Work and social protection: the transformation or decline of industrial citizenship?

Abstract

Problems arise in connection with the flexibility of labour which has become such a widespread demand in Europe in the attempt to get to grips with the challenge of globalization, “Atypical” forms of labour (flexible, temporary, or mobile employment, sometimes crossing over into self-employment) could increasingly become the new “typical” form of work. There can be no doubt that such work is, after all, preferable to unemployment. But what happens to the rights of citizenship (qualitative and quantitative) attaching to such jobs and to the workers performing them? What will be the social destiny of these “atypical” workers once they reach retirement and advanced old age? By way of describing the problem and introducing a few elements of scepticism into the economic and social policy options which, for better or worse, appear to have gained universal acceptance, this article discusses the significance which citizenship continues to derive from work and social protection models, the features of the European social model which currently appear to be in jeopardy. Finally we present a working objective (a new form of social protection provided from a combination of public and trade unions funds) which could be one means of enhancing the trade unions' capacity to represent the labour force in its new composition.