WHY
WEAK UNIONS IN FRANCE
Yonatan Reshef
School of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2R6 CANADA
TRADITIONAL
EXPLANATIONS
UNION
FRAGMENTATION
CLOSED SHOP AGREEMENTS ARE PROHIBITED TO PROTECT INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM TO
CHOOSE WHETHER TO JOIN A UNION
A
LEGACY OF UNIONS' ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST ROOTS. FRENCH UNIONS HAVE
TRADITIONALLY PUT MORE EMPHASIS ON HAVING AN ACTIVE CORE OF MILITANT
ORGANIZERS, RATHER THAN RECRUITING A STABLE MASS MEMBERSHIP
COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS APPLY TO MOST EMPLOYEES, WHETHER THEY ARE UNIONIZED
OR NOT
NO
SPECIFIC WELFARE BENEFITS ACCRUE TO UNION MEMBERS
PATERNALISTIC EMPLOYERS/MANAGERS |
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
RESTRUCTURING
OF THE ECONOMY WITH JOBS SHIFTING FROM MANUFACTURING TO SERVICES
THE
INCREASING NUMBER OF SMALL FIRMS
MAJOR
CHANGES IN THE LABOR MARKET: RISING UNEMPLOYMENT, INCREASING PART-TIME
EMPLOYMENT; INCREASING TEMPORARY FIXED-CONTRACT EMPLOYMENT
CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARD UNIONS, ESPECIALLY AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE
EMPLOYERS ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE SOPHISTICATED IN THEIR HRM PRACTICES.
FOR EXAMPLE, MORE AND MORE MANAGERS HAVE LEARNED HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH
THEIR WORKERS OUTSIDE THE FORMAL EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION SYSTEM. ALSO,
MANAGERS ARE LEARNING HOW TO INDIVIDUALIZE EMPLOYMENT THROUGH
FLEXIBLE-TIME ARRANGEMENTS
GROWING SELF-CRITICISM BY UNIONS DUE TO THEIR INEFFECTIVE STRATEGIES IN
THE FACE OF NEW CHALLENGES |
|