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  • 1.
    Andersson, Monica
    et al.
    Department of Work Science, Göteborg University, Sweden.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Department of Work Science, Göteborg University, Sweden.
    Determining wages in Europe's SMEs: how relevant are the trade unions?2007In: Transfer - European Review of Labour and Research, ISSN 1024-2589, E-ISSN 1996-7284, Vol. 13, no 1, p. 55-73Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article discusses wage setting in SMEs in eight European countries, how wage setting in small firms differs from that in larger firms and how trade unions address the issue. The context is the increased decentralisation of wage setting. Wage setting is analysed at four different levels: the workplace, the regional, the industry and the national level. The main finding is that trade unions’ ability to secure higher wages for workers in SMEs depends not upon workplace organisation, but upon well functioning industrial relations institutions. That is, if workers in SMEs earn less than employees inlarger companies, this is due not to the size of the company but to the absence of a comprehensive collective bargaining system that encompasses SMEs.

  • 2.
    Fransson, Susanne
    et al.
    University of Uddevalla/Trollhättan [University West], Sweden.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Department of Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Gender, bargaining strategies and strikes in Sweden2019In: Nordic equality at a crossroads: Feminist legal studies coping with difference / [ed] Eva-Maria Svensson; Anu Pylkkänen; Johanna Niemi-Kiesiläinen, Routledge, 2019, 1, p. 47-68Chapter in book (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This chapter discusses the effects on women in Swedish working life. It explores the gendered patterns in bargaining strategies and the use of strikes. The chapter argues that gender differences in conflict patterns and bargaining strategies exist both among and within different industries. The collective agreement emerged in an unregulated field of law. Relations between the bargaining parties, as well as disputes over the content and application of collective agreements were solved via self-regulation. The rights of association and of negotiation are main components in the Swedish industrial relations system. The women’s organizations disappeared from the labour market in the heydays of the Swedish model and the solidaristic wage policy, but the different strategies between men and women remained. The new strategy is not only a result of a transformation of the collective bargaining system. The shift was also facilitated by some general changes in the labour market legislation.

  • 3.
    Fransson, Susanne
    et al.
    Göteborg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Göteborg University, Department of Work Science, Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Some Notes on Workplace Equality Renewal in the Swedish Labour Market2006In: Gender, Work and Organization, ISSN 0968-6673, E-ISSN 1468-0432, Vol. 13, no 6, p. 606-620Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    In 2001, Swedish authorities imposed a new obligation upon all firms with ten or more employees to undertake annual wage surveys, ‘workplace equality audits’ in which it is possible to ascertain, remedy and prevent unwarranted wage differentials and other unfair employment terms between men and women. An important implication of the new system, called ‘workplace equality renewal’ (självsanering), is that, at the level of the firm all Swedish employers must explain what they mean by work of ‘equal value’ as opposed to ‘different value’. This article discusses the practical pros and cons of the new system, and considers how the surveys can be used in research into the present state of gendered work division. A main finding is that the introduction of this new legislation in the long run might change the Swedish industrial relations system as well as the preconditions for many companies’ human resource management policies. Yet, neither the governmental agencies involved nor the parties’ confederate organizations have been able to clarify what the issue is really about to the single, small business employer or to the local trade union branches. Many employers find any interference, whatever it may be, threatening and trade unions have not realized the potentialities of the system from an employee perspective, potentialities connected to the fact that companies are now more or less forced to make transparent their wage policies at large.

  • 4.
    Gill-McLure, Whyeda
    et al.
    Management Research Centre, Wolverhampton Business School, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Reconstructing resistance and renewal in public service unionism in the twenty-first century: lessons from a century of war and peace2018In: Labor history, ISSN 0023-656X, E-ISSN 1469-9702, Vol. 59, no 1, p. 3-14Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This special issue uses the occasion of the centenary of the Whitley Commission Reports to illuminate the contemporary crisis in public service industrial relations from a historical perspective. In all six countries studiedBritain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the USApublic service employment is labour intensive and quantitatively significant in the overall economy. Public services have also been major targets of neoliberal reforms, starting in the UK and the USA at the turn of the 1980s and in the other countries about a decade later. In addition, the relatively high union density and the political dimension of public services and public union strategies have been major targets of new public management and more latterly austerity. However, the regressive period has had a differential impact in different countries. In the liberal market economies of the UK and the USA, the neoliberal turn has destabilised traditional patterns of public sector industrial relations to greatest effect. While in the more coordinated market economies, traditional arrangements and values have been more resistant to austerity and neoliberal reforms. We attempt to shed light on these differential impacts through a critical analysis of the historical evolution of public sector industrial relations in each country.

