Transnational Alliances for Negotiating International Framework Agreements: Power Relations and Bargaining Processes between Global Union Federations and European Works Councils

Abstract

Why should European Works Councils (EWCs) discuss the InternationalLabour Organisation's core labour standards? With respect to their legal duties, EWCs are information and consultation bodies on European topics. In practice, they can become main actors in negotiating and implementing international framework agreements (IFAs) about core labour standards in multinational companies. Using theoretical models of internal and inter-organizational bargaining, the author highlights the role of those European bodies that work together with Global Union Federations (GUFs) during negotiations. In order to analyse the different forms of actors' involvement in negotiations, empirical data from a content analysis of all IFAs, as well as three company case studies, will be presented. It will be argued that internal bargaining between EWCs and GUFs influences negotiations with management. Furthermore, the article discusses the role of norms and institutions that shape internal as well as interorganizational bargaining processes, and lead to different forms of involvement of employee representation bodies.

International Organizations and Global Labor Standards

“…The role of international unions has continued to expand in scope in recent years, with unions developing into effective actors in international labor relations (Fairbrother and Hammer 2005;Croucher and Cotton 2009;Ford and Gillan 2015). Unions directly negotiate with multinational companies and sign International Framework Agreements that ensure the company-wide respect of labor standards across multiple countries (Dehnen 2013;McCallum 2013). Similarly, grassroots and civil society organizations are channeling consumers' awareness of working conditions in the global production chain.…”

The social value creation of MNEs – a literature review across multiple academic fields

“…From a GVC perspective, studies primarily focus on conceptualising employee relations in GVCs (Donaghey et al, 2014;Lakhani et al, 2013), and examine the negative impact financial crises have had in terms of increasing work intensification and job insecurity in global commodity chains (Taylor et al, 2014). Furthermore, researchers explore the role of international framework agreements (IFAs) in regulating labour representation (Dehnen, 2013;Helfen et al, 2016;Sobczak, 2007) and the importance of international law in advancing global rights (Compa, 2002), as voluntary regimes have shown to be inadequate at ensuring MNEs are not complicit in human rights violations (Simons, 2004). Although an underexplored area, there are studies that integrate the notion of CSR into international HRM (Shen, 2011) and, from a green HRM perspective, address how environmental sustainability can be achieved through the engagement of employees in related practices (Haddock-Millar et al, 2016).…”

Corporate Social Responsibility and Labour Standards: Bridging Business Management and Employment Relations Perspectives

“…One growing area of research is on international forms of collective bargaining, including International Framework Agreements (IFAs). While much research shows difficulties enforcing IFAs at the local level (Helfen and Sydow 2013), they can also serve as resources for unions in local bargaining (Dehnen 2013). Mustchin and Lucio (2017) show that UK trade unions referenced or engaged with these agreements to strengthen their influence on multinational corporations; with best outcomes where institutions supported co-ordination across different levels of the firm (see also Fichter et al 2011).…”