European Journal of Industrial Relations current issue

Editorial

Hyman, R. — 2009-09-03

Codes of Conduct and the Promise of a Change of Climate in Worker Organization

Gokhan Kocer, R., Fransen, L. — 2009-09-03

Do codes of conduct adopted by multinational companies help to advance the position of workers in emerging economies? We focus on three workplaces in the Turkish clothing industry in order to assess their ability to promote Freedom of Association, in the context of a restrictive legal framework, extensive subcontracting relations and different degrees of formality of manufacturing sites. We conclude that under specific conditions codes can make a positive contribution to worker organization; but given the imbalance of power between workers and employers, often sustained by national regulation, they make little contribution to Freedom of Association.

Client, Employer and Employee: Mapping a Complex Triangulation

Havard, C., Rorive, B., Sobczak, A. — 2009-09-03

Many studies in the fields of law, sociology and management point to the transformation of subordination in the employment relationship. This is often explained by the triangulation of the traditionally bilateral employment relation between employer and employees by the involvement of clients or their representatives in the operational and organizational conditions of work. Such studies rarely distinguish between the various types of clients, nor between the reality and rhetoric of their role and influence. Our objective is to propose a classification of the triangular situations between employer, employees and clients based on the concept of power and to analyse the impacts of clients on conditions of work and employment relations.

Self-interest, Legal Commitment and Benevolence: The Emergence and Enforcement of a Swiss Labour Market Institution

Broussolle, D. — 2009-09-03

The long-established ‘basic agreements’ in the Nordic countries are well known; less familiar is the analogous institution in the Swiss labour market, first established in 1937 in the metalworking industry. This article contributes to the understanding of such agreements though an analysis of the peace clauses that are central to collective bargaining in Switzerland. It describes the emergence of the 1937 agreement, with an emphasis on the actors’ strategies and the external economic pressure that provoked the move towards cooperation, and explains the persistence of cooperative institutions, emphasizing the role of mutual interests, of a mandatory cooperative framework and of benevolence. Since the benefits of the agreement have come to represent a public good, the conclusion examines the emergence of a free-rider problem.

The Impact of Industrialization on Paid Domestic Work: The Case of France

Devetter, F.-X., Rousseau, S. — 2009-09-03

Domestic services, and notably house-cleaning, are a growing sector of employment in many European countries. There has also been a shift from individualized ‘master-servant’ relations to the mediation of service companies. Does this improve the status and conditions of employees? Drawing on experience in France, this article compares the quality of employment under the two systems.

National and Sectoral Influences on Wage Determination in Central and Eastern Europe

Stockhammer, E., Onaran, O. — 2009-09-03

The article investigates wage determination in Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. In particular, what is the relative influence of national and sectoral factors? While industrial relations in these countries are still in the process of change, different national patterns have emerged; what is their significance for wage determination? The literature on Western economies is unanimous that coordination of wage bargaining reduces wage dispersion, but disagrees on its effects on unemployment and inflation. The article provides a panel analysis for manufacturing sectors, examining average wages in the total economy and sectoral productivity. The openness of the economy, capital intensity and skill are also discussed. The results are compared with the recent index of the collective bargaining coordination by Visser and with cross-country data on union density.

Books Received

2009-09-03

Abstracts

2009-09-03