Trade Unions

  • Permalink Gallery

    Will it pay to be large in the EU steel industry? The answer may not be straightforward

Will it pay to be large in the EU steel industry? The answer may not be straightforward

The EU steel industry faces major challenges in the shape of rising prices for raw materials, fierce competition from international producers, and global overcapacity. Niccolò Pisani and Emilio Riva explain that the reaction to these problems has often been to advocate increased market concentration. However, the disruptive influence of artificial intelligence and growing anti-globalisation sentiment, epitomised by Donald Trump’s decision to impose a […]

June 24th, 2018|International Issues, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

The Origins and Nature of Modern Day Populism: Labour Market Dualisation and Political Alienation

Dustin Voss of the London School of Economics investigates the politico-economic origins of populism in his latest LEQS working paper. Comparing Germany and Spain, he notes that populism as a distinct form of protest voting has its roots in perceived labour market inequalities and he argues that sustained flexibilisation and casualisation in low-wage sectors stokes political outrage. In order […]

June 8th, 2018|Labour Markets, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

Is this time different? The social effects of automation

Bob Hancké of the LSE applauds a rare empirical study of the effects of automation on inequality

An interesting blog post here, with a link to a paper by David Hope (Kings College London) and Angelo Martelli (LSE). They examine the inequality effects of the ‘knowledge economy’. There are two important reasons why this is a very relvant piece of […]

May 9th, 2018|Labour Markets, Social Conditions, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

Europe needs a pay rise and young Europeans need jobs

Steve Coulter of the European Trade Union Institute cautions that improving growth figures in the European Union mask widening regional disparities in GDP per head and real wages, while many of the jobs that have been created are part time and/or precarious. Action to sustain the modest recovery and share out its spoils should go beyond sustaining demand – […]

April 19th, 2018|Eurozone Crisis, Featured, Labour Markets, Social Conditions, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

Social Partnership in Europe in the face of the future

Steve Coulter of the LSE examines the state of workplace cooperation in Europe and finds some cracks, as well as some shards of light, in the edifice of social partnership

Social partnership – or institutionalised co-operation between business and labour, sometimes overseen by governments – has been a feature of most European economies since the Second World War. Many informed […]

March 16th, 2018|Labour Markets, Social Conditions, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

The Politics of Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Tim Vlandas of Reading University examines potential political support for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) – an idea with a long lineage that cuts across ideological lines. He concludes that a UBI could potentially find backing from a coalition between centrist and left-leaning individuals, ideally with additional support from trade unions

Universal Basic Income (UBI) has a long history. The idea […]

March 7th, 2018|Labour Markets, Social Conditions, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

Has Austria’s decade-long revival of neo-corporatism come to an end?

Lukas Lehner of the OECD examines Austria’s decade long renaissance of social partners and how it caused a divergence from the liberalising trajectory with several de-liberalising and re-regulating policies being adopted

On a global scale, the dominating trend of liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation has accelerated since the economic crisis of 2008. Under the paradigm of competitiveness, a major policy goal […]

January 2nd, 2018|Labour Markets, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

The European Pillar of Social Rights: Bridging the gaps or falling short?

This week marks the first birthday of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Here, we are republishing a blog written by Zane Rasnača of the European Trade Union Institute, in which she suggests a few ays in which the EPSR could move beyond soft law to become something more hard-hitting and effective

The events surrounding the European Pillar of Social […]

October 20th, 2017|Labour Markets, Social Conditions, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

The European Pillar of Social Rights in historical perspective

Philippe Pochet of the European Trade Union Institute has some advice for the European Union as it mounts one of its periodic attempts to recast the Social Union. He urges the EU to rebalance social and economic concerns by mounting an ambitious social programme The ambition and the potential role of the European Pillar of Social Rights in the development […]

October 17th, 2017|Featured, Labour Markets, Social Conditions, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More

UK Trade Unions come out against Brexit

Steve Coulter of the London School of Economics welcomes publication of a letter by major UK trade unions in favour of remaining in the EU. Otherwise, the Referendum campaign risks being dominated by Conservative politicians slinging mud at each other

What do British trade unions think about Brexit? Up until now, the Referendum campaign in the UK has been dominated […]

June 6th, 2016|International Issues, Labour Markets, Trade Unions|0 Comments|
Read More