Vertical Disintegration and the Disorganization of German Industrial Relations1

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.     

Stability in Germany's Industrial Relations: A Critique on Hassel's Erosion Thesis

In a recent article entitled 'The Erosion of Industrial Relations in Germany', Anke Hassel (1999) claimed that German industrial relations have been eroded during the last two decades. This paper questions the argument, maintaining that Germany's basic industrial relations system remains intact and that the major changes in Germany relate to unification and the public sector.     

The Individualization of Irish Industrial Relations?

Research claims that industrial relations in greenfield sites in Ireland are commonly individualized. Data from a representative sample of workplaces in Ireland show that no trend towards more pronounced individualization is apparent in the use of HRM practices in new as compared with established workplaces. The state of collective industrial relations in workplaces in general is also shown to be independent of the extent to which individually focused HRM practices have been adopted. The Irish findings, and recent international research, question the idea of individualization as a useful way of understanding the character and dynamics of employment relations in advanced economies.     

The Reconstruction of Industrial Relations in the Privatized Water Industry

Abstract : The article examines changes in industrial relations in the recently privatized water authorities, and argues that the development of new industrial relations procedures and practices has involved a substantial reconstruction of the old public-sector industrial relations framework. However, change has by no means been uniform throughout the ten new water plcs, and comparisons are made to highlight the diversity of management response to the new environment created by privatization. In explaining the scope and pace of change, the paper argues that the early move to single-employer bargaining and the opportunities for comparisons of performance within the new regulatory framework are important explanatory factors.     

The Future Role of Government in Industrial Relations

The future role of government in industrial relations depends on the choices made by employers, workers, and especially governments. Technological change and internationalization have reduced the viability of both Keynesian economics and the mass production system, once integrally related to the industrial relations systems of industrialized democracies after the 1930s. Economic success will require new policies and high-performance systems more appropriate for a global, knowledge-intensive economic environment