Strong Trade Unions Research Articles

Swedish Employers and Trade Unions, Varieties of Capitalism and Labour Migration Policies

This article explores the extent to which the varieties of capitalism (VoC) approach can inform our understanding of the role of organised interests in the process of labour migration policy reform in Sweden during the 2000s. VoC scholars maintain that policymakers prefer reforms conforming to the national political economy. Employers are also thought to support policies incentivecompatible with the prevailing model of capitalism. The analysis presents a case that is partly at odds with the view of economic and social policy reform developed in the VoC approach. The analysis show that the Swedish Confederation of Enterprise prefers a market-liberal labour migration policy, while the Swedish Trade Union Confederation prefers state-coordinated labour migration policies compatible with central features of the Swedish coordinated model – active labour market policies and strong trade unions.

Employer strategies, cross-class coalitions and the free movement of labour in the enlarged European Union

The free circulation of workers and services in the European Union after its latest enlargements has been believed to foster a ‘race to the bottom’ in wage standards. This paper explains the strategies of national employer associations towards labour market regulations geared to protect national wage standards in the context of labour mobility. First, this article shows that employers in nontradable sectors confronted with strong trade unions support the regulation of wage standards in order to prevent foreign competitors from using lower wages as a competitive advantage. Second, the strategies of national employer associations (as protagonists, consenters or antagonists) are explained by sectoral power relationships within employer associations, trade union power resources and the risk of unilateral public intervention. A comparative case study analysis of regulation processes in Austria, Switzerland and Ireland shows that employer associations dominated by firms in non-tradable sectors are protagonists of wage regulation, while employer associations dominated by firms in tradable sectors consent to negotiate with trade unions about wage regulation in order to ensure labour acquiescence, or contain unilateral public intervention.

Public Perceptions of Trade Unions in Countries of the European Union

Given the ideological, political, and economic structural changes in the latter part of the twentieth century it might be expected that the demand for trade unions has significantly declined. Using a European-wide survey, this article addressed the extent to which European citizens perceive a need for trade unions. Our results indicate that contrary to expectations, a substantial majority of respondents perceived a need for strong trade unions to protect their pay and working conditions. Attitudinal formation appears to be more influenced by individual characteristics than either structural or institutional regimes, at least in a European context. Conversely the institutional measures of union presence and country of origin substantially account for the factors that determine why employees with favorable perceptions of trade unions become a union member. Among employees the extent to which positive attitudes converts into actual union membership appears to be critically dependent on a union-friendly institutional regime.

The Sage Shapes the Nexus: Convergence and Collaboration

A short background on Friedrich Ebert StiftungThe Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) was founded in 1925 as a political legacy of Germany's first democratically elected president, Friedrich Ebert. A Social Democrat from a humble crafts background who had risen to hold highest political office in his country, Ebert proposed establishment of a foundation in response to his own painful experience in political confrontation. FES, banned by Nazis in 1933 and re-established in 1947, is oldest political foundation in Germany. It operates as a private cultural non-profit institution, and is committed to ideas and basic values of social democracy.1 One of lessons learnt from painful experience of 1930s was how a political system and its institutions, as well as rights of workers, can be manipulated and destroyed when workers themselves are not adequately trained and educated about their rights as citizens and about basic precepts of democratic political systems. Ebert stated that democracies need democrats, therefore citizens need to be motivated and provided with political education courses which help prepare them for democratic political engagement.2The commitment to principles of social democracy provides foundation and guiding values and principles that determine goals and objectives of FES programmes, including those of international development cooperation. These values and principles include human and civil rights, peace and social justice, gender equity and equality, sustainable development, and international solidarity.FES contributes to social democracy in several ways, including political education; scholarships for young academics; various forms of public dialogue; development cooperation aimed at global justice; research to study foundations of social democracy and to impart it; and building of bridges of international cooperation for worldwide democracy.Trade unions and workers: Their critical place in nexusThe FES 2008 annual report states:Throughout world, a just society is inconceivable without strong trade unions. Therefore, trade unions are one of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung's most important partners. Our cooperation with them is certainly one of our most central tasks, in past, in present, and in future.3The focus of FES on strong trade unions as foundation for a just society, in addition to its commitment to social democracy, is related to its experiences and historical relationship with German trade union movement, for which several tasks were identified at foundation of German Trade Union Federation in 1949.4 These tasks include representing civic, economic, social and cultural interests of working people; championing and safeguarding democratisation of economy, state and society; championing individual democratic basic rights and independence of trade union movement; and strengthening international free trade union movement. Another important task is the furthering of a progressive national and international educational and cultural policy, in particular in regard to schools and universities, vocational and further training, political education, trade union training, and, education at all levels, with aim of realising goal of equal opportunity, social justice and democratisation.5The focus on workers and interests of working people is clear and unambiguous, as is their right to a diverse range of education and training opportunities, including those at tertiary level. The importance of using labour education as a central pillar for building a strong, democratic political system was recognised from very beginning. This focus clearly enunciated spirit and intention of nexus in which international development cooperation programme was founded.The nexus: international development cooperation and points of convergence and collaborationThe Trade Union Education Institute (TUEI) was conceptualised by founding unions in 1962. …

