Sunday 14 June 2015

Richard Hyman on three scenarios for industrial relations in Europe


Richard Hyman, 2015. Three scenarios for industrial relations in Europe. International Labour Review, 154, (1) 5-14.

Abstract: The author outlines three scenarios for the future of industrial relations in Europe. The first – perhaps the most realistic – projects continuing erosion of national industrial relations systems and conditions of employment, in line with current trends. The second envisages that “elite reform” from above will succeed in re-engineering industrial relations and workers' protection according to an ideal social policy agenda – an unlikely prospect given the overriding importance of financial considerations and globalized competition. The third scenario centres on a counter-movement from below which presents trade unions with the daunting challenge of mobilizing the discontented far beyond their traditional constituency.