Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations - 70

The Modernization of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in a Comparative Perspective

Contributors:

Pablo Arellano Ortiz

Cle´mence Aubert

Francisco Jose´ Barba Ramos

Martin Bartmann

Eva Berde

Tomas Berglund

Jorge Bernedo Alvarado

Sabine Blum-Geenen

Rosalind Chew

Chew Soon-Beng

Tomas Davulis

Elmarie Fourie

Bengt Fura°ker

Yosi Gattegno

Rick Glofcheski

Judy Haiven

Larry Haiven

Itzhak Harpaz

Frank Hendrickx

Richard Hyman

Laura Innocenti

Patrice Jalette

Evgevny Khokhlov

Hector Lucena

Sonia McKay

Sian Moore

Merle Muda

Marius Olivier

Massimo Pilati

Anna Pollert

Malcolm Rimmer

Jacques Rojot

Olga Rymkevich

Fabio Sabatini

Paul Smith

Silvia Spattini

Elsa Underhill

Kees J. Vos

Murad Wis´niewski

Alexander V. Zavgorodniy

Summary of Contents

Notes on Contributors xxi

Editorial xxv

Part I

Comparative Approaches to Labour Law and Industrial Relations 1

Chapter 1

How Can We Study Industrial Relations Comparatively? 3

Richard Hyman

Chapter 2

Lessons from the Past? Critique of ‘How Can We Study Industrial Relations Comparatively?’ 25

Jacques Rojot

Chapter 3

The Case for the Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study of Labour Relations 29

Luis Aparicio Valdez and Jorge Bernedo Alvarado

Chapter 4

Industrial Relations in International Business Theory: The Case for Comparative and Interdisciplinary Research 37

Murad L. Wis´niewski

Part II

Industrial Relations and Trade Union Rights 51

Chapter 5

Trade Union Rights in a Free Market Area: The EU Experience in Laval and Viking 53

Frank Hendrickx

Chapter 6

The Delta Site Selection Process at General Motors Europe: Works Council and Union Cooperation as a Participatory Model 77

Martin Bartmann and Sabine Blum-Geenen

Chapter 7

The Impact of Economic and Political Change upon Workplace Trade Union Representation in the UK 97

Sonia McKay and Sian Moore

Chapter 8

The Limits of Individual Employment Rights: The Reality of Neoliberalism 113

Anna Pollert and Paul Smith

Chapter 9

Workplace-Level Evidence of Outsourcing Consequences in Unionized Canadian Manufacturing 133

Patrice Jalette

Part III

Atypical Employment 157

Chapter 10

Are Atypical Employment Contracts Exclusively for New Entrants? The Case of the French Press 159

Cle´mence Aubert

Chapter 11

State Protection for Temporary Agency Workers: Australian Developments 173

Elsa Underhill and Malcolm Rimmer

Part IV

Social Protection and Social Security 193

Chapter 12

Globalization and Social Protection 195

Kees J. Vos

Chapter 13

Changes of Employer, Employment Protection and Labour Market Attachment: An Analysis of Swedish Data from 1972 to 1998 211

Bengt Fura°ker and Tomas Berglund

Chapter 14

The Reform of Social Protection Systems and Flexicurity in a European Perspective 233

Silvia Spattini

Chapter 15

Extension of Labour Law and Social Security Protection to the Informal Sector: Developing Country Perspectives, with Specific Reference to Southern Africa 241

Marius Olivier

Chapter 16

The Informal Economy, Social Security and Legislative Attempts to Extend Social Security Protection 271

Elmarie Fourie

Part V

Human Resource Management 295

Chapter 17

Worker Participation, Organizational Climate and Change 297

Massimo Pilati and Laura Innocenti

Chapter 18

Does Social Capital Mitigate Labour Precariousness? 313

Fabio Sabatini

Part VI

Country Reports 331

Chapter 19

The Local Dimension of the European Employment Strategy: The Clash of Competences in the Spanish Administration 333

