Employment Relations is Europe

The topic of this week’s blog post is Employment relations in Europe. The European Social Model being one of the main concepts. There are many different forms of the European Social Model but they are all based on the same universal ideology/principles that focus on the degree of equity in society. That people have the right to education, health care, social protection etc. In regards to the employment side of things, employees have more of an opportunity to participate in the organisation/enterprise that they work in. This participation could include the right to a high level of job security, ability to influence decisions that affect them and right to representation. The model also places a big emphasis on employee commitment; the participation levels are so high because employers want to encourage employees to have a higher level of commitment to their organisation.

This unit – international employment relations – is all about globalisation and the impact of it to employment relations practices on global convergence. The European social model worked well for Europe post world war II. However, since the rise of globalisation the model has faced some criticism that it needs to be reformed. I found this video of YouTube (link at the bottom if anyone is curious) by the EPP Group who reported on the effect of globalisation on the European social model. The host/narrator Jill Bewsher reports from the EVP-ED group hearing on the future of the European social model. This report interviews various people from the panel of experts and their opinions of what needs to be done in order for Europe to survive in the global economy. Because there is such a high level of unemployment, poverty and low birth-rates (and also a lot of old people) people are questioning the viability of the European social model. 

The EVP-ED held a hearing on the future of the social model and what they could do to be able to compete in the global economy. The experts from the panel talk about the problem being how to combine the social model with the economic needs, people are afraid of too much market – therefore it is important to create indicators and to give examples in order to increase public trust in a necessity in reforming the social model. I agree with this, the public will play a big part in the reform of the social model, so gaining there trusts is simply vital. The question is how? Some will be opposed to reform because they fear the repercussions (especially when they are so used to the model they have now), but reform is necessary because the world is changing and Europe needs to figure out a way to remain competitive in the global economy whilst at trying to maintain the values and principles of the social model.  Maintaining the values and principles of the current social model is key to the survival of the social model.

http://youtu.be/aIZJ0BPZpJc

Labour movements in the age of globalisation

The era of globalisation has given way to a labour movement in which Nations no longer have the comfort of focusing their own issues in the labour market. With the rise in Multinational and transnational corporations (let’s call them MNCs and TNCs), countries can no longer run this risk of not communicating. The trade union movement allows for unions to compete in the global market/workforce. By making international links, unions could join together and help each other out. In an article by the Huffington post (link below), Rachel Mendleson explains that trade unions are banding together to ‘capitalise on the very forces that for years have been employed against them’. She also quotes Sid Ryan (the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour) who states ‘there’s only one way we can fight globalization, and that’s to reach out to unions around the globe’. I found this article interesting because it explains that some MNCs and TNCs are exploiting workers (it’s almost like the bigger MNCs and TNCs get, the more they think they can just do what they please- i.e. cutting wages, leaving little room for bargaining, etc) and that unions need to openly communicate more and support both unionised and non-unionised workers so that MNCs and TNCs do not get away with it. 

Mendleson used an example of an Illinois-based MNC called Caterpillar (a heavy machinery manufacturing giant), who locked out workers (who were a part of the CAW union) at it’s London plant when the union refused to accept a deal that would cut wages from $35 to $16.50 (I’m guessing that’s per hour). There was even evidence to believe that Caterpillar were planning to shift operations to India, where workers would earn way less than what they company wanted to pay them in London ($16.50). How Ridiculous!!  Upon hearing about this, a delegation of union members from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) – made the trip to London to support the CAW union members. A spokesperson for UE stated that ‘when it comes to fighting these multinationals, widespread cooperation among unions is a must’. The end of the article by Mendleson quotes Labour expert Maurice Mazzerolle saying that ‘power will evade workers until they can mount a campaign that affects the company’s bottom line’. I think this is a great point. MNCs are just going to keep on going the way they have been until something drastically affects their bottom line. This is why the trade unions movement needs to go global. The more unions work together, the more chance they have at stopping MNCs from exploiting workers around the world. 

I know there is much more to this topic, but I found this article really interesting. Let me know what you guys think :)


Here is the link to the article if anyone is interested. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/27/labour-globalization-unions-international_n_1236103.html 

Welcome!

Hi,

My name is Kassandra and I've started this blog as part of a third year International Employment Relations unit for my university degree. Here I will post articles, videos and such that I have found interesting and relate to International Employment Relations. I hope you enjoy what I have to say and find this just as interesting and informative and I do :)