Trade unions in the European Union: Picking up the pieces of the neoliberal challenge (free 1,186 page e-book)

[Celerity]

https://www.etui.org/publications/trade-unions-european-union



The full PDF is available via https://www.peterlang.com/document/1303070


In the context of a revival of union power in the US and the coming European elections, the ETUI is releasing Trade Unions in the European Union, analysing the first two decades of the 21st century when trade unions have been repeatedly challenged by neoliberal programmes.

Published by Peter Lang and edited by three ETUI experts (J Waddington, T Müller and K Vandaele) with the support of 45 contributors, Trade unions in the European Union: Picking up the pieces of the neoliberal challenge is the most comprehensive comparative overview of the development, structures and policies of national trade unions in the European Union since 2000.

This milestone publication maps the features of the neoliberal challenge: a reduced role for the state as regulator and employer, ‘flexibilisation’ of labour markets and distancing of the state and political parties from unions. It shows the measures implemented by unions to adapt to changed circumstances since 2000, addressing new and broader issues (the green transition, work-life balance, working time …) and deploying alternative narratives.

In response to the decline of their affiliates, the authors look at the initiatives taken by unions to become attractive and relevant to new categories of workers, such as young, migrant or platform workers. The 27 country chapters show also that union activity, independently or in conjunction with other civil-society actors, will be at the centre of revitalisation campaigns if the pieces that are left from the neoliberal challenge are to be picked up and wielded into a coherent response, especially in a world of work that is changing rapidly.