Notions of solidarity in times of economic uncertainty

Industrial Law Journal

Volumn 39, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 223-243

  Sciarra, Silvana ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE   (Italy)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 77956128791     PISSN: 03059332     EISSN: 14643669     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/indlaw/dwq009     Document Type: Article

References (106)

1. See, eg, Commission of the European Communities, Communication from the Commission to the European Council, A European Economic Recovery Plan, Brussels, 26 November 2008, COM (2008) 800 final.
2. Communication of the Commission, Renewed Social Agenda: Opportunities, Access and Solidarity in 21st Century Europe, Brussels, 2 July 2008, COM (2008) 412.
3. Commission Staff Working Document, The Role of Transnational Company Agreements in the Context of Increasing International Integration, Brussels, 2 July 2008, SEC (2008) 2155.
4. Directive 2009/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on the establishment of a EWC or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (OJ [2009] L 122/28).
5. Regulation 546/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009, amending Regulation 1927/2006 establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Art. 1(4), replacing Art. 5(2)(a) (OJ [2009] L 167/26).
6. Regulation 546/2009, Art. 1(1).
7. Cedefop-European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Future Skill Needs in Europe. Medium-Term Forecast (OOPEC, 2008).
8. A survey covering 27 Member States and Norway stresses the centrality of collective bargaining: Cedefop, Contribution of Collective Bargaining to Continuing Vocational Training (2009), http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/4171-att1-1-ef0914en.pdf.
9. The communication from the Commission to the European Council, A European Economic Recovery Plan, 26 November 2008, COM (2008) 800 final.
10. Recovery, above n.3, 11 discusses how to 'improve the monitoring and matching of skills development and upgrading with anticipated and existing job vacancies'. Sector analysis is of great relevance in this direction.
11. See for example, F. Van der Zee, F. Brandes, J. Sanders, D. Maier, E. Dijkgraaf, G. Vissers, M. Van Gils and W. Zwinkels, Investing in the Future of Jobs and Skills; Scenarios, Implications and Options in Anticipation of Future Skills and Knowledge Needs-Sector Report Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Rubber & Plastic Products (27 March 2010).
12. Comprehensive Sectoral Analysis of Emerging Competences and Economic Activities in the European Union, 2010. Available at Social Science Research Network: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1579302.
13. Communication from the Commission, Europe 2020. A Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, 3 May 2010, COM (2010) 2020, 3 March 2010.
14. The European Council adopted 'Europe 2020' in the session held on 25-26 May 2010.
15. See, for example, the interdisciplinary project, coordinated by M. A. Moreau and Agire, Anticiper pour une gestion innovante des restructurations en Europe, www.fse-agire.com.
16. And the special issue, Restructurations en Europe, Semaine Social Lamy, Supplément n. 1376, 24 November 2008.
17. See also M. A. Moreau, S. Negrelli and P. Pochet, Building Anticipation of Restructuring in Europe (Brussels: PIE Peter Lang, 2009).
18. The Commission started to be active as to these issues in the late 1990s, following the Report of a High-Level Group chaired by Pehr Gyllenhammar. Monitoring of major restructuring operations has been carried on by Eurofound.
19. See in particular European Monitoring Centre on Change and European Restructuring Monitor, www.eurofound.europa.eu/emcc.
20. Setting criteria to measure job losses due to restructuring is not an easy task, see within the framework of the Eurofound project, D. Storrie, Restructuring and Employment in the EU: Concepts Measurement and Evidence (Luxembourg: OOPEC, 2006).
21. S. M. Jacoby, 'Finance and Labor: Perspectives on Risk, Inequality, and Democracy' (2009) CLLPJ 17.
22. S. Deakin, 'The Rise of Finance: What Is It, What Is Driving It, What Might Stop It?' (2009) 30 CLLPJ 67, commenting on Jacoby's paper.
23. See also, for a future prognosis, Lord Wedderburn 'Labour Law 2008: 40 Years On' (2007) 36 ILJ 397
24. See above n.2.
25. Commission Staff Working Paper, Restructuring and Employment the Contribution of the European Union, Brussels, 2 July 2008, SEC (2008) 2154.
26. For a discussion as to the changes occurring in employment policies under the Barroso presidency of the Commission, see S. Sciarra, 'Is Flexicurity a European Policy?' in R. Eklund, R. Hager, J. Kleineman and H.-Å. Wängberg (eds), Skrifter till Anders Victorins minne (Uppsala: Iustus Förlag, 2009) 447.