Francisco Jose´ Barba Ramos

Chapter 20

Flexicurity in Hungary 355

Eva Berde

Chapter 21

The Fifth Anniversary of the New Lithuanian Labour Code: Time for Change? 373

Tomas Davulis

Chapter 22

Increasing the Flexibility of Employment Regulation in Estonia 385

Merle Muda

Chapter 23

The State, Society and the Individual in Labour Relations in Russia 397

Evgevny Khokhlov and Olga Rymkevich

Chapter 24

Higher Education and Academic Recruitment in Russia 405

Alexander V. Zavgorodniy

Chapter 25

Adverse Employment Conditions in Israel 413

Itzhak Harpaz and Yosi Gattegno

Chapter 26

The Employability Approach to the Protection of Workers’ Rights in Singapore 423

Chew Soon-Beng and Rosalind Chew

Chapter 27

Job Security Issues in a Laissez-faire Economy: The Case of Hong Kong 441

Rick Glofcheski

Chapter 28

Do Cooperatives Protect Workers’ Rights? Lessons from Canada 459

Judy Haiven and Larry Haiven

Chapter 29

Protecting the Health of Staff in Restaurant Smoking Areas in Chile 473

Pablo Arellano Ortiz

Chapter 30

Labour in a Time of Transition: Labour and Political Changes in Venezuela 483

Hector Lucena

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors xxi

Editorial xxv

Part I

Comparative Approaches to Labour Law and Industrial Relations 1

Chapter 1

How Can We Study Industrial Relations Comparatively? 3

Richard Hyman

1. Introduction 3

2. Cross-National Comparison: Essential But Impossible? 4

3. Are All Descriptors Context-Bound? 7

4. The Problem of Typification 9

5. Institutions, Path-Dependence and Change 11

6. Rational Choice, Fuzzy Sets and Historical Conditionality 14

7. Conclusion 17

References 18

Chapter 2

Lessons from the Past? Critique of ‘How Can We Study Industrial Relations Comparatively?’ 25

Jacques Rojot

Chapter 3

The Case for the Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study of Labour Relations 29

Luis Aparicio Valdez and Jorge Bernedo Alvarado

1. Introduction 29

2. The Importance of Comparative and Interdisciplinary Studies 30

3. Social Insurance as an Element of Integration 32

4. Another Example: Employment Policies 33

5. Conclusion: The Interdiscliplinary Nature of Labour Relations 34

Chapter 4

Industrial Relations in International Business Theory: The Case for Comparative and Interdisciplinary Research 37

Murad L. Wis´niewski

1. Introduction 37

2. The Smithsonian Paradigm 38

3. The Coasian Paradigm 39

4. The Schumpeterian Paradigm 40

5. Conclusions 43

References 44

Part II

Industrial Relations and Trade Union Rights 51

Chapter 5

Trade Union Rights in a Free Market Area: The EU Experience in Laval and Viking 53

Frank Hendrickx

1. Introduction 53

2. Social Policy Background of the Cases 54

2.1. General Overview 54

2.2. Deregulation of the Internal Market and the Fear of Social Dumping 55

2.3. The Example of the European Services Directive 56

2.3.1. The Country of Employment Principle 57

2.3.2. The Post-enlargement Transition Periods and Worker Mobility 59

2.3.3. The Increased Relevance of Posting 60

2.3.4. The Right to Strike under EU Labour Law 62

2.3.5. Actual and Potential Immunities from Free Market Principles 64

3. The Viking and Laval Cases 66

3.1. Viking 66

3.2. Laval 68

4. Discussion of the Significance of the Cases 71

Chapter 6

The Delta Site Selection Process at General Motors Europe: Works Council and Union Cooperation as a Participatory Model 77