  • 5.
    Müller, Andrea
    et al.
    University of Tübingen, Germany.
    Ramos-Vielba, Irene
    University of Tübingen, Germany.
    Schmidt, Werner
    University of Tübingen, Germany.
    Thörnquist, Annette
    University of Tübingen, Germany.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Public sector labour relations in four European countries compared: Long-term convergence and short-term divergences?2014Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This paper focuses on the impact of the 2007/2008 financial and economic crisis on the public sector and its labour relations in Spain, the UK, Sweden and Germany. The analysis of the contextual background - general and societal economic developments as well as industrial relations - in which such transformations happened embeds the comparison of the four country case studies. Our findings show that the crisis and austerity policies furthered some short-term divergent developments of the public sectors in the countries considered but long-term convergence can be also expected. Some theoretical conclusions from these mixed developments in the aftermath of the crisis are drawn.

  • 6.
    Schmidt, Werner
    et al.
    Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur (FATK), Germany.
    Müller, Andrea
    Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur (FATK), Germany.
    Ramos-Vielba, Irene
    Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur (FATK), Germany ; INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain.
    Thörnquist, Annette
    Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur (FATK), Germany.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future. Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur (FATK), Germany.
    Austerity and public sector trade union power: Before and after the crisis2019In: European journal of industrial relations, ISSN 0959-6801, E-ISSN 1461-7129, Vol. 25, no 2, p. 129-145Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    We use a power resources approach to examine the effects of the 2008-2009 financial and economic crisis on public sector trade union power in Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK, comparing structural, organizational, institutional, societal and political power resources before and after the crisis. Unions' power resources have (at least temporarily) weakened in Spain, with a similar but less pronounced trend in the UK; whereas in Sweden and Germany, one can detect ambiguous but slightly positive signals, which reflect neither the crisis nor opposition to austerity. As well as structural, organizational and institutional power resources, societal and political resources are decisive for public sector trade unions.

  • 7.
    Schmidt, Werner
    et al.
    FATK, Tübinger Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur, Germany.
    Müller, Andrea
    FATK, Tübinger Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur, Germany.
    Ramos-Vielba, Irene
    FATK, Tübinger Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur, Germany.
    Thörnquist, Annette
    FATK, Tübinger Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur, Germany.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Finanzmarktkrise und Arbeitsbeziehungen im öffentlichen Sektor: Deutschland, Grossbritannien, Schweden und Spanien2018 (ed. 1)Book (Refereed)
  • 8.
    Stokke, Torgeir Aarvaag
    et al.
    Fafo, Oslo, Norway.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden.
    Strikes and Collective Bargaining in the Nordic Countries2001In: European journal of industrial relations, ISSN 0959-6801, E-ISSN 1461-7129, Vol. 7, no 3, p. 245-267Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article analyses the different strike profiles in the Nordic countries, with particular stress on the role of collective bargaining. First, it compares working days lost during the past couple of decades in a broad sample of European countries. Denmark, Norway and Sweden are identified as belonging to a `middle' group, while Finland is an outlier. Second, it analyses the number of strikes, which shows enormous differences between the Nordic countries. Possible methodological explanations are considered, but mostly rejected; instead, the causes are located in the historical development of collective bargaining, and in details concerning the peace obligation and local bargaining practices. The recent dramatic fall in working days lost in most other European countries is found also in Finland and Sweden, but not in Denmark and Norway. The research emphasizes factors such as unemployment, workplace reforms and local bargaining. The conclusions are also related to previous findings from the comparative analysis of industrial conflict.