Privatization, Governance Structures, and Trade Union Strength in Africa: A Transaction Cost Perspective

When governments divest, stakeholders such as trade unions are affected. So, does the governance of privatization transactions vary according to the strength of trade unions? Governments of strong trade union countries are likely to adopt particular governance modes (e.g., internal), while those of weak union countries are likely to adopt other modes (e.g., external) for privatization transactions. Using transaction cost theory, the author found that trade union strength moderated the relationship between human asset specificity and mode of governance in a multilevel study of 1254 privatization transactions from 41 African countries. Governments of strong trade union countries were more likely to adopt internal governance modes given high asset specificity, while those of weak trade union countries were more likely to adopt external governance modes. Implications for privatization management and trade unions are discussed.

Editorial: the philosophy of trade union rights

lUR H EDITORIAL Editorial: the philosophy of trade union rights It journal organisations isa fairly would safe and agree bet that that that trade most trade union ifnot unions rights allreaders are areimportant important ofthis journal would agreethat trade unions areimportant organisations andthat trade union rights areimportant rights. But itisby nomeans certain that allreaders would agree astowhy trade union rights areimportant. Itistothis seemingly straightforward question that weturn our attention for the current edition ofIUR. Wehave encouraged our contributors totake us right back tophilosophical basics, examining how a number oflines ofphilosophical reasoning might beapplied tothe question. Wedonot suggest that the philosophers inquestion supported trade union rights. Rather that the ideas they put forward canserve asjustifications orrationales for trade unionism and /or for the protection of trade union rights. Most of thephilosophical theories weconsider inthis edition are concerned with the articulation of human rights orsocial justice .Our contributors were asked toreflect onthe extent to which these diverse theoretical positions could besaidto support arguments infavour of trade union rights. Early thinkers took their cuesastowhat wasmorally right from principles handed down bythechurch orfrom the emerging theory ofnatural innate rights ofman. Academic lawyer Filip Dorrsemont examines the evolution of the official teaching of the Catholic Church ontrade unionism and concludes that the Church offers a timid andrestricted vision of trade union rights, but notes that ithasconsistently emphasised its support for these rights. Tonla Novltz, alsoa legal academic, examines the more secular side ofnatural rights thinking inorder toexamine how a novel aspect ofLocke's 17thCentury natural rights framework, property rights, might serve workers' interests. The18th Century German thinker Immanuel Kant was concerned with the'good'.Hethought that morally right principles could beascertained by abstract reasoning by a disinterested person, and that a person could live a moral life by reflecting onwhat these principles were and by respecting them intheir conduct. Contemporary philosopher Nina Power takes usthrough some of these ideas inanoverview ofoneofthetrue giants ofthehistory ofphilosophical thought. Kant, asPower tells us,'clears the ground for trying toimagine what equality anduniversality would look like inpractice'. 20th Century American liberal philosopher John Rawls alsorelied onthis ideaofdisinterested metaphysical reflection, employing a radical 'thought experiment' toask the question astowhat principles of justice individuals would agree towhen designing society if they hadnoideawhat their placewould be within that society. Contemporary philosopher Stuart White talks usthrough thedemocratic, liberal concept ofsociety that Rawls believed his'original position' thought-experiment entailed. Materialists, suchas 19th Century German thinker Karl Marx, reject theideathat quiet, disinterested metaphysical reflection canalone provide solutions tomoral andpolitical problems. Rather, materialists argue that moral and political problems arerooted clearly in the material world, in the relations ofthesocial classes, andaround