Description
Book SynopsisRoland Erne''s view of transnational trade union networks challenges the assertion that no realistic prospect exists for remedying the European Union''s democratic deficitthat is, its domination by corporate interests and lack of a cohesive European people. His book describes the emergence of a European trade union movement that crosses national boundaries. Erne assesses national and EU-level trade union politics in two core areas: wage bargaining in the European Monetary Union and job protection during transnational corporate mergers and restructuring. The wage coordination policies of the European metal and construction workers'' unions and the unions'' responses in the ABB-Alstom Power and Alcan-Pechiney-Algroup merger cases, Erne finds, show that the activities of labor are not confined to the national level: labor''s policies have undergone Europeanization. This cross-national borrowing of tactics is itself proof of the increasing integration of European states and societies.
Trade Review
European Unions is a very useful, well-constructed, and welcome contribution to a growing literature on the coordination of unions at the European level and is particularly valuable for its case studies. Erne handles the complexities of his subject well, applies his theoretical framework in a convincing way, and provides enough well-marshaled detail to persuade the reader of at least parts of his case.
* Industrial Relations *
Erne provides strong empirical evidence that unions not only are affected by European integration but also affect future EU developments through their actions. Erne provides readers with a timely and useful analysis of the ways that economic integration is changing the power resources of organized labor in Europe, the types of strategies unions have developed in response, and the role that labor may play in shaping the political development of the EU down the road.
* Industrial and Labor Relations Review *
Erne's pertinent study of European trade unionism is a sophisticated, nuanced examination of organized labor's attempt to create a transnational democracy in the EU.
* Choice *
Though European Unions is several years old, the book's discussion and analytic considerations relating to citizenry, democracy, collective action and bargaining, and governance remain topical. Indeed, the book's central claims are worth revisiting considering the trade union and labor resistance to austerity measures being implemented throughout Europe today.
* Critical Sociology *
Table of Contents1. Introduction
Part I. Analytical Framework
2. Approaching Euro-Democracy and Its Alternatives
3. Do Unions Have an Interest in Euro-Democratization?
Part II. European Labor Wage-Bargaining Strategies
4. Wage Policy and the European Monetary Union
5. The Rise of National Competitive Corporatism
6. European Wage-Bargaining Coordination Networks: Insights from the Manufacturing and the Construction Industry
7. Beyond Competitive Corporatism?: Insights from Germany, France, and Italy
Part III. Responses by Labor to Transnational Company Mergers
8. The European Regulation of Transnational Company Mergers
9. A Euro-Democratization Union Strategy: The ABB Alstom Power Case
10. A Euro-Technocratization Union Strategy: The Alcan-Pechiney-Algroup Case
11. Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