  • 9.
    Thörnquist, Annette
    et al.
    Research Institute for Work, Technology and Culture, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Do public sector industrial relations challenge the Swedish model?2018In: Labor history, ISSN 0023-656X, E-ISSN 1469-9702, Vol. 59, no 1, p. 87-104Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article discusses recent developments in public sector labour relations in Sweden from a historical, gender and power relations perspective. The main question is whether these trends challenge the established Swedish industrial relations system. Our point of departure - yet chronologically also the point of arrival - is the Swedish Municipal Workers' Union, Kommunal's, exit from the coordinated wage setting model within the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO) in 2015/2016. The immediate reason was that Kommunal, representing one-third of the LO members, including many low-paid women, turned down the LO's proposal on a general wage increase for low-wage groups. Instead, Kommunal urged to upgrade wages for a specific member group, the auxiliary nurses. This broke an almost uninterrupted 20-year-long period of labour market cooperation and coordination that was introduced in 1997 through the so-called Industry Agreement (Industriavtalet). This agreement was launched in the wake of the deep financial crisis in the early 1990s, and the neoliberal move towards a complete decentralization of pay negotiations. How should this move by Kommunal be interpreted? Why, and when, has the centralized system become a straitjacket for Kommunal, when for decades it seemingly was a precondition for both private and public union strength?

  • 10.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Bogus Self-employment in the European Union2014Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 11.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Department of Work Science, Göteborg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Changing industrial relations in the Swedish public sector: New tensions within the old framework of corporatism2007In: International Journal of Public Sector Management, ISSN 0951-3558, E-ISSN 1758-6666, Vol. 20, no 1, p. 16-33Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Purpose

    This paper aims to provide an overview of changes in the context of the Swedish public sector.

    Design/methodology/approach

    It reviews the main literature on the topic and relevant policy texts.

    Findings

    In short, even though the last decade and a half has been a most turbulent period in the history of the Swedish public sector, with its peak in two great strikes, the framework has remained substantially intact. Swedish path dependency has been so strong that the system has largely survived; it has moved towards “organized decentralization”, but it has not dissolved. It is probable that the end of that move has not yet been seen; the Swedish system is still transforming.

    Research limitations/implications

    It is a general overview of key developments.

    Practical implications

    It is relevant for a discussion of the general trends and dynamic of public sector industrial relations in Sweden.

    Originality/value

    This article manages to take an overview and point to the uncertain development of a new market approach.

  • 12.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Department of Work Science, Göteborg University, Sweden.
    Family-friendly labour market policies and careers in Sweden—and the lack of them2006In: British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, ISSN 0306-9885, E-ISSN 1469-3534, Vol. 34, no 3, p. 309-326Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article discusses the origin and development of family-friendly policies and careers in Sweden. The starting-point for the discussion is that what ‘family-friendly’ is can never be separated from the gendered labour market. Drawing on Lotte Bailyn's analysis of gender ‘equity’, the article argues that the Swedish labour market has no doubt become much more ‘family-friendly’ over the decades, through family-friendly reforms, but the move has definitely lost pace, maybe even been slightly reversed, in the 1990s and 2000s. Seemingly, political and social reforms cannot reach much further without a radical change in people's views of labour division at home, i.e. in the private sphere.

  • 13.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Globalization and International Labor Solidarity: Introduction to a Theme2014In: Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, E-ISSN 2245-0157, Vol. 4, no 1, p. 1-10Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Is cross-national trade union cooperation and labor solidarity a forgotten item on Nordic working life researchers’ agenda? And if so, why? Is not the matter more crucial today than ever, considering the challenges from globalization? True, there have not been too many studies in the field by Nordic scholars, and also true, the field is in great need of research considering the great labor market changes both nationally and globally over the last few decades. In order to find a remedy for this lack, a special workshop was dedicated to the subject at the Nordic Working Life Conference in Elsinore, April 2012. The response among the Nordic academics was not exactly overwhelming, but there were several highly interesting papers, bringing up new aspects or shedding new light on old ones. Some of the papers are now compiled in this special issue of Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. All of them are individual texts and can be read separately. This introduction is just an attempt to put the articles into their common context, that is, to outline the framework within which they belong by highlighting some items they share.

