Labour market deregulation and the decline of labour power in North America and Western Europe

Abstract

The goal of this article is to provide a critical evaluation of what has happened to organized labour and labour markets since 1980. It examines the impacts of labour market deregulation on wage share and pay standardization. It also explores how recent economic changes have weakened organized labour and eroded wage setting and social corporatism. The argument is made that contemporary institutional and ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ perspectives on labour market reform have overstated the power of states, institutions, and organized interests in deflecting global economic pressures. Drawing on a range of recent OECD statistics and qualitative studies, it is claimed that current labour deregulation policies and labour market reforms mark a fundamental break with post-war developments, and represent a reassertion of the power of capital ownership over organized labour and labour markets across North America and Western Europe. It assesses how far this reversal in power has gone by focusing on changes in four key variables: (i) job quality, (ii) wage share, (iii) pay standardization and income equality, and (iv) the effectiveness of wage setting institutions in allowing unions to bring bargaining pressure on capital. This is the first study to report on comparative changes and qualitative reforms to these labour market variables in 13 OECD countries between 1970 and the 25-year period 1980–2005.