Martin Bartmann and Sabine Blum-Geenen

1. Introduction 77

2. Site Selection Processes at General Motors 78

3. The Europeanization of Workers’ Representation/Industrial Relations at GME 78

4. The Delta site Selection Process 79

4.1. Five Plants Competing 79

4.2. Management Strategy in the Delta Site Selection Process 81

4.3. Strategies of Employee Representatives and Trade Unions 84

5. Global Platforms and Site Competition at General Motors: Challenges for Trade Unions and Workers 87

6. Conclusions 90

6.1. Employee Cooperation at GME as a Blueprint for Other Companies? 90

6.2. Revision and Widening of the EWC Directive: Engagement of the Unions 92

6.3. Legitimization of Employee Representatives’ Cooperation at Transnational Level 93

Table of Abbreviations and ‘GM-Speak’ 94

References 95

Chapter 7

The Impact of Economic and Political Change upon Workplace

Trade Union Representation in the UK 97

Sonia McKay and Sian Moore

1. Introduction 97

2. Methodology 99

3. The Legal and Industrial Context 99

4. The Regulation of Workplace Representatives and their Rights to Time Off 101

5. The Changed Context of Representation 104

6. Conclusion 110

Bibliography 111

Chapter 8

The Limits of Individual Employment Rights: The Reality of Neoliberalism 113

Anna Pollert and Paul Smith

1. Introduction: The Rise of Employment Rights 113

2. The New Agenda of Neoliberalism 115

2.1. Individual Employment Rights 115

2.2. Trade Unions and Industrial Action 118

3. Rights in Practice 121

4. Conclusion: A Rhetoric of Rights 125

Bibliography 127

Chapter 9

Workplace-Level Evidence of Outsourcing Consequences in Unionized Canadian Manufacturing 133

Patrice Jalette

1. Introduction 133

2. Outsourcing Motives 135

3. Outsourcing Consequences 137

4. Outsourcing and Industrial Relations 139

5. Methods 141

5.1. Survey 141

5.2. Dependent and Independent Variables 142

5.2.1. Outsourcing Consequences 142

5.2.2. Outsourcing Motives 143

5.2.3. Union-Management Relationship Climate 143

5.2.4. External Solidarity 144

5.2.5. Internal Solidarity 144

5.2.6. Union’s Strategic Capacity 144

5.2.7. Union’s Involvement in Outsourcing Decisions 145

5.3. Control Variables 145

5.3.1. Extent of Outsourcing 145

5.3.2. Competition 145

5.3.3. Size 145

5.3.4. Industry and Technology 146

5.4. Data Analysis 146

6. Results 146

7. Discussion 150

References 153

Part III

Atypical Employment 157

Chapter 10

Are Atypical Employment Contracts Exclusively for New Entrants? The Case of the French Press 159

Cle´mence Aubert

1. Introduction 159

2. Pigistes: A Heterogeneous Group 161

2.1. Pigistes as Professional Journalists 161

2.2. Characteristics of Journalists: Age and Tenure 162

2.3. Employment Contracts and Income 164

3. The Theoretical and Economic Justifications for the Segmentation of Employment in Journalism 165

3.1. Labour Market Segmentation 165

3.2. The Contribution of the Theory of Dualism 165

3.3. The Intrinsic Reasons for Recourse to Pigistes 167

4. Cost Considerations 168

5. Conclusions 169

Bibliography 169

Chapter 11

State Protection for Temporary Agency Workers: Australian Developments 173

Elsa Underhill and Malcolm Rimmer

1. Introduction 173

2. Legislative Protection for Temporary Agency Workers 176

3. Collective Agreements and Agency Workers 182

4. Slipping through the Gaps 186

5. Regulation of Temporary Agency Workers under Work Choices 188

6. Prospects for Change 190

Part IV

Social Protection and Social Security 193

Chapter 12

Globalization and Social Protection 195

Kees J. Vos

1. Introduction 195

2. The Impact of Globalization 196

3. Globalisation and the National Level 200

4. Regional Governance 202

5. Global Governance 204

6. Concluding Remarks 205

Bibliography 207

Chapter 13

Changes of Employer, Employment Protection and Labour Market Attachment: An Analysis of Swedish Data from 1972 to 1998 211

Bengt Fura°ker and Tomas Berglund

1. Introduction 211

2. Swedish Employment Protection Legislation 213

3. Employment Protection Legislation and Mobility 216

4. Labour Market Attachment 218

5. Data, Variables and Analyses 219

5.1. Methodology 219

5.2. Empirical Analysis I 221

5.3. Empirical Analysis II 226

6. Conclusions 230

References 231

Chapter 14

The Reform of Social Protection Systems and Flexicurity in a European Perspective 233