27. Also appearing in URGE Working Paper no 4/2008, www.urge.it/files/papers/2_wpurge4_2008.pdf.
28. See also J. Kenner, 'New Frontiers in EU Labour Law: From Flexicurity to Flex-security' in M. Dougan and S. Currie (eds), 50 Years of the European Treaties (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2009) 279.
29. Commission Staff Working Paper, SEC (2008) 2154, above n.12, 10.
30. S. Sciarra, The Evolution of Labour Law (1992-2003), General Report, vol I (Luxembourg: OOPEC 2005) 38 on the concept of semi-mandatory law.
31. More specifically, see N. Bruun and J. Malmberg, 'National Report on Denmark, Finland and Sweden (1992-2003)' in S. Sciarra, The Evolution of Labour Law, National Reports of 15 Countries, vol 2, (Luxembourg: OOPEC 2005).
32. See, for example, the Commission's proposal addressed to the automobile industry for a 'European green cars initiative', to be funded by the Community, the European Investment Bank, industry and Member States, in Commission Communication, Recovery, above n.1, 16.
33. See further details in COM (2009) 104 final, Responding to the Crisis in the European Automotive Sector, 25 February 2009.
34. This practice is not unfamiliar in comparative labour law
35. See S. Sciarra, 'The Evolution of Collective Bargaining: Observations on a Comparison in the Countries of the European Union' (2007) 28 CLLPJ 8.
36. B. Caruso, 'Changes in the Workplace and the Dialogue of Labor Scholars in the 'Global Village' (2007) 28 CLLPJ 530.
37. A recent Italian example is the agreement (Protocollo di intesa 'emergenza economia', 23 February 2010) signed by the Tuscan region with the largest trade union confederations, aimed at providing financial help to SMEs, in exchange for the maintenance of employment.
38. See the proposals by the groups of experts appointed by the Commission, E. Ales, S. Engblom, T. Jaspers, S. Laulom, S. Sciarra, A. Sobczak and J. F. Valdes, Transnational Collective Bargaining: Past, Present and Future. Final Report (2006) available at http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId= 2897&;langId=en.
39. Comments on the 'Ales Report' can be found in A. Lo Faro, 'La contrattazione collettiva transnazionale: prove di ripresa del dialogo sociale in Europa?' [2007] Giornale di diritto del lavoro e di relazioni industriali 551.
40. And in F. Dorssemont and A. Dufresne, 'L'accord d'entreprise transnational: un phénomène à la recherche d'un cadre juridique' in N. Aliprantis, B. Veneziani, I. Schömann, C. Kollonay-Lehoczky and A. Supiot (eds), Mélanges à la mémoire de Yota Kravaritou, (Brussels: ETUI, forthcoming).
41. This ongoing practice is underlined in the Ales Report, above n.18, section 3.2.
42. See also M. Carley and M. Hall, European Works Councils and Transnational Restructuring, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Luxembourg: OOPEC, 2006).
43. A. Alaimo, 'Il coinvolgimento dei lavoratori nell'impresa: informazione, consultazione e partecipazione' in S. Sciarra and B. Caruso (eds), Il lavoro subordinato, Trattato di diritto privato di diritto europeo, (Turin: Giappichelli, 2009) 659.
44. Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community-Joint declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on employee representation (OJ [2002] L 80/29).
45. For an analysis of the enforcement of the Directive in the UK, see P. Taylor, C. Baldry, A. Danford and P. Stewart, 'Corporate Restructuring, Redundancy and the Effectiveness of ICE Regulations' (2009) 64 Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations 27.
46. For a recent example, see 'Nokia Closes Its Bochum Plant' (2008) 1 European Restructuring Monitor Quarterly 11 www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2008/37/en/1/ef0837en.pdf.
47. Interesting developments, relevant for arguments used in this paper, are to be found in the application filed to the EGAF for some 1,300 German workers made redundant at Nokia. The fund was granted on 21 October 2009.
48. Commission Staff Working Document, SEC (2008) 2155, above n.3, 3.
49. SEC (2008) 2155, above n.3, 5.
50. H. Arthurs, 'Private Ordering and Workers' Rights in the Global Economy: Corporate Codes of Conduct as a Regime of Labour Market Regulation' in J. Conaghan, K. Klare and M. Fischl (eds), Transformative Labour Law in the Era of Globalization (Oxford: OUP, 2001) 47.
51. B. Hepple, Labour Laws and Global Trade (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2005), 69.
52. M. A. Moreau, Normes sociales, Droit du travail et Mondialisation (Paris: Dalloz, 2006).
53. A. Sobczak, Réseaux de sociétés et codes de conduite: un nouveau modèle de régulation des relations de travail pour les entreprises européennes (Paris: LGDJ, 2002).
54. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Codes of Conduct and International Framework Agreements: New Forms of Governance at Company Level (OOPEC, 2008).
55. K. Papadakis (ed.), Cross-Border Social Dialogue and Agreements: An Emerging Global Industrial Relations Framework (Geneva: ILO-IILS, 2008).
56. And in particular the chapter by A. Sobczak, 'Legal Dimensions of International Framework Agreements in the Field of Corporate Social Responsibility', 115 ff.
57. The research looks at 62 IFAs, enforced in 2007 and points out that the number would grow considerably if agreements informally signed by CAEs in European groups of companies were to be included in the field research.
58. Results along similar lines emerge from the research carried on by V. Telljohann, I. Da Costa, T. Müller, U. Rehfeldt and R. Zimmer, 'European and International Framework Agreements: New Tools of Transnational Industrial Relations' [2009] Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 505.
59. A. B. Antal and A. Sobczak, 'Beyond CSR: Organisational Learning for Global Responsibility' (2004) 27 Journal of General Management 77.
60. The authors refer, among other examples, to 'global compact', an experiment launched in 2004 by Kofi Annan at the UN (89 ff).
61. See www.unglobalcompact.org.
62. L. Compa, 'Corporate Social Responsibility and Workers' Rights' (2008) 29 CLLPJ 1.
63. A. Sobczak, 'Codes of Conduct in Subcontracting Networks. A Labour Law Perspective' (2003) 87 Journal of Business Ethics 225.
64. Sobczak, 'Legal Dimensions', above n.26.
65. Judgment of the Court of 11 December 2007, Case C-438/05 International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF) and Finnish Seamen's Union (FSU) v Viking Line ABP and OÜ Viking Line Eesti [2008] ICR 741.
66. Council Directive 2009/13 implementing the agreement concluded by the European Community Ship Owners' Associations and the European Transport Workers' Federation (OJ [2009] L 124/30).
67. See the positive comments on these original developments of N. Lillie, 'The ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006: A New Paradigm for Global Labour Rights Implementation', in Papadakis (ed.), Cross-Border Social Dialogue and Agreements, above n.26, 191.
68. S. Sciarra, 'Viking and Laval: Collective Labour Rights and Market Freedoms in the Enlarged EU' in C. Barnard (ed.), The Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 2007-2008, vol 10 (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2008) 563.
69. ILO, Maritime Labour Convention, MLC (C186), adopted on 23 February 2006, available at www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/convdisp1.htm.
70. The Directive will enter into force simultaneously with the ILO Convention, once the ratification process of the latter is completed.
71. P. Pochet, A. Peeters, E. Léonard and E. Perin, Dynamics of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue. Report to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Luxembourg: OOPEC, 2009).
72. A. Sobczak and E. Léonard, Dialogue social transnational: quelles interactions entre différents niveaux?, CRiSP 2010, 74-7.
73. Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive, COM (2008) 419 final, 2008/0141, COD, presented by the Commission, 2, ss 3 and 4. The recast Directive 2009/38 (OJ [2009] L 122/28) was adopted on 6 May 2009.
74. 'Where an employer is contemplating collective redundancies, he shall begin consultations with the workers' representatives in good time with a view to reaching an agreement', Directive 98/59 of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies (OJ [1998] L 225/16).
75. The Ales Report, above n.18, quotes all relevant agreements at section 3.2.
76. See also the website of the International Metalworkers' Federation www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=10266&;l=2.
77. For further references to recent agreements see Sobczack and Léonard, Dialogue Social, above n.35.
78. The literature on Viking, Laval, Rüffert and Luxembourg cases is vast.
79. A stimulating summary, in the light of recent developments in the UK, is offered by C. Kilpatrick, 'British Jobs for British Workers? UK Industrial Action and Free Movement of Services in EU Law', LSE Working Paper 16/2009 and by the same author 'The ECJ and Labour Law: A 2008 Retrospective' (2009) 38 ILJ 180.
80. N. Bruun, 'Finland: ECJ and the Challenge of Understanding Collective Bargaining' in R. Blanpain and A. M. Swiatkowski (eds), The Laval and Viking Cases: Freedom of Services and Establishment v Industrial Conflict in the European Union (Deventer: Kluwer Law International, 2009) 51.
81. Viking, para 36.
82. This could be argued reading the closing para 90 in Viking. One of the points addressed in this case has to do with the enforcement of a peace obligation clause. However, this obligation has a 'relative' value, since it applies only to matters included in the collective agreement.