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  • 14.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future Research Environment.
    Human Resource Management: Scientific Theory Versus Pseudo-Scientific Practice in the Seminal Work by Belgian Sceptic Patrick Vermeren2022In: Annals of Social Sciences & Management Studies, ISSN 2641-838X, Vol. 7, no 3, p. 1-4Article, review/survey (Refereed)
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  • 15.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Inte självklart att lagstiftning leder till färre strejker2018In: Dagens Arena, article id 2018-07-04Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
    Abstract [sv]

    Diskussionen om hamnkonflikten i Göteborg har hittills saknat ett historiskt perspektiv. I denna essä visar forskaren Christer Thörnqvist att lagstiftning tidigare varit ineffektiv mot arbetsmarknadskonflikter, men däremot har uppenbara risker.

  • 16.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden.
    The Decentralization of Industrial Relations: The Swedish Case in Comparative Perspective1999In: European journal of industrial relations, ISSN 0959-6801, E-ISSN 1461-7129, Vol. 5, no 1, p. 71-87Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [sv]

    In many countries there has been a move towards more decentralized labour market systems in the 1980s and 1990s. This process has been particularly notable in Sweden. This study analyses the origins of the Swedish decentralization from a historical and comparative perspective. The main emphasis is on ideological motives, linked to a shifting balance of power. The more decentralized Swedish industrial relations become, the greater the likelihood that the power relations between the two main parties change in the employers' favour. Even if internationally determined changes in the organization of work are important, changes in industrial relations still seem to be very much a question of a struggle between the different interests of employers and employees.

  • 17.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    The Nordic Labour Market Model (In japanese)2017In: 北欧福祉国家モデルは持続可能か? The Nordic Welfare Model - Still Sustainable?: Five Exceptions and Policy Cooperation / [ed] Klaus Petersen, Stein Kuhnle, Pauli Kettunen, Yoko Otsuka, Akio Kamiko, Kyoto: Minerva Shobou, 2017, 1, p. 296-326Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 18.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Utredning med varningsflagg2018In: ArbetetArticle in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
    Abstract [sv]

    Företrädare för fack och arbetsgivare säger att risken för gula fack är minimal. Men lagar stiftas för framtiden och hur kommande generationer av arbetsgivare agerar finns det inga garantier för. Att ändra i strejkrätten för med sig stora risker, skriver Christer Thörnqvist, docent i arbetsvetenskap.

  • 19.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Welfare States and the Need for Social Protection of Self-Employed Migrant Workers in the European Union2015In: International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, ISSN 0952-617X, E-ISSN 1875-838X, Vol. 31, no 4, p. 391-410Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    So-called bogus – or false – self-employment has been increasingly highlighted as a problem within the European Union (EU), especially since the first eastern expansion in 2004. Although the concept is not fully clear in legal terms, a common denominator of most definitions is that bogus self-employment can be seen as ‘disguised employment’, occurring when someone who has an employee status in practice is not classified as an employee, in order to hide the actual legal status and to avoid costs such as taxes and social security contributions. In the light of different welfare systems, industrial relations and EU legislation, this article discusses this issue, drawing empirically on findings from a project about precarious employment in twelve EU countries. Although there are some fairly strict definitions of the ‘employee concept’ within the EU, the difficulties of identifying the employer leave the bogus self-employed in a legal limbo. No European Social Model has curtailed this problem, despite an expressed desire to address all aspects of precarious work. However, the inclusion of all ‘self-employed’ workers within social insurance systems and workers with an employee status in practice seems possible also under existing EU regulations. It is rather a matter of goodwill and the resources to scrutinize the terms and conditions of employment.