Silvia Spattini

1. Social Protection Systems: Characteristics and Reforms 233

2. Flexicurity in the Perspective of Integration between Social Protection and ALMPs 235

3. Concluding Remarks 239

Chapter 15

Extension of Labour Law and Social Security Protection to the Informal Sector: Developing Country Perspectives, with Specific Reference to Southern Africa 241

Marius Olivier

1. Introduction 241

2. Contextual Framework: The Labour Market, Social and Economic Policies and Poverty Indicators 242

3. Definitional Context 247

4. Coverage Restrictions 250

5. Extension of Coverage 254

5.1. Definitional and Conceptual Approaches 254

5.2. Extending Coverage: Alternative Institutional Arrangements and Appropriate Regulatory Responses 258

5.3. Human Rights, International Standards and Standard-Setting 264

6. Conclusions 268

Chapter 16

The Informal Economy, Social Security and Legislative Attempts to Extend Social Security Protection 271

Elmarie Fourie

1. Introduction 271

2. The Labour Market Context 273

3. International Law, the ILO and New Forms of Work 273

4. Social Security Protection and the Informal Economy 275

4.1. Informality Trends Getting Worse 275

4.2. Social Security and the Informal Economy 276

4.3. Organizing the Informal Worker 277

4.3.1. Case Studies 278

4.3.2. Tanzania 278

4.3.3. India 278

4.3.3.1. Self-Employed Women’s Association 279

4.3.3.2. SEWU: The South African Counterpart 280

4.4. The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) 281

4.5. South Africa 281

5. Some Examples of Legislative Attempts to Extend Social Security to Informal Workers and the Self-Employed 283

5.1. Introduction 283

5.2. Unorganised Workers Social Security Bill, 2008, India 283

5.3. Social Security Bill, 2005, United Republic of Tanzania 286

5.4. The Social Security Act 34 of 1994 of Namibia 289

5.5. Legislative Attempts 289

6. Conclusions 290

Bibliography 291

Part V

Human Resource Management 295

Chapter 17

Worker Participation, Organizational Climate and Change 297

Massimo Pilati and Laura Innocenti

1. Introduction 297

2. Organizational Change, Employment Relations and European Recommendations for Employee Participation and Involvement 298

3. Organizational Climate Surveys, Protection of Personal Rights and Freedom of Opinion 299

4. Research Design and Methodology 300

5. ‘Ideal Types’ of Organization: Trendy, Evolutionary, Cynical and Fatalistic 301

6. Conclusions and Suggestions for Further Research 307

References 309

Chapter 18

Does Social Capital Mitigate Labour Precariousness? 313

Fabio Sabatini

1. Introduction 313

2. Definitions 315

3. The Labour Market 316

4. Empirical Analysis 318

5. Conclusions 323

Bibliography 324

Annex 1. Tables 326

Annex 2. Goodness of fit 329

Part VI

Country Reports 331

Chapter 19

The Local Dimension of the European Employment Strategy: The Clash of Competences in the Spanish Administration 333

Francisco Jose´ Barba Ramos

1. Introduction 333

2. Employment in European Summits: The Local Dimension 335

3. The Role of the Spanish Local Administration in Employment Policy the Legal Framework and Opportunities for Action: In Keeping with European Guidelines? 341

