Drawing on case studies from the telecommunications and auto industries, the authors argue that the vertical disintegration of major German employers is contributing to the disorganization of Germany's dual system of in-plant and sectoral negotiations. Subcontractors, subsidiaries and temporary agencies often have no collective bargaining institutions or are covered by different firm-level and sectoral agreements. As core employers move jobs to these firms, they introduce new organizational boundaries across the production chain and disrupt traditional bargaining structures. Worker representatives are developing new campaign approaches and using residual power at large firms to establish representation in new firms and sectors, but these have not been successful at rebuilding co-ordinated bargaining.

While welfare reform matters for workers and workplaces, it is peripheral in English-language sociology of work and industrial relations research. This article's core proposition is that active labour market policies (ALMPs) are altering the institutional constitution of the labour market by intensifying market discipline within the workforce. This re-commodification effect is specified drawing on Marxism, comparative institutionalism, German-language sociology, and English-language social policy analysis. Because of administrative failures and employer discrimination, however, ALMPs may worsen precarity without achieving the stated goal of increasing labour-market participation.

Transnational politics and labor markets are undermining national industrial relations systems in Europe. This article examines the construction industry, where the internationalization of the labor market has gone especially far. To test hypotheses about differences between "national systems," the authors examine the United Kingdom, Finland, and Germany, alongside European-level policy making. Regardless of overall national institutional framework, employers seek to avoid industrial relations rules, while unions attempt to relocalize labor relations. Both use shop-floor, national, and European power resources. The authors argue that comparative industrial relations should take seriously the connection between action at the national and transnational levels. Lillie, N., & Greer, I. (2007 Suggested Citation IAN GREER Leeds UniversityTransnational politics and labor markets are undermining national industrial relations systems in Europe. This article examines the construction industry, where the internationalization of the labor market has gone especially far. To test hypotheses about differences between "national systems," the authors examine the United Kingdom, Finland, and Germany, alongside European-level policy making. Regardless of overall national institutional framework, employers seek to avoid industrial relations rules, while unions attempt to relocalize labor relations. Both use shop-floor, national, and European power resources. The authors argue that comparative industrial relations should take seriously the connection between action at the national and transnational levels. Keywords: trade unions; varieties of capitalism; migration; European Union; Construction ________The authors would like to thank the interviewees. We are grateful to Ian Fitzgerald and Jan Cremers for help with the research process. Transnational labor markets, production, and capital movement play increasingly important roles in industrial relations. In some industries, there is evidence of employment systems diverging within national contexts, while at the same time converging internationally.1 Nonetheless, many scholars continue to assign overriding influence to national institutions on shaping the interactions of unions and employers 2 and treat transnational political arenas as apolitical and exogenous to policy making, downplaying the neoliberal reorientation of elites. This article will show that while national institutions have not disappeared, industrial relations actors now operate in a trans-and supranational environment, where rules are in flux and enforcement far from self-evident. Supranational politics, transnational production, and transnational labor markets are supplanting and undermining national institutions as influences on employer and union strategy.To demonstrate the interplay between trans-and supranational politics and national industrial relations, we look at construction in three European Union (EU) member countries: Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Although construction is traditiona...