Global capital strategies and trade union responses: Towards transnational collective bargaining in Europe? Prof. Dr. Maarten Keune ILO ACTRAV Symposium on Collective Bargaining Geneva, October 15 2009

Globalisation: social dimension absent Free trade policies, rise in role MNCs, FDI, trade, migration Cross-border organisation of economic activity Financialisation Growing insecurity workers, pressure on wages and working conditions Failure to give social dimension to trade, investment and financial policies

Consequences for democracy and labour-capital relations Democratic control over capital limited but dependence of societies on capital high  regime competition, capital influences public policy and resources Global capital but mostly national unions Capital has more exit options and used threat of relocation Wage competition between workers  Increasing bargaining power capital over labour

A transnationalising union movement Global: ITUC, GUFs, ILO workers’ group Regional confederations (e.g. OATUU, CCSCC, ETUC) and sectoral unions (e.g. EIFs) Workers Uniting, MNC company networks European Works Councils, World Works Councils New alliances with non-union actors Campaigns, labour standards, industrial action But no transnational collective bargaining

Obstacles to transnational collective bargaining Limits on trade union freedom Nationally defined union interests Limited resources for transnational union activities Lack of international legal framework Reluctance employers

Developments towards transnational collective bargaining? Growing number of transnational agreements: IFAs, EWCs Transnational campaigns Wage guidelines Coordination of collective bargaining Top down Bottom-up

Conclusions No ‘proper’ collective bargaining at transnational level But number of closely related transnational activities Development of functional equivalents? Or overcoming the obstacles to true transnational bargaining?