4. Application of Community Guidelines and Inter-administrative Coordination in Spain 346

5. Conclusions 352

Chapter 20

Flexicurity in Hungary 355

Eva Berde

1. Introduction 355

2. Hungarian Background Data and Regulation of Flexicurity 357

3. Company-Level Employee Organizations Participating in the Social Dialogue 365

4. Conclusions 371

Chapter 21

The Fifth Anniversary of the New Lithuanian Labour Code: Time for Change? 373

Tomas Davulis

1. Introduction 373

2. Adoption of the Lithuanian Labour Code in 2002 374

3. The Normative Effect of the Labour Code 376

4. Balancing Statutory, Individual and Collective Regulatory Methods 378

5. Bringing the Law into Line with Contemporary Changes at Work 380

5.1. Regulation by Statutory Law 380

5.2. Working Time 380

5.3. New Forms of Work 381

5.4. Homogeneity of Regulation 382

5.5. The Scope of Application of Labour Legislation 383

6. Conclusions 383

References 384

Chapter 22

Increasing the Flexibility of Employment Regulation in Estonia 385

Merle Muda

1. Introduction 385

2. Entering into Employment Contracts 387

2.1. Form and Conditions of the Employment Contract 387

2.2. Fixed-Term Employment Contracts 389

3. Termination of Employment Contracts at the Initiative of the Employer 390

3.1. Grounds and Formal Requirements of Termination 390

3.2. Employer’s Fiscal Obligations in the Case of Dismissal for Economic Reasons 392

4. Regulation of Non-standard Work 394

5. Concluding Remarks 395

Chapter 23

The State, Society and the Individual in Labour Relations in Russia 397

Evgevny Khokhlov and Olga Rymkevich

1. Introduction 397

2. The Changing Role of the State in Modern Russia 397

3. Critical Aspects of Current Russian Labour Legislation 398

4. The Position of Trade Unions in Russian Law 400

5. The Divergence of Russian Laws from International Norms 403

Chapter 24

Higher Education and Academic Recruitment in Russia 405

Alexander V. Zavgorodniy

1. The Bologna Process and Higher Education in Russia 405

2. The Appointment of Academic Staff in Russian Universities 406

3. The Election of University Rectors in Russia 409

Chapter 25

Adverse Employment Conditions in Israel 413

Itzhak Harpaz and Yosi Gattegno

1. Introduction 413

2. Common Violations of Employment Protection Provisions 414

3. The Background to the Development of Adverse Employment in Israel 417

4. The Negative Consequences of Adverse Employment Conditions 419

5. Preventive and Deterrent Measures against Adverse Employment Conditions 420

References 420

Chapter 26

The Employability Approach to the Protection of Workers’ Rights in Singapore 423

Chew Soon-Beng and Rosalind Chew

1. Introduction 423

2. Overview 424

3. Labour Legislation in Singapore 425

3.1. Core Labour Standards 425

3.2. The Employment Act 425

3.3. The Trade Unions Act 426

3.4. The Workplace Safety and Health Act 426

3.5. The Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill 426

4. Singapore’s Achievements in Terms of Workers’ Rights 427

5. Policies in Support of the Right to Employment 429

5.1. Singapore’s Social Security Policy 429

5.2. Immigration Policies 430

6. Foreign Labour-Management Policies 432

6.1. The Work Permit System 432

6.2. Foreign Labour in Singapore Sectors 433

6.3. Quantitative Impact of Using Foreign Labour as a Buffer 434

7. Schemes to Encourage the Training and Employment of Residents 435

8. Policies to Help Low-Wage Workers Cope with Competition 437

9. Price Stability 438

10. Conclusions 439

References 439

Chapter 27

Job Security Issues in a Laissez-faire Economy: The Case of Hong Kong 441

Rick Glofcheski

1. Introduction 441

2. Hong Kong in Perspective 442

3. Job Insecurity in Hong Kong (or How to (Legally) Undermine an Already Minimalist Job Security Regime) 445

4. The Contract of Employment and the Exclusion of Workers 446

5. Exclusion of Non-permanent and Part-time Workers 447

6. Discrimination for Trade Union Activities 449

7. Striking Workers 449

8. Pregnant Workers 450

9. Foreign Domestic Helpers 452

10. Workers Generally and Summary Dismissal 452

11. Inadequacy of Remedies for Wrongful Termination 455

12. Conclusion 456

Chapter 28

Do Cooperatives Protect Workers’ Rights? Lessons from Canada 459

Judy Haiven and Larry Haiven

1. Introduction 459

2. Human Resources in a Typical versus a Unionized Workplace 459

