis on changing the structure of collective agreements by shifting the centre of gravity closer to the company, the research provided by this book finds promise in the reconstituted support for sector-level agreements increasingly present among small businesses, networked businesses, and work via digital platforms.

How this will help you:

This book aids readers to understand why sectoral collective bargaining is still an important aspect of labour regulations. Further, this book helps to gain insight into how the national legislations approach the crises that have affected collective bargaining and how the decentralization of collective bargaining occurs in the various countries. As the first book to take stock of the current state of collective bargaining in Europe, this book is an essential study for labour and employment law practitioners, and an exemplary analysis of immeasurable value to policymakers and academics in the field.

Notes on Contributors

Introduction

Sylvaine Laulom

Part I

The Changing Structures of Collective Bargaining

Chapter 1 From Decentralisation of Collective Bargaining to De-collectivisation of Industrial Relations Systems?

Sylvaine Laulom

Chapter 2

Chasing the Holy Grail? Stumbling Collective Bargaining in Eastern Europe and the Hungarian Experiment

Tamás Gyulavári

Chapter 3

How Can Decentralisation of Collective Bargaining Be Achieved? A Typology of Legal Incentives

Pierre-Emmanuel Berthier & Olivier Leclerc

Chapter 4

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Collective Agreements in Poland

Lukasz Pisarczyk

Chapter 5

Collective Bargaining in Romania: The Aftermath of an Earthquake

Felicia Rosioru

Chapter 6

The Importance of Sectoral Collective Bargaining in Austria

Elisabeth Brameshuber

Chapter 7

The Revival of Sectoral Collective Bargaining: The Portuguese Experience

Teresa Coelho Moreira

Chapter 8

The Spanish Example

Yolanda Maneiro Vázquez & José María Miranda Boto

Part II

The Contents of Collective Agreements: Old and New Issues

A   Wages

Chapter 9

Decentralisation of Wage Setting Mechanisms and Statutory Minimum Wage: Towards the End of Sectoral Collective Bargaining?

Piera Loi

Chapter 10

Measures of Wage Moderation in Times of Crisis: The Example of Belgium

Fabienne Kéfer

Chapter 11

Decentralized Collective Bargaining: A Solution to Economic Crisis? – The Case of Turkey

Kübra Dogan Yenisey & Berrin Ceylan Ataman

B   Working Time

Chapter 12

Negotiating Working Time in Times of Crisis

Lukasz Pisarczyk

Chapter 13

Negotiating Working Time in Time of Crisis: The ‘El Khomri Law’

Christophe Vigneau

C   New Issues

Chapter 14

Work-Life Balance in Collective Agreements

Barbara Kresal

Chapter 15

Older Employees, Extended Working Lives, and Collective Bargaining

Jenny Julén Votinius

Chapter 16

Collective Bargaining with Regard to Young Employees: Importance and Challenges

Judith Brockmann

Part III

Expanding Spaces and New Boundaries of Collective Agreements

Chapter 17

Collective Autonomy for On-Demand Workers? Normative Arguments, Current Practices and Legal Ways Forward

Auriane Lamine & Jeremias Prassl

Chapter 18

Are Agency Workers Protected by Trade Unions?: A Case Study from the Netherlands

Nicola Gundt

Chapter 19

Multi-Employer Situations and Collective Bargaining: The Hungarian Cases

Gábor Kártyás

Chapter 20

A Study in Red and Blue: A Comparison of Collective Bargaining in Carrefour in Some EU Countries

José María Miranda Boto, Teresa Coelho Moreira, Florence Debord, Sonia Fernández Sánchez, Yolanda Maneiro Vázquez & Lukasz Pisarczyk