  • 20.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    et al.
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Andersson Bäck, Monica
    Göteborgs universitet.
    Hamark, Jesper
    Göteborgs universitet.
    Suède: brève histoire du syndicalisme et défis actuels2016In: Syndicats et dialogue social: Les modèles occidentaux à l'épreuve / [ed] Dominique Andolfatto & Sylvie Contrepois, Bruxelles: Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016, p. 263-283Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 21.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    et al.
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Bergholm, Tapio
    Helsingin yliopisto, Finland.
    Mellberg, Margaretha
    Högskolan på Gotland.
    The May Day Tradition in Finland and Sweden2016In: The Ritual of May Day in Western Europe: Past, Present and Future / [ed] Abby Peterson; Herbert Reiter, Routledge, 2016, 1, p. 75-105Chapter in book (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This chapter discusses the differences and similarities in the labour movement's main political ritual, the May Day celebration, in Finland and Sweden, against this historical background from the onset in 1890 to the mid-1960s, with an emphasis on the periods before and between the wars. It was also the party that took the lead in the making of the May Day tradition, not the trade unions. Finland then became a self-governed nation under the supremacy of the Russian empire, which had profound effects on the emergence of the Finnish labour movement and its May Day traditions. In Sweden in stark contrast, the May Day tradition successively evolved with the reformist orientation of social democracy. Historically Finland used to be a part of Sweden, generally called the Eastern half'. In 1809 Sweden lost this territory to Russia. The developments have left an indelible mark on the Finnish May Day tradition, which lives on today.

  • 22.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    et al.
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Bernhardsson, Sebastian
    University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Their own stories - how Polish construction workers posted to Sweden experience their job situation, or resistance versus life projects2015In: Transfer - European Review of Labour and Research, ISSN 1024-2589, E-ISSN 1996-7284, Vol. 21, no 1, p. 23-36Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This study draws primarily on in-depth interviews with nine male Polish construction workers posted to Sweden in the early 2010s. The emphasis lies on their own experiences of being exposed to what they saw as unjust working conditions, and why they accept them or react against them. The overarching research questions are why Polish workers go to Sweden, and, more importantly, why they stay even when they feel unfairly treated or directly cheated by their employers. The main points of interest are wages, work environment, employment contracts and relations with different labour market players, including the EU. It was very clear that none of the Polish workers had ever heard of the EU Posted Workers Directive. Still, the lack of serious resistance, our study argues, was not because of poor knowledge about their legal rights, but was linked to a wish to fulfil a ‘life project’ back home in Poland, such as building a house, starting a company, being able to afford to start a family and raise children, or saving for retirement. This wish helped the workers to swallow ‘unfair’ treatment.

  • 23.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    et al.
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future.
    Fransson, Susanne
    University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Women and Wildcats: Unofficial Women’s Strikes in Sweden in the 1970s and 1980s2015In: Workers of the World: International Journal on Strikes and Social Conflict, ISSN 2182-8938, Vol. 1, no 6, p. 64-83Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [sv]

    While the strike propensity in manufacturing declined in the 1980s and 1990s, it remained high or even increased in services, health care, education and so on. Thegrowing portion of tertiary sector employment has further moved the searchlight from men to women, as the demographic transformation in work has promoted a feminization of strikes. However, what if we go back in history, to when strikes and industrial conflict was still mainly a men’s concern? Did women go on strike at all, and if so, how did their strikes differ from the overall pattern? The 1970s was the decade of “resurgence of class conflict” in Western societies, including Sweden, with an outstanding upsurge of strikes in many countries. There is an affluence of studies of both the 1970s strike-waves and single strikes in this rebellious decade, but few of them deal with female-dominated strikes. This article explores women’s strikes in Sweden in the 1970s and 1980s with special attention to the treatment in the Labour Court, since the article finds a remarkable difference in legal outcome between “male” and “female” strikes.

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  • 24.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    et al.
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future Research Environment.
    Kilstam, Jonna
    University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future Research Environment.
    Aligning Corporate Social Responsibility with the United Nations' Sustainability Goals: Trickier than it Seems? A Study of Social Entrepreneurship in Sweden2021In: Economics, ISSN 1864-6042, E-ISSN 1864-6042, Vol. 9, no 1, p. 161-177Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article explores the profound mismatch between the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and fundamentals for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The common survival of human life, society, and the global order as we know it, and the need for companies to make profit is not easy. The intractability of the problem is often underestimated in public as well as scientific debate. This article discusses the problem and possible ways to cope with it through 'social entrepreneurship' illustrated here by a study of nine firms in Sweden. The study draws on an amalgamation of Schumpeterian theory about "creative destruction"and the concept of "Emerging Davids vs. Greening Goliaths." 