3. Classifying Cooperatives 461

4. The Fogo Island Fishing Cooperative 462

4.1. Background 462

4.2. Decline of the Fishery 463

4.3. Labour Relations in the Newfoundland Fishery 464

4.4. The Cooperative and the Union 464

4.5. Three Key Labour/Management Disputes at the Coop 465

4.5.1. Dockside Grading Dispute 465

4.5.2. Capitalization for Fishers 465

4.5.3. The Coop and Human Rights 466

4.6. Relations between the Fogo Coop and the Plant-Workers’ Union 468

5. Conclusion 468

Bibliography 470

Chapter 29

Protecting the Health of Staff in Restaurant Smoking Areas in Chile 473

Pablo Arellano Ortiz

1. Introduction 473

2. Health: A Fundamental Right 475

2.1. Occupational Health 475

2.2. The Duty of the State 475

2.3. Renouncing a Fundamental Right? 477

3. The Employer’s Obligation to Safeguard the Workers 478

3.1. Power in the Employment Relationship 478

3.2. The Employer’s Duty of Care 478

3.3. Compensation Awards 479

4. Final Remarks 480

Bibliography 481

Chapter 30

Labour in a Time of Transition: Labour and Political Changes in Venezuela 483

Hector Lucena

1. Introduction 483

2. Labour Relations in Venezuela 484

3. Labour Relations and Inequality 485

4. Regionally What Is the Problem? 487

5. The Commitment to Inclusion and Integration 488

6. What Happens When Labour Relations Institutions Represent Fewer and Fewer People? 489

7. The Essential Condition for Industrial Relations: The Existence of Jobs 489

Bibliography 490

Notes on Contributors

Luis Aparicio Valdez, President, Asociacio´n Peruana de Relaciones de Trabajo (APERT); Editor-in-Chief, Ana´lisis Laboral, Peru; Past President, International Industrial Relations Association

Pablo Arellano Ortiz, Lawyer, Universidad de Concepcio´n, Chile; M2R Droit Social, Universite´ de Paris II, France; M2R Droit Social et Droit de la Sante´, Universite´ de Paris X; PhD Candidate in Labour and Social Security Law, Universite´ de Paris X Nanterre, France

Cle´mence Aubert, CES, CNRS Universite´ Panthe´on-Sorbonne-Paris 1, France

Francisco Jose´ Barba Ramos, Professor and Head of Employment, Universidad de Huelva, Spain

Martin Bartmann, Researcher on the EU project GMEECO (Requirements and perspectives of General Motors Europe Employees Cooperation); PhD candidate, Kaiserslautern Technical University, Department of Sociology, with the support of the Hans Bo¨ckler Foundation

Eva Berde, Senior Associate Professor, Corvinus University, Budapest

Tomas Berglund, Department of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Jorge Bernedo Alvarado Ana´lisis Laboral, Lima, Peru

Sabine Blum-Geenen Formerly head of research coordination in the policy department of IG Metall responsible for GMEECO; currently in the department for coordination of the IG Metall national office

Rosalind Chew, Associate Professor, Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Chew Soon-Beng, Professor, Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Tomas Davulis, Associate Professor, Chair of Labour Law, Faculty of Law, Vilnius University, Lithuania

Elmarie Fourie, Lecturer in Labour Law, Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Bengt Fura°ker, Department of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Yosi Gattegno, Industrial Relations and Labor Law Consultant, Haifa, Israel

Rick Glofcheski, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, China

Judy Haiven, Dept. of Management, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada

Larry Haiven, Dept. of Management, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada

Itzhak Harpaz, Director of the Center for the Study of Organizations & Human Resource Management, and Professor at the Graduate School of Management, University of Haifa, Israel

Frank Hendrickx, Jean Monnet Professor, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; Associate Professor, University of Leuven, Belgium

Richard Hyman, Professor in IndustrialRelations, London School of Economics,UK

Laura Innocenti, LUISS University, Rome; Great Place to Work Institute Italia, Milan, Italy

Patrice Jalette, E ´ cole de relations industrielles, Inter-University Research Centre on Globalization and Work, Universite´ de Montre´al, Canada

Evgevny Khokhlov, Full Professor of Labour Law, St Petersburg State University, Russia

