Decentralisation of Collective Bargaining in the Manufacturing Sector

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Since the 1980s, there have been changes to collective bargaining structures in the manufacturing sector. The authors distinguish six pathways of decentralisation, ranging from different forms of organised decentralisation to forms of disorganised decentralisation, the latter also including collective bargaining located solely at company level. The manufacturing sector plays a trendsetting role with respect to decentralisation in Europe, to be interpreted as an element of continuity and relative strength of collective bargaining actors in the sector. In most cases, decentralisation remained within the margins of organised decentralisation, and even in cases of full decentralisation the manufacturing sector is doing better than many other sectors in terms of collective bargaining coverage and wage increases.