Collective Bargaining Developments in Times of Crisis

The first edition of this book, published in 2018, analysed developments in systems of collective bargaining in fifteen mainly European Union countries related to the post-2008 crisis, mixing comparative and national presentations. Since then, other crises of unprecedented magnitude have hit all countries: the totally unexpected COVID-19 pandemic with its massive consequences, the energy crisis, the environmental crisis, and the Ukrainian war crisis followed by inflation. However, an essential change has taken place at the European level in this area since the publication in 2018 of the first edition, a change of such magnitude that it can be described as a paradigm shift. The adoption of the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages marks a true break with the post-financial crisis period, as the EU is now focusing on the development and enhancement of strong sectoral collective bargaining systems in wage settings. This very new European context justifies an update of the research published in 2018 to analyse the evolutions of collective bargaining in this new context.
The book is organised around two building blocks:

- Part I presents some comparative perspectives both in terms of the structure of the industrial relations systems and in terms of subjects of collective bargaining, whether this be a classical theme of collective bargaining (wages and working time) or less traditional themes (platform work, young people and older people which are two categories particularly affected by the crisis).

- Part II presents some national situations. Each chapter explores how national systems have been able to respond to European injunctions and have also responded to the new challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of new themes. These presentations demonstrate once again the extreme diversity of each industrial relations system. Some systems, such as the Austrian system, appear to be unfailingly stable, while the Belgian system seems to be having more difficulty adapting. Others, like the Portuguese or the Spanish systems, appear to be resilient, while in some countries, Turkey, Hungary, Poland and Romania, collective bargaining is particularly weak. In these countries, the question raised by the adoption of the AMW Directive is therefore to determine how sectoral bargaining can be developed in countries where there is no such level of bargaining or in countries where collective bargaining remains underdeveloped at all levels.

As the first edition, the book takes stock of the current state of collective bargaining in Europe. It is an essential study for labour and employment law practitioners and an exemplary analysis of immeasurable value to policymakers and academics in the field.