The aim of this open access book is to present and discuss some of the results from two research projects on transnational trade union cooperation in Europe. With the ongoing processes of integration in Europe-and globalization more generally-it becomes increasingly important for unions to cooperate vis-a-vis transnational employers and their organizations as well as vis-a-vis EU institutions. The ongoing developments put pressure upon them to find common positions on crucial issues. However, trade unions are nationally based and, accordingly, they operate under very different socioeconomic and institutional conditions, implying that many obstacles need to be overcome for cooperation to work.
The book includes three main chapters. The first deals with the general patterns of transnational trade union cooperation in Europe. It summarizes what we know about the existing forms of cooperation and its conditions and obstacles. In the second and third chapters two specific issues are discussed: statutory minimum wages and the posting of workers directive. They represent two rather different cases. The first, on minimum wages, is an issue on which European trade unions do not agree. Most of them are positive to this kind of arrangement, but in the Nordic countries we find substantial resistance. Actually, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has not been able to achieve consensus, but has formulated a compromise possible for the member organizations to live with. The other issue is about the European Commission’s proposal to revise the posting of workers’ directive, focusing on equal pay for equal work in the same country. In that case, it was easier for the union movement to reach agreement, even though several parliaments in Eastern Europe were very critical of the Commission’s proposal.
As the empirical basis for the book, we have different kinds of data at our disposal. We have conducted two surveys to trade unions: the first was conducted in 14 countries in 2010-2011 and the second was carried out in basically all European countries in 2015-2016. The first was limited to unions just below the confederate level and the second to unions ? also just below the confederate level ? in five selected industries: metal, construction, transport, banking and finance and health care. Moreover, we have collected information through interviews with a large number of union representatives. In addition, we make use of various other kinds of data, including other surveys, documents and official statistics.
1. General patterns of transnational trade union cooperation
Trade unions are secondary organizations, that is, they exist only because there are employing organizations. One important aspect is to what extent employees are unionized. In that respect there are huge differences across Europe with high figures on union density in countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden and low levels in many other parts of Europe. What is more, we find declining figures almost everywhere, even in the Nordic region. A second significant aspect is that trade unions are organized in hierarchical structures and they form confederations, so-called meta-organizations (with other organizations as members). Both these features entail that the issue of representativeness is complicated.
Several questions are dealt with in this chapter. On which issues and in which forms of action is it most common that unions work together? To what extent are unions focused on joint lobbying towards EU institutions, coordination of collective bargaining or actions such as demonstrations and strikes? And to what degree do they cooperate on different issues such as wages, working time, health and safety, training and education? On which issues is it least common with cooperation? Which are the main obstacles to overcome? Do they have to do with institutional arrangements, financial or human resources or perhaps cultural differences? Which are the general conditions making cooperation possible, and which factors seem to be facilitating cooperation? A fundamental question is the role of industrial relations regimes and sectors respectively. Countries differ regarding labour market and industrial relations regimes, that is, the combination of institutions determining the preconditions for the labour market and the relations between the social partners – and the state – and this may impact on the possibilities for cooperation. Regimes roughly correspond to geographical regions in Europe: north and south, west and east, with the UK and some other “liberal” countries often being defined as a specific regime. On the other hand, sectoral differences may be even more decisive than national regime differences. Some sectors are basically nationally confined, whereas others are dominated by transnational companies making it necessary for trade unions to cross borders as well. Cooperation between trade unions thus develops at different pace and degree in different sectors. All these issues will be treated in this chapter.
2. The issue of statutory minimum wages
Most European countries have statutory minimum wages. After Germany introduced legislation in the beginning of 2015, there are only six exceptions in the EU: Austria, Denmark, Cyprus, Finland, Italy and Sweden. In our analysis the focus is placed on the differences between Nordic trade unions and the majority of European unions. Finland, Iceland and Norway (the latter two are not EU member states) admit extension of collective agreements by law, but this option is not often used in Norway. Denmark and Sweden have no statutory minimum wages and no legislation regarding extension. The absence of legislation in the Nordic countries does not entail that minimum wages do not exist; it is just that they are the result of negotiations between trade unions and employers’ associations.
An argument in favour of statutory minimum wages is that it is the best method for unorganized workers to obtain decent wages. Legislation is assumed to counteract wage dumping and to prevent poverty. For weak trade unions, it frequently appears as a crucial instrument for the defense of workers. A few years ago, German trade unions accepted the implementation of statutory minimum wages, because they found that they were too weak-or even non-existent-in many sectors to uphold decent wage levels.
By means of survey data and interviews we have explored unions’ views on statutory minimum wages. The general picture is that the Nordic organizations below the confederate level are skeptical to statutory minimum wages. Most of them tend to see more disadvantages than advantages with legislation. Clear majorities of them dispute the main arguments usually brought forward in support of such state regulation. They are doubtful to the claims that legislation is the best method for unorganized workers to obtain decent wages, that it can impede wage dumping and that it is necessary to prevent poverty. Instead they think that state regulation undermines the role of trade unions and that it may lead to lower collectively agreed wages. A somewhat different outcome emerges regarding the issue of whether legislated minimum wages would have a negative impact on their possibilities of recruiting members, which is yet another denunciatory argument heard in the debate. Many organizations responding to our survey agree with this, but still more concur only to a low degree or not at all. Finally, an unambiguous result is that most trade unions do not back the idea that the ETUC should work for common European norms on minimum wages.
In the Nordic countries, trade unions commonly argue that wages should be determined by the social partners and that legislation could hurt a well-functioning barg
