Translating European Labor Relations Practices to the United States Through Global Framework Agreements? German and Swedish Multinationals Compared

Abstract

Extensive research has shown that European multinational enterprises (MNEs) have a propensity to avoid collective employee representation when going abroad. This study investigates whether Global Framework Agreements (GFAs) can reverse this pattern by comparing how four European MNEs-two from Germany and two from Sweden-implement GFAs in the United States, a country with weak collective representation rights. The authors find that an MNE's home country labor relations (LR) system mediates whether GFAs support collective representation in the United States. Sweden's monistic LR system, in which unions are the dominant organizations legally representing workers, gives unions the power to directly influence the negotiation and implementation of GFAs. By contrast, Germany's dualistic LR system, in which unions and works councils share worker representation, weakens the influence of unions on implementing the GFA. MNEs' home country LR systems thus influence how transnational instruments are used to improve collective representation in host countries.

Conceptual sustainable production principles in practice: Do they reflect what companies do?

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Global Framework Agreements and Trade Unions as Monitoring Agents in Transnational Corporations

“…This could explain the statistical overrepresentation of countries such as France, Germany or Sweden in the signed GFAs. At a theoretical level, this shows that it will be useful to explore the articulation of institutional and micropolitics dimensions as initiated by Helfen et al (2016).…”

Trade union renewal and ‘organizing from below’ in Germany: Institutional constraints, strategic dilemmas and organizational tensions

“…We conclude from our findings that studies of organizational learning in and among unions should consider the institutional context in which learning efforts take place. Obviously, and with the spread of transnational production networks even more so (Helfen and Fichter, 2013; Helfen et al 2016), it is a fruitful approach for union revitalization to cooperate and collaborate across borders, which also includes a search for good practices. However, the learning process also needs to be localized, as the new organizing practices will not replace prior approaches to organizing but rather bring about a bricolage of practices developed under the prevailing institutional constraints and enablers.…”