themeans ofproduction . John Kelly, professor ofindustrial relations, argues that 'diffuse notions offairness' probably influence unions more than serious Marxist analysis. From a democratic position professor Steven Friedman takes upa materialist mode ofargument andtells usthat unions are'essential' engines ofengagement that facilitate participation bythe poor Inpolitics anddecision-making. German philosopher andlegal critic Jürgen Habermas alsocited much of his early work ina Marxist context though inlater years histhinking became rather more complex. Legal academic Ruth Dukes explains Habermas' communitarian views. Contemporary American philosopher Michael Sandel is another communitarian, butonewhose ideas evolved from Rawlsian liberalism rather than Marxism. Alan Bogg argues that Sandel's ideashave direct relevance to trade unionists. Heargues that the participation ofcitizens inpublic life, facilitated by trade unions, canhelp toproduce a more just world. Inclosing, egalitarian thinker andco-author of TheSpirit Level Richard Wilkinson outlines how heseetrade unions fitting within a framework of social equality. Crucially for trade union internationalists heshows how the Cold War period of ideological confrontation influenced social conditions and thinking onequality inthe 20th Century. Looking around us today Wilkinson reminds usthat internationally there isa correlation between countries with strong trade union movements andgreater equality. Daniel Blackburn andElizabeth Molinari INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 2Volume 18Issue 42012 Next issue of IUR Articles between 850and1,900words should besentbyemail (mail@ictur.org) andaccompanied bya photograph andshort biographical note oftheauthor. Photographs illustrating thetheme ofarticles arealways welcome. Allitems must bewith usby20March 2012if they are tobeconsidered for publication inthenext issueofIUR. Subscribe toIUR: tosubscribe, complete theboxbelow. I/we would like tosubscribe toInternational Union Rights andenclose£20/US$30/€25. Name/Organisation Address PostCode Four issues£20/US$30...

Trade union strategy in Sydney's construction union: a Roman Catholic perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document key elements of union strategy at Sydney (Lidcombe) branch of Australia's Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in an attempt to document and critique its branch level strategy in the year immediately after the removal of the Howard‐Costello Government.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach is used in analysing data obtained from internal CFMEU documents and correspondence; interviews with the New South Wales State Secretary of the CFMEU Andrew Ferguson, union organisers, one former organiser who worked for a number of years at Western Sydney but is now with a white‐collar union in the education sector, and construction workers; CFMEU official publications; news media stories and a series of building site visits. The authors use a theory framework of Roman Catholic social teaching to frame the discussions and analyze the case study findings.FindingsIn focus groups with construction workers, the authors find one challenging external constraint for the CFMEU: reaching out to and meeting effectively the needs of younger workers especially those from families hostile to unionism. However, younger workers seem to hold a mix of individualistic and collectivist philosophies. The final case shows the CFMEU organiser Tulloch to be adaptable and flexible in the heat of industrial disputation. Finally, the fact that building workers brought the asbestos issue to CFMEU's attention in the final case study shows union willingness to pursue issues not initiated by the union.Originality/valueThe paper documents the fact that the CFMEU has the ability and potential to rebuild its influence on building sites in Sydney and win further favourable outcomes for exploited and vulnerable workers within its sphere of influence. Through the theoretical framework, the authors point that as it does so it will assist in bringing to fruition the Roman Catholic social teaching that presents strong trade unions as a valid form of collective voice for workers and a way for collective and individual labour to retain in practice the dignity that God has already clothed them with.