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  • 25.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    et al.
    Institute for Research on Migration, Ethnicity and Society, (REMESO), ISV, Linköping University, Campus Norrköping, Sweden.
    Woolfson, Charles
    Institute for Research on Migration, Ethnicity and Society, (REMESO), ISV, Linköping University, Campus Norrköping, Sweden.
    When tender turns tough: posted workers and the tendering regime in the Swedish construction industry2012In: Construction Management and Economics, ISSN 0144-6193, E-ISSN 1466-433X, Vol. 30, no 7, p. 525-533Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The outcome of the so-called Laval case and related judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has led to a debate about the future of the European social model. Although several analyses have focused on the downside of the judgments, in particular on the risk of ‘wage dumping’, one important but overlooked aspect is the connection to tendering regimes. This lacuna is crucial to labour recruitment practices in the construction industry because of the important role of public authorities as buyers of large construction services within the European Union. The research question is whether rigidity in how public authorities are required to tender contracts strengthens downward pressure on wages and induces a deterioration in working conditions. Case study material from Sweden is used in the context of extensive previous research and preliminary findings from an ongoing research project. Because of the short time span since the rulings of the ECJ there is only anecdotal evidence for establishing a mutually reinforcing connection between the system for awarding tenders in Swedish construction and the wider impacts of Laval on the labour market. Nevertheless, new evidence suggests that labour recruitment and human resource management practices are being shaped by a tendering regime governed by requirements of ‘cost flexibility’.

  • 26.
    Woolfson, Charles
    et al.
    Linköping University, Sweden.
    Fudge, Judy
    University of Kent, UK.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    Linköping University, Sweden.
    Migrant precarity and future challenges to labour standards in Sweden2014In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, ISSN 0143-831X, E-ISSN 1461-7099, Vol. 35, no 4, p. 695-715Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Fears of a ‘race to the bottom’ in labour standards may have been overstated. Nevertheless, using Sweden as a case study, it is argued that the diminished capacity of trade unions to defend labour standards following the Laval judgement of the European Court of Justice, together with a decline in trade union density, a limited remit of enforcement authorities and recent changes to the Swedish labour migration regime, may have detrimental impacts on labour standards, particularly in low-skill low-wage occupations. In combination, these developments are creating new spaces for migrant precariousness within the context of a formerly well-regulated Swedish labour market model.

  • 27.
    Woolfson, Charles
    et al.
    REMESO, Institute for Research on Migration, Ethnicity and Society, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden.
    Herzfeld Olsson, Petra
    Faculty of Law, Uppsala University, Sweden.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    REMESO, Institute for Research on Migration, Ethnicity and Society, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden.
    Forced Labour and Migrant Berry Pickers in Sweden2012In: International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, ISSN 0952-617X, E-ISSN 1875-838X, Vol. 28, no 2, p. 147-176Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Groups of migrant berry pickers arriving annually in Sweden from both Asia and the newer European Union Member States have been subject to exploitation over the years. The problem appears to persist in spite of public and international concern and successive regulatory reforms. An examination of this problem from a forced labour perspective suggests inadequate implementation and application of international norms in Swedish law, as well as deficiencies in the application of criminal-law and in regulatory oversight. Policy recommendations regarding the labour conditions for seasonal migrant workers in Sweden are put forward.

  • 28.
    Woolfson, Charles
    et al.
    Linköping University, Sweden.
    Thörnqvist, Christer
    University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
    Sommers, Jeffrey
    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.
    The Swedish model and the future of labour standards after Laval2010In: Industrial relations journal, ISSN 0019-8692, E-ISSN 1468-2338, Vol. 41, no 4, p. 333-350Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article reflects on the European Court of Justice ruling in the case of Laval, involving Latvian posted workers in Sweden. It analyses the implications of the ruling and ensuing debate over the Laval case for the future of the ‘Swedish model’ and labour standards. It suggests that profound dilemmas now face trade unions both at Swedish national and European level as to appropriate strategies to adopt to defend national pay and working conditions in the light of the European Court decision and especially in the Swedish context due to the subsequent ruling by the Swedish Labour Court. Nevertheless, a human rights discourse is emerging in which the European Court of Human Rights may act as a counterbalance to the European Court of Justice, especially in the context of the Lisbon Treaty.

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