Suchergebnisse

This article looks at the responses of European trade unions to EU legislation against racial discrimination. Previous research has revealed great variety between EU countries in the nature and extent of union responses to immigration and issues of racial discrimination. However, the EU Racial Equality Directive, adopted in 2000, has become a factor for potential convergence in trade union policies in this field. All EU countries now have in place legislation forbidding racial discrimination in employment, and for some this has been an entirely new development. The article draws on research by two EU agencies – the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights – carried out 14 years apart, covering all EU Member States. Their research throws light on the differences that exist between EU Member States in trade unions' awareness of, and receptiveness to, the Racial Equality Directive, as well as on changes in union attitudes and policies that have occurred since the 1990s.

This paper looks at European trade unions and employers, their awareness of racial/ethnic discrimination, and their receptiveness to legislation against it, focusing both on differences among EU member states, and on changes that have occurred since the 1990s. It draws specifically on two research projects carried out by two EU agencies: the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), published 14 years apart. The comparison indicates that the 'no problem here' stance regarding racial discrimination, common in the early 1990s, is no longer dominant amongst the EU15 unions and employers, but could still be found amongst respondents in some of the 12 member states that had joined the EU in after 2004. In general, trade unionists and employers in these newer member states are significantly less sympathetic to the EU's Racial Equality Directive and its rationale than their counterparts to the west. Drawing on qualitative interviews from the FRA research, the paper contrasts the various arguments in support of and against the legislation.

Is diversity management the new tool to combat discrimination in employment, and how is it seen by both employers and union activists? A trend that began in North America, it is now being increasingly incorporated in European businesses. How it relates to equal opportunities, positive action and the priority given to combating racial discrimination in the workplace is closely analysed here. Attractive to employers, it can be a means of evading hard choices about equality and justice at work.

Dans la plupart des pays de l'Union européenne , malgré des législations et des traditions différentes , la discrimination est a l'œuvre. Elle s exprime de façon plus ou moins marquée selon les pays, en fonction du statut et de la visibilité des migrants qui s'y trouvent. Ce racisme semble opérer de manière routinière, sans même que les racistes avérés aient a s'en mêler. Mais cette discrimination, dont certains voudraient faire croire qu'elle est un phénomène "naturel", ne nourrit-elle pas à son tour les idéologies racistes ?