The Drive for Participatory Democracy in Nineteenth Century Britain

In association with the industrial revolution, a wide range of new self-help organisations, from friendly societies and cooperatives to trade unions, were constructed by rising urban working classes and a lower middle class in nineteenth century Britain. The process was broad and deep, built upon a pre-existing culture of democracy, and extended through a vibrant autodidact workers' society. Against entrenched oligarchical power, the popular movement aimed not only at universal suffrage and governmental power, through the formation of a Labour Party, but also at clean government and a participatory democracy of self-determining groups and institutions. After a century of struggle the successes of the British working classes were intermixed with failure. Their efforts nonetheless represented an exemplar of democratisation based on a burgeoning civil society and strong trade union movement within advancing capitalist development, as witnessed again in South Africa through the 1980s and possibly beyond.

Creating Jobs, Fighting Inequality: Who's Best

achieving relatively high levels of material equality? Do the liberal market economies excel in economic efficiency while producing substantial income inequalities? Or, alternatively, is the classic equity-efficiency tradeoff muted by institutions and policies of one or both varieties of capitalism, and, if so, does this suggest important crossnational lessons for the policymakers and citizens of democratic market economies? These are the general questions that motivate Jonas Pontusson's Inequality and Prosperity-an impressive and useful new survey of comparative political economy. Indeed, it is important to mention at the outset that even though Inequality and Prosperity contains some original analyses of recently available data, the book is selfconsciously a survey and synthesis of what we know about the answers to these questions. New empirical analysis is limited to tabular presentations of data, bivariate scatterplots, and simple linear regression models. More precisely, Inequality and Prosperity primarily provides an insightful integration of theories of varieties of capitalism (Hall and Soskice 2001), democratic corporatism (Katzenstein 1985), and welfare state regimes (Esping-Andersen 1990) as well as surveys of some of the best recent research on the focal questions and hypotheses from these theoretical streams. Pontusson's central analytic framework is built around the notion that, for the most part, contemporary capitalist democracies bifurcate into social market and liberal market economies. Social market economies are characterized by high levels of cooperation among private firms in order to achieve collective goods (for example, skills formation, stable labor-management and finance-producer relations, research and development, and technology transfer). They are also characterized by high levels of centralization or coordination of collective wage bargaining among densely organized and centralized labor and employers' associations. In addition, social market economies have welfare states that combine generous social provisions with extensive employment protections. As a group, Pontusson further divides social market economies into Nordic and continental variants (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, on the one hand, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, on the other). The principal distinction here is that Nordic social market economies have relatively strong trade union movements and universalistic welfare states that combine generous transfers with publically provided social services for families, the elderly, and the unemployed. Although large in terms of shares of gross domestic product, continental social market economy welfare states are corporatist conservative, or dominated by generous occupationally based income transfer programs. Liberal market economies are, by contrast, characterized by low levels of

Industrial Relations Conflict and Collaboration:: Adapting to a Low Fares Business Model in Aer Lingus

This article traces the history of the Irish state airline Aer Lingus and the decision to move towards a low cost business model in response to the new realities in the airline industry. This has seen the airline retain “some frills” rather than embrace a total “no frills” model as represented by Ryanair. This change in the business model has been accompanied by a series of negotiated agreements between trade unions and management. These agreements have many of the features of employment pacts, rather than the pure concession bargaining associated with some airline restructuring in the USA. Privatisation is now on the agenda and this has led to strong trade union resistance. The future of the airline in the medium term is likely to depend on a further successful pact between unions and the company.

