The promises and pitfalls of collective bargaining for ending the victimization of trade union activists: Lessons from France

Abstract

International audienceThe broadening of the anti-discrimination legislation and the growing use of litigation have put pressure on organizations to respond to the law by elaborating formal rules and, in the case of France, negotiating collective agreements on union rights. This article addresses the issue of union victimization by investigating the various organizational responses to anti-discrimination law. By focusing on in-depth case studies over a long period of time, it offers new insights into the processes whereby law is internalized and how they interact with litigation over time, and also highlights the active, contested and changing role of HR professionals and trade unionists in the shaping of organizational responses

Battles through and about statistics in French pay equity bargaining: The politics of quantification at workplace level

“…Simultaneously, pressure is also coming from below, with an increase in the number of claims for sex discrimination or unequal pay, since the partial reversal of the burden of the proof in French anti‐discrimination law in 2001 — a transposition of European anti‐discrimination directives (Silvera, ). These litigations are not based on analytical job evaluation exercises or strategic litigation on equality led by unions, as in the UK (Guillaume, ), but on a panel method created originally for trade union discrimination (Chappe, ; Guillaume, Pochic, & Chappe, ).…”

“…Simultaneously, pressure is also coming from below, with an increase in the number of claims for sex discrimination or unequal pay, since the partial reversal of the burden of the proof in French anti-discrimination law in 2001a transposition of European anti-discrimination directives (Silvera, 2014). These litigations are not based on analytical job evaluation exercises or strategic litigation on equality led by unions, as in the UK (Guillaume, 2015), but on a panel method created originally for trade union discrimination 3 (Chappe, 2014;Guillaume, Pochic, & Chappe, 2016). Like in Finland, gender equality planning seems to be, on the surface, a rational and incremental process: mapping the current situation, planning measures with quantitative objectives, and evaluating their implementation and impact through quantitative monitoring (Saari, 2013).…”

Competitiveness bargaining in France: A study of multiple union action in the automotive industry

“…Legacies of union victimisation by employers and internal fragmentation in the labour movement historically made collective bargaining problematic in France (Guillaume et al, 2018;Howell, 2009). Indeed, unions were only formally recognised as holding a workplace presence in 1968 with the provision of délégués syndicaux (union delegates) who hold power to negotiate agreements.…”