Reconstructing Solidarity

Labour Unions, Precarious Work, and the Politics of Institutional Change in Europe

Valeria Pulignano editor Nathan Lillie editor Virginia Doellgast editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:18th Jan '18

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Reconstructing Solidarity cover

Work is widely thought to have become more precarious. Many people feel that unions represent the interests of protected workers in good jobs at the expense of workers with insecure employment, low pay, and less generous benefits. Reconstructing Solidarity: Labour Unions, Precarious Work, and the Politics of Institutional Change in Europe argues the opposite: that unions try to represent precarious workers using a variety of creative campaigning and organizing tactics. Where unions can limit employers' ability to 'exit' labour market institutions and collective agreements, and build solidarity across different groups of workers, this results in a virtuous circle, establishing union control over the labour market. Where they fail to do so, it sets in motion a vicious circle of expanding precarity based on institutional evasion by employers. Reconstructing Solidarity examines how unions build, or fail to build, inclusive worker solidarity to challenge this vicious circle and to re-regulate increasingly precarious jobs. Comparative case studies from fourteen European countries describe the struggles of workers and unions in industries such as local government, retail, music, metalworking, chemicals, meat packing, and logistics. Their findings argue against the thesis that unions act primarily to protect labour market insiders at the expense of outsiders.

[Reconstructing Solidarity] is an important contribution to our understanding of trade union solidarity under institutional change in Europe. Its theoretical approach is one of its main strengths. On an interdisciplinary basis, the authors combine the comparative employment relations literature with that of comparative political economy and critical sociology. * Teresa Cappiali, Lund University, Transfer *
A noteworthy feature of the overview chapter is a chart that summarizes-for main outcomes and comparative findings-the nine research-based chapters of the book. The chapters are rich in the variety of research focus yet the coeditors manage to pull them all into their ambitious comparative framework. * ILR Review *

ISBN: 9780198791843

Dimensions: 237mm x 165mm x 23mm

Weight: 570g

270 pages