83. For this clarification, see N. Bruun, 'Finnish Labour Law Report' in F. Dorssemont, T. Jaspers and A. van Hoek (eds), Cross-Border Collective Actions in Europe (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2007) 105.
84. A similar controversy in the Irish ferries dispute found a consensual solution in the signing of an agreement on 14 December 2005 and the case was not litigated.
85. References in T. Novitz, 'Labour Rights as Human Rights: Implications for Employers' Free Movement in an Enlarged European Union' in C. Barnard (ed.), CYELS (2006-2007), vol 9 (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2008) 359.
86. Judgment of the Court of 18 December 2007, Case C-341/05 Laval un Partneri Ltd v Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundet, Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundets avdelning 1, Byggettan and Svenska Elektrikerförbundet [2008] IRLR 160.
87. See the critical comments by R. Eklund, 'A Swedish Perspective on Laval' (2008) 29 CLLPJ 551.
88. This 'model' is now set out in R. Eklund, T. Sigeman and L. Carlson, Swedish Labour and Employment Law: Cases and Materials (Uppsala: Iustus Förlag, 2008).
89. The case of British workers striking unofficially with workers of other nationalities at the 'Lindsey Oil' refinery for the application of local collective agreements is discussed by Kilpatrick, 'UK Industrial Action and Freedom to Supply Services', above n.39.
90. References are to the English summary: C. Stråth, Action in Response to the Laval Judgment, Swedish Government Official Reports, SOU 2008: 123.
91. Cooperation agreements aimed at preventing social dumping were reached among Baltic trade unions and neighbouring Nordic countries, especially in the construction industry.
92. See EIRR, 3 August 2006. Suggestions on establishing transnational collective bargaining having minimum wage as a mandatory subject within cross-border provisions of service are made in A. Lo Faro, 'Is a Decent Wage Part of a Decent Job? Answers from an Enlarged Europe', Working Paper C.S.D.L.E Massimo D'Antona, INT 64/2008, http://www.lex.unict.it/eurolabor/ricerca/wp/int/lofaro_n64-2008int.pdf.
93. M. Rönnmar, 'The Laval Case Comes to a Close. Final Judgment of the Swedish Labour Court and Legislative Reforms of Industrial Action and Posting of Workers' (2010) 39 ILJ 280.
94. A summary in English can be found in K. Ahlberg, 'Laval Case Brings New Swedish Law' (2010) Nordic Labour Journal, at http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/artikler/new-swedish-law-as-result-of-the-laval-case.
95. The Danish Commission appointed by government published its report in June 2008.
96. References in R. Nielsen, 'Denmark: The Viking Line and Laval Cases Seen from a Danish Perspective' in R. Blanpain and A. M. Swiatkowski (eds), above n.41.
97. Judgment of the Court of 3 April 2008, Case C-346.06 Dirk Rüffert v Land Niedersachsen [2008] IRLR 467.
98. Article 3, law of the Land of Lower Saxony, 15 December 2008. I am grateful to Professor M. Fuchs for this information.
99. References to the extension of collective agreements in M. Fuchs, 'National Report on Germany' in S. Sciarra (ed.), The Evolving Structure of Collective Bargaining in Europe, http://eprints.unifi.it/archive/00001160.
100. On the EU as the largest importer and exporter of services, even after enlargement, see in G. Kemekliene, H. Conolly, M. Keune and A. Watt, Services Employment in Europe (Brussels: ETUI-REHS, 2007) 42 ff.
101. A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All, Report of the World Commission on the social dimension of globalization (Geneva: ILO, 2004).
102. G. Gereffi, The New Offshoring of Jobs and Global Development, ILO Social policy lectures, (Geneva: ILO, 2006) 41 ff.
103. See, for example, recital 6 of the Posted Workers Directive, talking of 'transnationalization' of the employment relationship; see also the references to the recast Directive 2009/38 on EWCs (OJ [2009] L 122/28) recitals 10 and 29. Directive 2008/104 on Agency work (OJ [2008] L 327/9) also offers relevant insights.
104. See K. Ahlberg, B. Bercusson, N. Bruun, H Kountouros, C. Vigneau and L. Zappalà, Transnational Labour Regulation: A Case Study of Temporary Agency Work (Brussels: P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2008).
105. The concept of autonomy from a comparative perspective is analysed in Sciarra, 'The Evolution of Collective Bargaining', above n.17, 6 ff.
106. In Responding to the Crisis, above n.16, 8, the Commission favours recourse to instruments to 'support the social cost of adjustment and to ensure that necessary skill levels required for the future competitiveness of industry are retained in the industry' for all sectors.