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PurposeThis paper aims to study the impact of new types of market‐based management systems in Western European public sector industrial relations.Design/methodology/approachIt reviews the main literature on the topic and relevant policy texts.FindingsIt points to the different dimensions of public sector change in terms of industrial relations and outlines some of the contradictory outcomes and ongoing continuities.Research limitations/implicationsIt is a general overview of key developments.Practical implicationsIt is relevant for a discussion of the general trends and dynamic of public sector industrial relations.Originality/valueIt manages to take an overview of changes in the public sector and point to the uncertain development of a new market approach.

This text takes a global approach to international human resource management, looking at the implications of globalization for industrial relations and transnational companies. Topics covered include international regulation, business ethics, the implications of migration and mobility, and the way that transnational companies behave in developing countries

The widening workplace agenda and politics regarding mental health issues has been prompted by a growing concern of their increasing presence at work, which is, in part, due to the awareness amongst workers and expert critics of the ongoing increase in work intensification, and related issues such as bullying and violence at work. Health and safety related tensions, broadly speaking, are therefore increasing in significance and reflecting and expansion of –and struggles over– rights that have been evolving for some time. Keywords:health and safety, stress, trade unions, conflict, firm. ; La ampliación de programas y políticas en cuestiones de salud mental y estrés laboral se ha visto impulsada por una paulatina toma de conciencia sobre su creciente presencia en el lugar de trabajo, lo que se debe, en parte, a la concienciación de los trabajadores y los expertos críticos sobre el actual aumento en la intensificación del trabajo, así como también del acoso y la violencia en el mismo. En términos generales, las tensiones en relación con la salud y la seguridad están ganando repercusión y, por lo tanto, reflejan una ampliación (y una lucha por) de los derechos involucrados. Estos derechos han venido evolucionando recientemente a medida que las cuestiones de las condiciones de trabajo se deterioran debido a la demanda de nuevas formas de cambio organizativo y de financiación. Palabras clave:salud laboral, estrés, sindicatos, conflicto, empresa.

Organising as a trade union strategy has caught the imagination of the labour movement over the past 20 years or so. The vast possibilities of new forms of organising go hand in hand with concern about its highly constrained and sometimes hierarchical use. This article looks at key aspects of the debate, focusing on the question of how new forms of organising reach out to more vulnerable and precarious workers. Similar to other colleagues in the field, we conclude that there are political and organisational gaps in organising strategies and that new forms of organising can in some instances be bureaucratic and apolitical. Furthermore, it is important to extend our understanding of the role of trade unions in relation to the state, organised working class constituencies, and social rights, especially as, with regard to vulnerable workers and their organisations, questions of regulation are highly sensitive and challenging.

The role of the state in Spain in relation to work and employment since the 1970s has been complex and multifaceted, and has been configured by a range of factors both structural and strategic. On the one hand there is a narrative which is mindful of the very deep challenges facing the state and the way the perceived inefficiencies of the Spanish economy had to be transformed and renewed; and how a system of social dialogue had to be constructed in very challenging circumstances politically. On the other hand, there is a view that social dialogue has been truncated and une-ven, and the form of enforcement and juridical state roles inconsistent. ; El papel del Estado español en lo que se refiere al trabajo y al empleo desde la dé-cada de los 70 ha sido complejo y heterogéneo. Por un lado, existe un discurso académico centrado en los importantes desafíos a los que se enfrentó el Estado, en el contexto de diversas deficiencias de una economía poco ortodoxa y eficaz. Asi-mismo, se deben tener en cuenta las complejas circunstancias políticas bajo las cua-les tuvo que instaurarse el sistema del diálogo social, que ha encontrado dificulta-des con una fuerza de trabajo y una clase empresarial cada vez más dispersas y fragmentadas.Uncertainty, indecision and emerging neoliberalism The complex and dual role of the Spanish State in labor relations and employmentThe role of the state in Spain in relation to work and employment since the 1970s has been complex and multifaceted, and has been configured by a range of factors both structural and strategic. On the one hand there is a narrative which is mindful of the very deep challenges facing the state and the way the perceived inefficiencies of the Spanish economy had to be transformed and renewed; and how a system of social dialogue had to be constructed in very challenging circumstances politically. On the other hand, there is a view that social dialogue has been truncated and une-ven, and the form of enforcement and juridical state roles inconsistent.