Globalization and Labor

This study is a critical analysis of neoliberalism as a class-based ideological project that established the domination of labor by global capital. It proposes democratic trade unionism to promote the working classes as a strong counterhegemonic force against global capital. It analyzes the current state of globalization, and discusses the viability of community-based initiatives as an alternative to corporate-led globalization. Finally it introduces an extended version of Wallerstein's core/periphery model, arguing for a strong and democratic local and global trade union movement to free the working classes in the core and periphery from the hegemony of capital.

Introduction: Think Tanks in Austria, Switzerland and Germany - A Recalibration of Corporatist Policy Making?

The German-speaking countries share a multitude of commonalities which separate Germany, Austria and Switzerland from other developed democracies. One prominent commonality of the German-speaking of (Castles 1993, 2004; cf. Armingeon/Freitag 1997) is the broad integration of interest organizations into the process of policy deliberation, policy decision-making and policy implementation (Katzenstein 1987). The dominant role of interest organizations in public policy making is, however, not mirrored in standard attempts to measure the integration of interest-groups or, as it is called, neo-corporatism. While Austria ranks very high in most of the various empirical investigations (cf. Lehmbruch 1984, Siaroff 1999, Traxler/Blaschke/Kittel 2001), Germany usually is positioned in the middle of the range. Switzerland ranks low in most cases or is perceived as representing a very specific form of corporatism. As Isabelle Steffen and Wolf Linder (in this volume) argue, core institutional features classically associated with corporatism, such as strong trade unions or centralized wage bargaining patterns, are missing in Switzerland. Nevertheless, there are some functional structures equivalent to neo-corporatist (Kriesi 1995: p. 342), such as the institutionalized consultation procedure in policy deliberations (Vernehmlassung), which together with other institutional arrangements fosters and stabilizes the crucial influence of interest groups on policy decisions in Switzerland. The same might be argued for Germany. In contrast to Nordic-style corporatism, German wage bargaining was never centralized, nor did powerful, centralized peak associations of labor and capital dominate German politics after World War II. Nevertheless, interest groups and especially those from capital and labor are deeply involved into public policy-making patterns, either through parliamentary commissions or through their powerful position in agencies that implement welfare policies in Germany. Furthermore, self steering of interest groups in several sectors of the German welfare state is a prominent feature of the German Model, such as in wage bargaining or vocational training, to mention only the most important examples (cf. Czada 2003, Siegel 2003, Streeck 1997, Thelen 2004). This meso-corporatist interest mediation is furthermore segmented between different policy fields, and as a consequence, different logics of interest mediation rule at the same time the development of the German democracy (Dohler/Manow 1997). The clearest example of classical corporatism in the German-speaking family of nations is Austria. As Karlhofer (this volume) summarizes, the Austrian case is a prominent example of institutional corporatism because of centralized wage bargaining patterns and, especially, the extensive chamber system. These chambers have quasi-public functions and channel the interest of associated interest groups directly into policy deliberations and policy decisions. At the same time, these chambers have far reaching competences, covering broad areas of the welfare state as well as economic policy making. This leads Karlhofer to conclude that Austria may indeed be called a Kammerstaat (state of chambers). Hence, the role of interest organization in public policy-making is an important feature in the democracies of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Since the early 1980s, however, the traditions and institutions of corporatist interest mediation were challenged by several developments. Firstly, old interest groups from capital and labor had to face organizational problems. While German unification might be interpreted as a specific challenge to German trade unions and employers' associations to organize their own camps (Schroeder 2000), in all three countries membership figures and density rates stagnated or revealed a shrinking capability of the respective organizations to attract the rank-and-file. …

Promoting or Preventing Reforms?

