Suchergebnisse

Analyzes EU posted work in theory and practice from the point of view of the posted worker and identifies emerging structures of access and denial to labor rights for temporary intra-EU migrant workers based on extensive qualitative data collection in Germany.

This article traces the course of a transnational action in the German meat industry involving an alliance of transnational posted workers, a local civil society organization and the trade union NGG (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten). As labour's channels of influence have broken down and posting of low-wage workers has intensified, trade unionists have responded by building coalitions with societal actors. The case illustrates a complementary approach to studying how resistance unfolds in transnational workplaces under conditions in which traditional avenues for protest are blocked or marginalized.

"Von einer Entsendung wird gesprochen, wenn ein Arbeitnehmer in einem EU-Mitgliedstaat angestellt ist, der Arbeitgeber jedoch entscheidet, ihn vorübergehend in einem anderen Mitgliedstaat arbeiten zu lassen. Die Entsenderichtlinie soll diese Art von transnationaler Arbeit regulieren. Fragen, wie sich die Lebenswelten, die Arbeitsbedingungen und die sozialen Räume von entsandten Arbeitnehmern gestalten, waren bisher ein wenig beachtetes Untersuchungsfeld. Welche Konsequenzen für Arbeits- und Beschäftigungsbedingungen und soziale Sicherung hat grenzüberschreitende Entsendung in der Entsendepraxis in dem Einsatzland Deutschland? Die in diesem Beitrag vorgestellte Studie untersucht, wie sich die transnationale Regulierung auf die Entsendepraxis auswirkt. Im Fokus der Analyse steht die Problematik, dass das Beschäftigungsverhältnis von entsandten Beschäftigten in zwei Staaten verankert ist." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

AbstractThe reconfiguration of political space lies at the heart of the European project and is the subject of manifold studies on the new shape of the European Union, but relatively little attention has been paid to the ways in which borders are de‐ and reconstructed in a pan‐European labour market. In a pan‐European labour market, state borders shift. Postings made via subcontractors and agencies providing temporary workers also rearrange the borders of the firm. However, we know very little about how these bordering practices interact within the pan‐European labour market. This study argues that while borders have become porous, their porousness is one‐directional, in the sense that it is in favour of capital but impacts negatively on labour rights. In developing a framework for understanding the relationship between changes in sovereign borders and changes in employment relations in the EU, this article integrates insights from international relations, political economy and border research.

Mobiliteit en burgerschaprechten binnen de Europese Unie beïnvloeden de levens van miljoenen mensen in de EU op een positieve manier. In Posted Work and Deterritorialization in the European Union betoogt Ines Wagner echter dat de dynamiek van intra-Europese arbeidsmigratie ook een hypermobiele onderklasse van arbeiders in precaire, slecht betaald werk creëert. Dit komt voornamelijk doordat tewerkstellingsstructuren transnationaliseren, terwijl beleidsinstrumenten en kiesdistricten territoriaal geregeld blijven. Wagner's conclusies zijn gebaseerd op kwalitatief onderzoek naar detachering in de Duitse politieke economie. Gedetacheerde werknemers zijn arbeidsmigranten die door hun werkgever tijdelijk in een andere EU-lidstaat te werk worden gesteld. In een toenemend aantal bedrijfstakken, waaronder de bouwsector, vleesverwerking, distributie en scheepsbouw, leven gedetacheerde werknemers in precaire omstandigheden. Wagner ontdekte op basis van interviews met gedetacheerde werknemers uit voornamelijk Oost-Europese landen, met vakbondsafgevaardigden, managers en beleidsmakers, dat EU burgerschapsrechten en regels met betrekking tot arbeidsmigratie grotendeels worden omzeild. Mobiele EU-burgers bevinden zich in een institutioneel vacuüm door zwakke of afwezige vakbondsvertegenwoordiging en collectieve belangenbehartiging. Wagner's diepgaande analyse wijst op ineffectieve arbeidsmarktregulering in de pan-Europese arbeidsmarkt relevant voor zowel vakmensen als beleidsmakers. De bevindingen tonen het belang van het op elkaar afstemmen van economische en sociale arbeidsmarktintegratie om de rechten van EU arbeidsmigranten te beschermen. ; European Union mobility and citizenship rights have positively affected the lives of millions across the EU. In Posted Work and Deterritorialization in the European Union, Ines Wagner contends that the dynamics of intra-EU labour mobility is also creating a hypermobile underclass of workers employed in low-wage precarious employment. This outcome mainly takes places because employment structures transnationalise, yet state policy tools and constituencies remain territorially defined. Wagner's conclusions are based on qualitative data in the context of posted work in the German political economy. 'Posted workers' are a type of labour migrant sent by their employer to work temporarily in another EU member state. In an increasing number of industries, including construction, meat processing, distribution and ship building, posted workers work and live under precarious conditions. Based on interviews with posted workers from mainly Eastern European countries, union representatives, managers and policy-makers, she found that EU citizen rights and labour mobility regulations are largely being circumvented. Mobile EU citizens are placed in an institutional void because of weak or no union representation or collective voice structures. Wagner's in-depth analysis points to the ineffective labour market regulation in a pan-European labour market relevant for practitioners and policy-makers alike. Findings show the importance of matching economic and social labour market integration to protect the rights of EU labour migrants.

