Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations – 65
THE GLOBAL LABOUR MARKET
LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER
The Marco Biagi Conference
(Modena, 2007)
Editor
Roger Blanpain
Guest Editor
Michele Tiraboschi
Contributors
Pablo Arellano Ortiz
Robert Arnkil
Henrik Bäckström
Aviad Bar-Haim
Susan Bisom-Rapp
Roger Blanpain
Alex de Ruyter
Germana Di Domenico
Laszlo Dux
Regina Konle-Seidl
Olusegun Oladeinde
Marius Olivier
Francesco Pastore
Daiva Petrylaite
Riani Rachmawati
Ekaterina Ribarova
Olga Rymkevitch
Leonardo Sforza
Dagmara Skupien
Michele Tiraboschi
Hiroaki Richard Watanabe
Stefan Zagelmeyer
Michael J. Zimmer
2008
Notes on contributors
Introductory remarks: commemorating Marco Biagi
Michele Tiraboschi
I. GLOBALISATION
1. The end of labour law?
Roger Blanpain
2. The end of labour law in the global workplace context? A South and Southern African response
Marius Olivier
3. Global capitalism and rise of non-standard employment: challenges to industrial relations practice
Olusegun O. Oladeinde
4. Decent work with a living wage
Michael J. Zimmer
5. Joblessness as a major challenge for Public Employment Services: Country reports from Germany, Italy and Finland
Robert Arnkil, Germana Di Domenico, Regina Konle-Seidl
6. The role of regional organisations in the protection of migrant workers’ rights
Laszlo Dux
7. Multinationals and Unionism in Indonesia: Case studies in two multinationals in Indonesia
Riani Rachwati and Alex de Ruyter
II. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
8. Globalisation and Human Resource Management: a quantitative analysis with British establishment-level data
Stefan Zagelmeyer
9. Practices of human resource management and perceived organisational growth
Aviad Bar-Haim
10. Trends and perspectives on the human resource function in Europe emerging from the 2nd Pan-European HR Barometer
Leonardo Sforza
11. Outsourcing of labour and promotion of human capital: two irreconcilable models? Reflections on the Italian case
Michele Tiraboschi
III. FLEXICURITY
12. Beyond flexicurity in Sweden?
Henrik Bäckström
13. Employment and education policy for young people in the EU. What can new Member States learn from old Member States?
Francesco Pastore
14. Politics of labour market deregulation in Italy and Japan since the 1990s
Hiroaki Richard Watanabe
15 Prospects for the regulation of temporary agency work at EU level
Olga Rymkevitch
IV. EQUAL TREATMENT
16. Globalisation, equality and non-discrimination; an interdisciplinary perspective from the US on diversity programming
Susan Bisom-Rapp
V. INVOLVEMENT OF EMPLOYEES
17. The workforce involvement in the labour market in Bulgaria: which is the way after accession to the EU?
Ekaterina Ribarova
18. The right of civil servants to collective bargaining: the case of Lithuania
Daiva Petrylaite
19. The influence of European Union Law on Employees’ Involvement in Poland
Dagmara Skupien
VI. SOCIAL SECURITY
20. The private pensions system. Critique study based on the Chilean case.
Pablo Arellano Ortiz
Notes on contributors
Pablo Arellano Ortiz, Ph.D. candidate at Université de Paris 10, Nanterre, France; Master 2 Recherche en Droit Social at University of Paris II Pantheon-Assas, France; Lawyer, University of Concepcion, Chile
Robert Arnkil, Work Research Centre, Tampere University, Finland
Henrik Bäckström, Associate Professor, Swedish National Institute for Working Life
Aviad Bar-Haim, Head of the Management and Economics Department, Open University of Israel
Susan Bisom-Rapp, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Law and Social Justice, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, USA
Roger Blanpain, Professor, Universities of KUBrussel, Hasselt, Leuven, Modena and Tilburg, Honorary President of the International Society of Labour and Social Security Law
Alex de Ruyter, Lecturer, University of Birmingham, Business School, United Kingdom
Germana Di Domenico, Researcher, ISFOL and University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy
Laszlo Dux, Assistant lecturer, University of Szeged, Faculty of Law, Department of Labour and Social Security Law, Hungary
Regina Konle-Seidl, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg, Germany
Olusegun Oladeinde, doctoral student, Department of Sociology, Rhodes University, South Africa
Marius Olivier, Director of the Centre for International and Comparative Labour and Social Security Law (CICLASS), University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Francesco Pastore, Researcher, Seconda Università di Napoli and IZA Bonn
Daiva Petrylaite, Associate Professor, Labour Law Department, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Riani Rachmawati, PhD Candidate, University of Birmingham, Business School, United Kingdom
Ekaterina Ribarova, Executive Secretary, Confederation of the Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria
Olga Rymkevitch, Researcher at the Marco Biagi Centre for International and Comparative Studies, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
Leonardo Sforza, Head of Research for Europe and EU Relations, Hewitt Associates
Dagmara Skupien, University of Lodz, Faculty of Law and Administration, Poland
Michele Tiraboschi, Researcher at the Marco Biagi Centre for International and Comparative Studies, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
Hiroaki Richard Watanabe, University of Oxford, Oriental Institute, United Kingdom
Stefan Zagelmeyer, Professor of Human Resource Management at the Cologne Business School, Germany
Michael J. Zimmer, Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, USA
Introductory Remarks: Commemorating Marco Biagi
On many occasions since the unspeakable terrorist attack in which Marco Biagi was assassinated on 19 March 2002, we have underlined the importance of continuing to commemorate him with dedication and determination. And on many occasions in the five long years since Marco’s life was taken from him, we have seen that many people have had the strength and determination to stand up in his name, both through their academic work and teaching, and in designing projects in the service of institutions and civil society, while refusing to be intimidated by the threats and mindless violence of terrorism.