Hector Lucena, Coordinador Doctorado Ciencias Sociales, Estudios del Trabajo, Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela

Sonia McKay, Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University, UK

SianMoore,WorkingLives Research Institute,London MetropolitanUniversity,UK

Merle Muda, Associate Professor in Labour and Social Security Law, University of Tartu, Estonia

Marius Olivier, Director, Centre for International and Comparative Labour and Social Security Law (CICLASS), University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Massimo Pilati, Department of Management, Marco Biagi Faculty of Economics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Department of Organization and HRM, SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy

Anna Pollert, Professor of Sociology of Work, Centre for Employment Studies Research, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, UK

Malcolm Rimmer, Head of the School of Business, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Jacques Rojot, Professor of Management, Universite´ Panthe´on Assas (Paris II), France

Olga Rymkevich, Research fellow, Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy

Fabio Sabatini, Research fellow, Department of Economics, and Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science, University of Siena, Italy

Paul Smith, Centre for Industrial Relations, School of Economics and Management, Keele University, UK

Silvia Spattini, Research fellow, Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy

Elsa Underhill, Senior Lecturer, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

Kees J. Vos, formerly international policy advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment; currently research fellow at the Dutch Research Institute TNO Quality of Life

Murad L. Wis´niewski, Research fellow, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Alexander V. Zavgorodniy, Full Professor, Labour Law Department, St. Petersburg State University School of Law, Russia

Editorial

It was therefore fitting that, in addition to Marco’s many friends and colleagues from various parts of Italy and numerous countries in Europe and beyond, who over the years have testified to the strength of their affection and esteem by contributing to the events organized by the Marco Biagi Foundation, a large number of scholars from many countries around the world attended the annual Conference in Modena for the first time. In this way they responded to the invitation of the Marco Biagi Foundation, set up by the Biagi family and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, to contribute to a research initiative that was a continuation of Marco’s work. The topic of the Conference, ‘Workers’ rights protection in a new world of work: The case for a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to labour relations’, attracted scholars from a range of disciplines, and nearly all the chapters in this issue of the Bulletin were given on that occasion.

This volume begins with a critique of the comparative approach by Richard Hyman, who underlines the incommensurability of specific national institutions in an international perspective, a problem that is not simply a matter of terminology, as pointed out in the work of Marco Biagi. Hyman’s fairly pessimistic conclusions are not shared by Jacques Rojot, who refers in his riposte to early comparative scholarship dating back to the 1960s. The practical implications of comparative studies are highlighted by Luis Aparicio Valdez and Jorge Bernedo Alvarado, who discuss labour law in Peru and its relations with a number of other countries in Latin America. Murad Wis´niewski examines competing paradigms in the field of international business theory, paying particular attention to the Varieties of Capitalism approach, and its strong focus on employee relations in the firm.

With regard to the regulation of the labour market in the EU, on the other hand, Frank Hendrickx provides an authoritative in-depth analysis of the Laval and Viking rulings by the European Court of Justice, and their implications for trade-union rights in the Single Market. The EU perspective is also central to the chapter by Martin Bartmann and Sabine Blum-Geenen, who report on a project set up in response to the site selection process adopted by General Motors Europe, in which the trade unions managed to prevent a ‘race to the bottom’ during a period of economic downturn by means of a coordinated strategy based on the principle of ‘sharing the pain’.

The chapter by Sonia McKay and Sian Moore provides an analysis of recent changes in trade union representation in the UK, against a backdrop of declining membership and a shift in political power towards employers and away from workers. Their survey findings indicate that union representatives are increasingly dedicating their time to individual casework rather than collective representation, with the boundaries between their work time and personal lives tending to break down. Anna Pollert and Paul Smith in their chapter point to the dominance of neoliberal discourse and the weakness of trade unions in the UK, recalling Kahn-Freund’s argument that without powerful trade unions the effectiveness of legal regulation of employment is limited. Patrice Jalette starts from the claim that outsourcing has negative consequences for workers, in terms of job losses, a decline in wages and working conditions, and a weakening of union power, but then goes on to present survey data from the Canadian manufacturing sector to investigate this claim.

