Employment relations in Europe: The debate surrounding the European 'social model'

Hey everyone! 

So this is my second blog post for International Employment Relations and this week we are looking at employment relations in Europe! 

Just to give a quick background, I'm going to be referring to the EU frequently which stands for the European Union that consists of 27 member states. The EU was created to politically and economically integrate these member states of Europe in order to create a closer union between them and to create better living standards and higher levels of employment.

There are several different forms of the European social model however the Continental model is considered the most predominant. The five characteristics of this model are: fundamental social rights, social protection, social dialogue, social & employment regulation, and state responsibility.

This social model was introduced post World War II however it has recently come under attack, largely due to the rise of globalisation and its consequences. This is demonstrated through this cartoon depiction of the EU as it struggles to balance fiscal stability with economic flexibility, as well as trying to maintain their social aspects of the policy. Although it may be easy to question why they cannot achieve both together, there is evidence from member states such as Germany and France that suggest this is a very difficult task. It appears that they have chosen to focus more on stability than flexibility (as demonstrated by the cartoon) however achieving economic flexibility is crucial for the European Union in order to retain a competitive force within the world. There are fears that without reform, this social model may be inadequate and could have serious adverse impacts for Europe.

In contrast to this, there are other scholars who suggest the European social model can be sustained, however it does mean there are changes that need to be made. An executive summary made by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) states "the European social model is not doomed and the idea that only free market approaches are consistent with sustained prosperity are clearly wrong." It is stated within this source that one of the core policy changes is to achieve economic flexibility with better social protection in order to create an environment capable of making the best use of the opportunities offered by globalisation. 

It is easy to argue either side of this argument regarding the future of the European social model however the difficulties lie in actually implementing changes to help balance these conflicting interests. Stability and flexibility are both important for the EU to achieve, however it is also essential to uphold these social practices that have been set in place to help protect individuals within each of the member states of the EU. The one factor that can be agreed on is the fact that changes have to be made. 

I have attached the link to the executive summary made by CEPS as well as the link to the article that the cartoon was taken from which from The Economist. 

I welcome you to let me know your opinion on what the EU should do in regards to the social model - should they get rid of it completely, should they keep it as it or should they make changes to it and if so, any suggestions you may have.

Hope this gave you a good introduction to next week's tutorial where Louise and I will be presenting!

Links: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_situation/docs/simglobe_fin_rep_exec_sum.pdf

http://www.economist.com/node/6768443

Labour movements in the age of globalisation

Welcome to my blog for International Employment Relations!

I hope you enjoy reading my fortnightly posts, and comments of any sorts are welcome :)

My first post looks at labour movements in the age of globalisation, where I have looked specifically at the effect of globalisation on unions in the United States. 

The rise of globalisation has effectively meant a decrease in union activity and therefore, in union power. Some of the key reasons for the decline in union density can be attributed to factors that are associated to globalisation including:

- Government policies: anti-union labour laws had made it harder for unions to recruit, bargain & represent workers.

-Neo-liberal restructuring: the rise of non-standard forms of employment such as part time and casual work (in the past, unions did not recruit part time/casual workers normally). This meant unions were neglecting a large demographic within the workforce.

-Employers were against unions and substitute strategies (alternative voice mechanisms) which led to management occasionally undertaking non-union activities to remove/marginalise unions.

However recently unions have made an effort to fight back and regain their position within employment relations. In regards to this cartoon in particular, it looks at the effect of globalisation in America and how it benefitted certain parties but disadvantaged others. In particular, middle-class US workers and workers abroad were among those that suffered the most.

Within the article attached at the bottom of this post, it is said that unions do in fact recognise the important role of free trade within the global economy; however they also recognise that if it not ‘properly regulated, it will continue to spiral out of control and worsen the labour situation’.

In an attempt to combat this, unions had adopted a new approach which saw the need for expanding and joining together union forces in order to protect offshore workers. They believe that this will in turn, help regain control over the rapid loss of jobs that is occurring within the US. In order words, by focusing on protecting foreign workers they hope to achieve greater protection for both American and foreign labour. Ultimately, by doing so they hope to increase their power which will strengthen their ability to combat the issues that workers face which can be accounted for by the rise of globalisation.

Although this is an older post from 2009, I believe it is still relevant as unions continue to face obstacles in regaining their status and position within employment relations. However I do believe one of the key factors needed for unions to overcome this is the need for unions across the globe to unite and stand together, and to work with globalisation rather than to try fight it.

For anyone that wants the link to the article for any background information: http://overflow.umwblogs.org/labor-and-globalization/