In the dominant perspective on trade unions, stronger trade unions are supposed to lead to higher wages and less extensive welfare reforms. This article focuses on the role of trade unions in the processes of welfare reform in Central and Eastern European countries in the last decade, and aims to assess the extent to which this role is comparable to that of trade unions in Western countries. The article analyses key characteristics of trade unions' roles and positions in Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Romania, Poland and Slovenia. These characteristics are related to the social policy reforms and wage developments in these countries, in order to analyse if the dominant perspective holds true also for Central and Eastern European countries.

‘Tying the manager's hands’: constraining opportunistic managerial intervention

We discuss and examine empirically a firm-level equivalent of the ancient problem of ‘tying the King’s hands’, namely how to avoid managerial intervention that is undertaken to reap private benefits but is harmful to overall value creation, that is, ‘managerial opportunism’. The link from managerial intervention to firm-level value-creation is moderated by employee motivation. Thus, intervention in the form of managers overruling employees or reneging on delegation may demotivate employees, particularly when the intervention is perceived as being unfair, undertaken for personal gain, etc. We argue that a number of mechanisms, such as managers staking their personal reputation, employees controlling important assets, strong trade unions, etc. may function as constraints on managerial proclivities to intervene, thus reducing the problem of managerial opportunism. We derive four hypotheses from these ideas, and test them, using path-analysis, on a rich dataset, based on 329 firms in the Spanish food and electric/electronic industries.

Tripartite Bargaining and its Impact on Stabilisation Policy in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract: In this paper we examine the impact of self-imposed governmental constraints (by tripartite arrangements) and the timing of reforms (window of opportunity) on the successful implementation of large-scale reforms (fiscal stabilisation policy) in seven Central and Eastern European Countries. By analysing different sources and conducting interviews with experts and members of the tripartite councils, we consider the impact of tripartite structures on the government decision-making process in Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. Our findings indicate that the early and continuously stabilising countries secured their policy-making by factors other than tripartite bargaining. In those countries that took a second, later approach to fiscal stabilisation, with a more confrontational style and stronger trade unions, tripartite bargaining proved to be a successful instrument.

The Rise and Fall of Unionised Labour Markets: A Political Economy Approach

Studying a model where trade unions interact with endogenously formed partisan political parties, we explain changing political preferences for and against the unionised labour market regime. We focus on the changes in coalition formation between unskilled and moderately skilled workers, which in turn depend on inequality among workers. When inequality is either very low or very high, moderately skilled workers form a political coalition with unskilled workers to support a unionised labour market regime. In other cases, the economic interest of the moderately skilled workers is more in line with that of highly skilled workers and capital owners to support a competitive labour market regime. Different societies have different labour market regimes or wage determination mechanisms. Some, such as the US, have relatively unregulated labour markets, while others, such as the Northern European countries, have strong trade unions, where wages are set by a collective bargaining procedure mediated through the unions. As Table 1 shows, union density in 1990 ranged over almost the entire spectrum, from 93.7% in Sweden to 9.3% in France. Union coverage, defined as the proportion of wage and salary workers covered by terms of a collective bargaining agreement, also ranged from 95% in Finland to 18% in the US.

Beyond Civil Rights

Ever since the 1960s, the term has come to mean many things. It is now synonymous with campaigns both against police brutality and for affirmative action. After the successes of the civil rights movement in eradicating formal segregation in the mid-1960s, civil rights leaders have pushed for enforcement of laws against discrimination as well as advancement into the political and economic mainstream. The term also invokes the legacy of mass protest of the 1960s, suggesting that, if necessary, activists will march, sit-in, and launch other public actions in order to attain their goals. Yet in To Stand and Fight, Martha Biondi shows that in the postwar New York City variation of the civil rights struggle, the ideal that most galvanized progressives of all colors to action was equality-or, more precisely, the cause of Negro equality. As the black actor Canada Lee stated in a 1945 commencement speech at Vassar College, Our struggle must be for equality with meaning ... toward economic equality-an equality with significance (p. 21). Lee, of course, would later be blacklisted, and the movement itself soon would be irrevocably fissured by the Red Scare. But a half-century later, the cause of racial equality is no less pressing. Neither is the struggle for civil rights-or equality before the law-over. Today, the efforts to preserve legal equality and to attain economic equality can be waged simultaneously. As Biondi shows, this two-front strategy was indeed present after World War II. In so doing, her work complicates the conventional timeline-put forth most prominently by William Julius Wilson-that identifies a key shift occurring in 1965, after which civil rights leaders moved from ending legal segregation toward the pursuit of economic equality.' With its large Black population, progressive race leadership, strong trade unions, and progressive print media, Biondi writes, New York City became a major battleground in the postwar push for racial equality(p. 37). There are numerous lessons to be learned from those battles, precisely because the terrain in New York City is increasingly similar today.

