Flexible working practices and the trade unions
| Published date | 01 October 1998 |
| Date | 01 October 1998 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459810238710 |
| Pages | 443-452 |
| Author | Richard Croucher,Chris Brewster |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Flexible working
practices
443
Flexible working practices
and the trade unions
Richard Croucher and Chris Brewster
Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, UK
Introduction: what is happening to the unions
The last couple of decades have not been a comfortable time for trade unions in
Europe. Trade unions in nearly all countries, with only a few exceptions, have
suffered declines in membership, in collective bargaining influence and in
national credibility. In many European countries they have, until recently, been
operating in an unfriendly political environment. But that is only a small part of
the reason for their decline. This paper argues that there is an interrelationship,
largely unacknowledged in the literature, between the spread of flexible
working patterns and what has been happening to the unions. This implies that
the unions will have to take decisive action to adapt to the new environment.
We address some of the stated reasons for the decline of the unions in the first
section of this paper; then explore briefly the developments in flexible working.
We emphasise the negative effects of flexibility on the unions and finally draw
some conclusions about the way the unions need to respond to the growth and
spread of flexible working.
Reasons for the decline in union membership
European trade unions have lost members since the 1970s. In 1991, the German
DGB claimed nearly 12 million members; by December 1997 it had 8.6 million.
And the membership claimed by the German unions includes high proportions
of unemployed people: about a quarter of IG Chemie’s 679,000 members are
unemployed. Between 1975 and 1995, Germany’s union density fell from 37 to
30 per cent. The pattern is repeated elsewhere: in France, union density fell
from 23 per cent to 9 per cent; in Ireland, from 55 per cent to 38 per cent; and in
Britain, from 57 per cent to 32 per cent (Waddington et al., 1997). Central and
Eastern European countries have recorded the steepest falls. Only a few
countries have bucked the trend, notably The Netherlands and Spain, with
increases of 19.3 per cent and 92.3 per cent respectively over the last decade
(ILO, 1997-1998). Spanish unions recovered from an extremely low base
(Jordana, 1996).
Collective bargaining is less widespread in Europe. In Germany, collective
bargaining has steadily eroded in the Neue Bundeslander and sectoral regional
wage agreements are now routinely bypassed. A general decentralisation of
bargaining has increased pressure on workplace organisation, contributing to
narrower collective bargaining coverage. Declining bargaining power, less
subscription income and other factors led, particularly in the UK, to difficulties
in meeting members’ expectations. The principal response has been an Employee Relations,
Vol. 20 No. 5 1998, pp. 443-452,
© MCBUniversity Press, 0142-5455
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