Against erosion of labour standards: global reorganisation of value chains and industrial relations in the European motor industry

Abstract

This paper analyses the impacts of globalisation on the systems of industrial relations in the motor industry in a comparative perspective. Globalisation, in the form of the global reorganisation of the value chain, has been a key development in this industry since the 1990s. This development has been characterised by the creation of global production networks at the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), the final producers, the internal reorganisation of the companies, involving higher productive flexibility, decentralisation and financialisation, and the restructuring of the value chain, involving a reduction of vertical integration and new forms of network relationships between OEMs and their suppliers. These developments raise a number of questions: Are regime competition and reorganisation undermining national or industry labour standards? What types of standards are in danger and to what extent? Or are there existing or emergent counter forces that can weaken or even prevent a process of erosion of these standards? In order to address these questions, this paper investigates the contents, forms and levels of collective agreements, the roles and strategies of the actors in collective bargaining and possible fragmentations along the value chain. This is achieved by means of a comparative analysis of the developments in four countries: Germany, Italy, Spain and Hungary.

Profit Sharing in the German Metalworking and Electrical Engineering Industries

“…These developments reflect the power structures that have emerged in the automotive value-added chains in the last two decades (Banyuls & Haipeter, 2010). The end producers have increasingly succeeded in shifting price pressures on to component suppliers.…”

Making Work More Equal: A New Labour Market Segmentation Approach

“…5 In the third place, subcontracting opens up a process of continuous pressure on working conditions, since it frames the necessity of adaptation in seemingly 'objective' terms whereby the subcontractor must adjust working conditions in order to avoid losing the contract; in other words, it shifts the blame outside the sphere of union influence. It is a kind of pressure that has similarities with that affecting employees of core companies, especially those operating internationally, which practice a similar strategy of fragmentation of units (plants) that must compete among themselves (Banyuls and Haipeter, 2008;Korczynski, 2004). The automotive sector is illustrative; it has combined internal flexibility with increased subcontracting (inside and outside the plants) focused around enhanced production specialisation and reduced labour costs (Banyuls and Lorente, 2010).…”

“…Ultimately, the uncertainty to which the matrix company is subject shifts to the ancillary company and, in turn, to its workers. Different studies (Banyuls and Haipeter, 2008;Recio et al, 1991;Martínez and Pérez, 2000) show that the use of subcontracting, network structures with the purpose of increasing production flexibility leads to increased labour flexibility across the entire network and a worsening of employment conditions.…”

Making work more equal

“…It is a kind of pressure that has similarities with that affecting employees of core companies, especially those operating internationally, which practice a similar strategy of fragmentation of units (plants) that must compete among themselves (Banyuls and Haipeter, 2008;Korczynski, 2004). The automotive sector is illustrative; it has combined internal flexibility with increased subcontracting (inside and outside the plants) focused around enhanced production specialisation and reduced labour costs (Banyuls and Lorente, 2010).…”