It is thanks to these people – truly numerous, starting from the young researchers and the members of the Academic Advisory Board of the School for Advanced Studies of ADAPT and the Marco Biagi Foundation at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia – that it has been possible to conserve the wealth of ideas and projects, but also the particular working method inherited from Marco. And thanks to these people a school of thought has taken shape, associated with the name of Marco Biagi, that believes in and is working towards a new culture of labour and industrial relations. A school of thought that is open to interdisciplinary and comparative study and which, while respecting pluralism and the diversity of ideas and beliefs, advocates by means of dialogue and the strength of ideas the profound reasons for renewal, in an awareness that the future belongs to the whole of society, and for this reason has to be constructed in a dimension that is as inclusive and participatory as possible.
It is in this perspective and spirit of constructive dialogue that last March the School for Advanced Studies in Industrial and Labour Relations of ADAPT and the Marco Biagi Foundation (www.fmb.unimore.it) organised an international conference in commemoration of Prof. Marco Biagi entitled The Global Workplace: learning from each other. This conference, for the first time in five years, provided an opportunity not just for Marco’s loyal, generous and long-standing friends, including Janice Bellace, Roger Blanpain, Luigi Mariucci, Alan Neal, Jacques Rojot, Yasuo Suwa, Tiziano Treu and Manfred Weiss (to name but a few) to join us, but also for new friends and colleagues, including many young scholars, from different parts of the world, as shown by the papers included in this issue, that Roger Blanpain generously offered to host, with the language editing carried out as usual by our valued friend and colleague, William Bromwich.
The consolidation also at an international level of this School of Advanced Studies promoted by the Biagi family and by a prestigious institution such as the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, founded in 1175, provides a stimulus to continue in this direction. Marco Biagi dedicated a great deal of time and energy to promoting a school of thought for the dissemination of a new culture of work and industrial relations. Such an ambitious and courageous project could not be carried forward by one person alone, and of this Marco was well aware. For this reason, especially in the latter years, he dedicated himself with youthful enthusiasm and energy to the construction of an international and comparative research centre in order to provide a forum for dialogue, in the service of what he called “the project”, between the leading schools of labour law not just of Europe but also the United States, Canada and Japan.
This project continues to develop and it has been strengthened in recent years by the Foundation named after him set up in 2003 at the initiative of the Biagi family and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. In the space of a few years the Foundation has become an internationally recognised centre of excellence for research and advanced-level teaching in labour and industrial relations. Otherwise it would be hard to explain its force of attraction for students and faculty members from all round the world, not to mention its ability, in line with best practice in other countries, to attract considerable amounts of private funding aimed at selecting and training future leaders for our country by means of innovative forms of advanced study and partnership with the world of enterprise, including an international Doctoral Research School, that distinguishes itself in the international panorama in terms of the number and qualifications of its research students. In addition, the School runs a second-level degree in labour relations and numerous masters’ programmes in the form of apprenticeship schemes in which students are hired by enterprises with a view to taking part in further training.
Clearly in Italy and other parts of the world there are many institutions of higher education that focus on the fascinating area of human relations that is labour and industrial relations. The added value of the programmes run by the School for Advanced Studies of the Marco Biagi Foundation consists of the method adopted, or rather inherited from Marco Biagi’s teachings. This is a highly innovative approach at least in the Italian context, as it takes its inspiration from the interdisciplinary and comparative dimension of labour relations, and as it is characterised by the strong motivation and sense of belonging linking the faculty members, researchers, external consultants, students (past, present and future) of the School. The researchers, lecturers and young scholars at the School for Advanced Studies in Industrial and Labour Relations of the Marco Biagi Foundation, though coming from all parts of the world, all speak a common language characterised by a passion and determination to improve their skills and competences and to help and support each other. And in this way Marco continues to speak to us...
Michele Tiraboschi
October 2007