Richard Hyman's work presents us with a rich portrayal of questions of solidarity and its meaning, the re-imagining of union roles, and the complex identity of unions, located in a concern with emancipation and worker representation. Hyman's early work of the 1970s acts as a vital precursor for such concerns and offers a rich set of concepts explaining the dilemma of labour representation, its inherent instability, and the importance of the role of the political in shaping it, even if the concept of the political is underdeveloped. Drawing on a series of texts in a discursive and reflective manner, it points to the irony that the discussion in that period has more to tell us than many currently think. The question of politics and democracy – and purpose – in trade unions is discussed in terms of the tensions and ambivalence that exists within the employment relation and the way notions of achievement and progress are understood, and not just the contouring of the institutional landscape.

Las repercusiones de la unión monetaria dentro del contexto europeo han sido objeto de un amplio dialogo tanto en el mundo académico como en el mundo político, siendo un rasgo central de la construcción por parte de la Unión Europea de un espacio económico unificado y normativizado, capaz de proporcionar un entorno estable que apoya el crecimiento económico y social. Sin embargo, este proyecto ha sido objeto de críticas vertidas por personas que, desde posturas políticas y académicas, sostienen que el nuevo orden europeo se basa en un discurso neoliberal y de competitividad que pone como prioridad la atracción de capital e inversiones en lugar de la formación y la normativización de los mismos. En cuanto a España, Kennedy (1996) ha argumentado que este punto de referencia se sitúa en el núcleo de la política social y de integración española, menoscabando intereses sociales e intervencionistas más amplios y yendo así en detrimento de la economía española. Esta ponencia abundará en la crítica de Kennedy sobre la integración europea al examinar cómo la «normativización del Estado» dentro de un marco monetario se basa en (i) la constitución de un marco político y académico que socava las alternativas y (ii) el uso de unas determinadas «comparaciones» y mitos sobre la economía española que erosionan la apariencia de las problemáticas que surgen de la integración. En este sentido, con la integración no se trata simplemente de suprimir alternativas para embarcarse en la aventura de «formar parte de Europa», sino de moldear los discursos políticos relativos a Europa y de contextualizar la integración de tal manera que queden aislados los discursos alternativos. ; The impact of monetary union within the European context has been the subject of much academic and political dialogue. This is a central feature of the European Union's construction of a unified and regulated economic space capable of providing a stable and supportive environment for economic and social growth. However, such a project has been the subject of criticism from a variety of political and academic positions that argue that the new European order is based on a neo-liberal/ competitiveness discourse that prioritises the attraction of capital and investment as opposed to its formation and regulation. In terms of Spain, Kennedy (1996) has argued that this reference point is central to the political and social policies of integration within Spain which underplay broader social and interventionists interests much to the detriment of the Spanish economy. The paper will extend Kennedy's critique of European integration by studying the way the «regulation of the state» within a monetary framework is based on (i) the construction of a political and academic framework which undermines alternatives and (ii) the use of select «comparisons» and myths regarding the Spanish economy which erode the appearance of problematic developments that emerge from integration. In this respect integration is not simply a case of suppressing alternatives in the adventure to be «part of Europe» but of moulding political discourses regarding Europe and contextualising integration in such a way that it isolates alternative discourses.

While union presence and joint regulation of work and employment has declined, the state maintains a key role in directly regulating employment standards in areas including health and safety, minimum wage enforcement and subcontracting. Based on an empirical study of enforcement agencies in Britain, this article argues that the nature of regulatory work and its reshaping by both exogenous and endogenous pressures ultimately influences the impact of regulation itself and how it is enforced. Major shifts in the skills, knowledge and networks critical to the nature of labour inspection work parallel developments within the workplaces they are responsible for regulating.

This article argues, through a study of cleaning workers, a need to reconsider the changing nature of unskilled work. In particular, how it has, ironically, become more complex and challenging in some cases due to economic and political developments. For example, in relation to questions of dirty work, stigma and issues of dignity, aspects of this literature recognise the difficulty of the work and its 'distribution'. However, we argue a need to draw further attention to the 'mechanics', processes and complexities of this work and the way it is subject to significant contextual changes (e.g. the role of austerity) that create new complexities and challenges just as that work is being undermined and intensified. We use the voices of cleaning workers to reflect, in a rich detailed manner, the changes to their working environment and focus on the broader social perceptions of the work – from the public, employers and the workers themselves. Our analysis demonstrates a clear recognition of the complexity of that work through four dimensions – the changing spatial isolation of work; the growing context of violence due to the changing operational features of the job; the ongoing impact of state led austerity policies and limited resources, and the ongoing role of social stigma. We end the article discussing how workers' control emerges as an important issue in a curious manner within this changing context.