Explaining Equalization: Political Institutions, Market Forces, and Reduction of the Gender Wage Gap in Sweden, 1920-95

This article describes and explains the movement of female relative wages in Sweden from 1920 to 1995. During this period the aggregate gender wage gap shrunk from 41 to 15%. The bulk of the change took place in two periods: 1920 to 1940 and 1960 to 1980. With regard to determining factors, the analysis distinguishes between the period before 1960, when the rise in the female relative wage was the result of employment shafts, and after 1960, when wage structure change was the prime determinant. In the interwar period, women moved from low-paid to better-paid jobs, notably in trade and commerce and public services, as legal and administrative reforms opened up the public sector to women and educational reforms raised the educational level of the female labor force. The most rapid change in the gender wage gap occurred at a time when the solidaristic wage policy doctrine was embraced by the blue-collar trade unions and formed the basis of claims in wage negotiations. This study suggests, however, that excess demand for female labor rather than egalitarian ambitions of strong trade unions was the decisive factor behind the rapid reduction of the gender gap. Likewise, supply and demand shifts may well explain why the female relative wage stagnated from the late 1970s. These observations add up to the somewhat unorthodox conclusion that institutions were Of primary importance for female relative wage development in the interwar period, while market forces played the leading role after 1960. (Less)

Explaining Equalization

This article describes and explains the movement of female relative wages in Sweden from 1920 to 1995. During this period the aggregate gender wage gap shrunk from 41 to 15%. The bulk of the change took place in two periods: 1920 to 1940 and 1960 to 1980. With regard to determining factors, the analysis distinguishes between the period before 1960, when the rise in the female relative wage was the result of employment shifts, and after 1960, when wage structure change was the prime determinant. In the interwar period, women moved from low-paid to better-paid jobs, notably in trade and commerce and public services, as legal and administrative reforms opened up the public sector to women and educational reforms raised the educational level of the female labor force. The most rapid change in the gender wage gap occurred at a time when the solidaristic wage policy doctrine was embraced by the blue-collar trade unions and formed the basis of claims in wage negotiations. This study suggests, however, that excess demand for female labor rather than egalitarian ambitions of strong trade unions was the decisive factor behind the rapid reduction of the gender gap. Likewise, supply and demand shifts may well explain why the female relative wage stagnated from the late 1970s. These observations add up to the somewhat unorthodox conclusion that institutions were of primary importance for female relative wage development in the interwar period, while market forces played the leading role after 1960.

Service economies in Europe - challenges for employment policy and trade union activities

This contribution discusses how service-employment growth can be promoted. After considering some methodological issues in the comparison of service societies, the EU countries are compared in respect of the degree of tertiarisation of their economies, on the basis of which a typology of European service societies is developed. The authors then identify, with reference to empirical data, the driving forces behind the growth of service employment in the EU countries. A central result of the analysis is that service employment does not automatically increase with continued economic growth, but is more closely tied to social innovations than is commonly thought. The authors argue for an orientation model of service employment in the future that both meets employees’ interests in high-quality employment, adequate earned income and social protection, and is economically feasible and socially acceptable. European service societies differ clearly from the US model, and the European model is closely linked to strong trade unions and forms of social dialogue.