In the next two chapters the focus is on atypical employment. Cle´mence Aubert examines atypical employment contracts in the French press, and discusses the extent to which the use of these contracts can be justified, bearing in mind that they are used not only for new entrants, but also for fully qualified journalists, many of whom are specialists in their field. Elsa Underhill and Malcolm Rimmer on the other hand discuss State protection for temporary agency workers in Australia, arguing that such workers can ‘fall between the cracks’ in protective regulation unless specific provisions are made for them.

With regard to globalization and social protection, Kees J. Vos highlights the risk for employment posed by operations on the financial markets, in particular, hedge funds, credit derivatives, and credit default swaps. In this connection he notes that taxpayers are expected to pay for the excessive self-enrichment of investment fund managers. The unprecedented developments on financial markets in recent months provide confirmation of the accuracy of his analysis.

In their diachronic analysis of employment protection measures in the Swedish labour market, Bengt Fura°ker and Tomas Berglund consider the impact of such measures on the willingness of workers to move from one employer to another, providing survey data to support their claims. Still with regard to employment protection, Silvia Spattini discusses the importance of active labour market policies in a workfare/flexicurity perspective, in order to facilitate a smooth transition between jobs.

Social protection may have one meaning in Europe, but quite another one in Southern Africa, where the informal sector plays a dominant role in the economy.

The extension of social protection to those employed in the informal sector is the issue addressed by Marius Olivier, and then also by Elmarie Fourie.

In terms of human resource management, Massimo Pilati and Laura Innocenti discuss worker participation in relation to organizational climate and change, providing a classification of various kinds of corporate culture. Fabio Sabatini, on the other hand, uses econometric modelling to examine the role of social capital in offsetting the negative effects of precariousness.

The remaining chapters in this volume are single-country reports. Francisco Jose´ Barba Ramos discusses recent developments in Spain, noting a two-fold phenomenon of supra-state intervention in employment on the one hand, and political decentralization on the other.

In her contribution Eva Berde assesses Hungary’s ranking in the EU in terms of various flexibility indicators, while citing some interesting positive flexibility practices, for example in the case of workers with disabilities, and women returning to work after the birth of a child.

The new Lithuanian Labour Code is subject to critical scrutiny by Tomas Davulis, who proposes ways of introducing greater labour market flexibility. A similar analysis is provided by Merle Muda with regard to the regulation of the Estonian labour market, and by Evgevny Khokhlov and Olga Rymkevich with regard to Russian labour regulations, whereas the focus of the chapter by Alexander Zavgorodniy is the recent reform of higher education in Russia, and issues relating to academic recruitment.

In their critique of the Israeli labour market, Itzhak Harpaz and Yosi Gattegno cast light on the treatment of workers employed in hard, degrading, discriminating and humiliating conditions, often in violation of human rights and human dignity and in contrast with ILO standards. They also examine the role of negative criticism by the media and non-profit organizations in the protection of workers’ rights in cases where trade unions are lacking.

The protection of workers’ rights in Singapore is the topic addressed by Chew Soon-Beng and Rosalind Chew, who provide evidence to show that Singapore not only upholds the five core labour standards of the ILO, but also provides additional measures. However, in the case of Hong Kong, a less favourable appraisal of local employment conditions emerges from the chapter by Rick Glofcheski.

From Hong Kong the focus moves across the Pacific to Canada, where Judy Haiven and Larry Haiven examine workers’ rights in a fishing cooperative.

Finally, in Latin America, Pablo Arellano Ortiz considers health protection for workers in restaurants in Chile, and Hector Lucena provides an overview of political and labour market changes in the oil economy of Venezuela.

In conclusion, the range and depth of the studies in this issue relating to the protection of workers’ rights, and the great variety of countries represented, in geographical, linguistic, and political terms, is remarkable, and a very real tribute to Marco’s memory as an outstanding labour law scholar whose intellectual curiosity led him to investigate labour and employment issues far beyond the confines of the nation-state.

William Bromwich

Olga Rymkevich

Silvia Spattini

December 2008