Abstract
This article examines the role of the media in the EU freedom of movement debate through the lens of high-circulation German and UK newspapers during the first half of 2014. It explores how the media problematised migration from Eastern European member states and its influence on national host country labour markets and welfare systems. It also analyses how different media outlets positioned themselves in relation to relevant policies or policy proposals. The findings show that most articles in our sample present low-skill, low-wage working European Union (EU) migrant class referred to as "poverty migrants" as a problem to be addressed at the policy level in contrast with the economically self-sufficient migrant with marketable skills. The article contributes to discussions on work, welfare, and mobility in the EU by cross-fertilising the literature on migration policy, freedom of movement, social rights, and the media.

This article examines the role of the media in the EU freedom of movement debate through the lens of high-circulation German and UK newspapers during the first half of 2014. It explores how the media problematised migration from Eastern European member states and its influence on national host country labour markets and welfare systems. It also analyses how different media outlets positioned themselves in relation to relevant policies or policy proposals. The findings show that most articles in our sample present low-skill, low-wage working European Union (EU) migrant class referred to as "poverty migrants" as a problem to be addressed at the policy level in contrast with the economically self-sufficient migrant with marketable skills. The article contributes to discussions on work, welfare, and mobility in the EU by cross-fertilising the literature on migration policy, freedom of movement, social rights, and the media. ; peerReviewed

AbstractThe formulation of common political positions from the trade union movement at the European Union (EU) level mainly takes place at the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). In the case of the Enforcement Directive of the Posting of Workers Directive, a central cleavage line runs between neither countries nor political parties, but between different vertical levels of the system of European labor relations—the sectoral and interprofessional levels. Here, due to both horizontal and vertical differences, trade unions were unable to effectively formulate and pursue joint positions. On these grounds, we aspire to provide a theoretical argument on political dynamics in the EU's multilevel system. While the ETUC representatives internalize supranational norms through their embeddedness in the EU's institutional landscape, this socialization process does not advance—but rather prevents—integration by disrupting trade union power at the supranational level.

Industrial citizenship developed as a way to socially regulate markets in democratic societies. However, EU regulation and one form of labour mobility unique to the European Union, namely posted work, undermines national industrial citizenship through constitutionalizing markets. This chapter examines the contradictions between industrial and market citizenship concepts, and traces their implications in practice. It focuses on how posted work introducies into the German industrial relations system a class of workers with tenuous relations to the system's regulatory jurisdiction. This undermines industrial citizenship in Germany. Use of posting avoids contesting the validity of labour rights and industrial citizenship concepts directly, but instead asserts that specific workers under exceptional circumstances are outside realm of application of those concepts. Based on interviews of posted workers, trade unionists, managers, and policy makers we examine the contradictions between industrial and market citizenship concepts, and trace their implications in practice. Findings show that the dominance of market concepts in the EU regulation of posted work circumvents and undermines Germany's industrial citizenship institutions. ; peerReviewed

In the course of European integration, national trade unions in Europe founded the umbrella organization of the European Trade Union Confederation in order to establish common political positions. Drawing on the case of supranational politics of services regulation, this study shows how cleavages within the EU's multi-level system of labor regulation make the development of such positions a difficult task. Whereas most research on cleavages at the supranational level focuses either on party groups or national origin, findings indicate a vertical line of conflict within the multi-level system of European trade unionism. ; Im Zuge der europäischen Integration haben nationale Gewerkschaften in Europa die Dachorganisation des Europäischen Gewerkschaftsbundes gegründet, um gemeinsame politische Positionen festzulegen. Das Papier untersucht auf Grundlage der supranationalen Politik der Dienstleistungsfreiheit, wie Spaltungen innerhalb des mehrstufigen Regulierungssystems der EU die Entwicklung einer gemeinsamen Position zu einer schwierigen Aufgabe machen. Während sich die meisten Studien zu Spaltungen auf supranationaler Ebene entweder auf Parteigruppen oder auf Länderkonflikte konzentrieren, deuten die Befunde dieses Papiers auf eine vertikale Konfliktlinie innerhalb des Mehrebenensystems des europäischen Gewerkschaftsbundes hin.