IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v24y2018i4p451-465.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contested industrial democracy discourses in transnational companies. The case of the ArcelorMittal European Social Dialogue Group

Author

Listed:
  • Sergio González Begega

    (Department of Sociology, University of Oviedo, Spain)

  • Holm-Detlev Köhler

    (Department of Sociology, University of Oviedo, Spain)

  • Mona Aranea

    (Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, UK)

Abstract

This article discusses the potential of European transnational company agreements for developing industrial democracy at European company level. It describes the experience of the ArcelorMittal European Social Dialogue Group, established in 2009 through a European transnational company agreement as an innovative channel for trade union involvement in corporate decision-making. The conceptual framework draws on a cross-national comparison of industrial democracy discourses in two European countries, Germany and Spain. A qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with trade union representatives and management is used to identify divergent national discourses of employee voice giving rise to common misunderstandings of industrial democracy at European level. The findings illustrate the persisting communication challenges faced by trade unions when engaging in employee representation structures at transnational company level. The article also shows that trade union representatives are able to adapt their national discourses on industrial democracy under the influence of European practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio González Begega & Holm-Detlev Köhler & Mona Aranea, 2018. "Contested industrial democracy discourses in transnational companies. The case of the ArcelorMittal European Social Dialogue Group," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 24(4), pages 451-465, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:24:y:2018:i:4:p:451-465
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258918775838
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1024258918775838
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1024258918775838?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Hyman, 2016. "The very idea of democracy at work," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 22(1), pages 11-24, February.
    2. Glynne Williams & Steve Davies & Crispen Chinguno, 2015. "Subcontracting and Labour Standards: Reassessing the Potential of International Framework Agreements," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(2), pages 181-203, June.
    3. Ian Greer & Marco Hauptmeier, 2012. "Identity Work: Sustaining Transnational Collective Action at General Motors Europe," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 275-299, April.
    4. Niklas Egels-Zandén & Peter Hyllman, 2007. "Evaluating Strategies for Negotiating Workers’ Rights in Transnational Corporations: The Effects of Codes of Conduct and Global Agreements on Workplace Democracy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 207-223, December.
    5. Nick Adnett & Stephen Hardy, 2005. "The European Social Model," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2848.
    6. Christina Niforou, 2012. "International Framework Agreements and Industrial Relations Governance: Global Rhetoric versus Local Realities," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 352-373, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rémi Bourguignon & Pierre Garaudel & Simon Porcher, 2020. "Global Framework Agreements and Trade Unions as Monitoring Agents in Transnational Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 517-533, September.
    2. Santanu Sarkar & Sarosh Kuruvilla, 2020. "Constructing Transnational Solidarity: The Role of Campaign Governance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(1), pages 27-49, March.
    3. Kelly Pike, 2020. "Voice in Supply Chains: Does the Better Work Program Lead to Improvements in Labor Standards Compliance?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 913-938, August.
    4. Sarkar, Santanu & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2020. "Constructing transnational solidarity: the role of campaign governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101164, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Garaudel, Pierre, 2020. "Exploring meta-organizations’ diversity and agency: A meta-organizational perspective on global union federations," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    6. Juliane Reinecke & Jimmy Donaghey, 2021. "Political CSR at the Coalface – The Roles and Contradictions of Multinational Corporations in Developing Workplace Dialogue," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 457-486, March.
    7. Marc‐Antonin Hennebert & Isabelle Roberge‐Maltais & Urwana Coiquaud, 2023. "The effectiveness of international framework agreements as a tool for the protection of workers' rights: A metasynthesis," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 242-260, May.
    8. Pierre Garaudel, 2020. "Exploring meta-organizations’ diversity and agency: A meta-organizational perspective on global union federations," Post-Print halshs-02474817, HAL.
    9. Christian Lévesque & Marc-Antonin Hennebert & Gregor Murray & Reynald Bourque, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Worker Rights: Institutionalizing Social Dialogue Through International Framework Agreements," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 215-230, November.
    10. Cedric E. Dawkins, 2021. "An Agonistic Notion of Political CSR: Melding Activism and Deliberation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 5-19, April.
    11. Sabrina Colombo & Marco Guerci & Toloue Miandar, 2019. "What Do Unions and Employers Negotiate Under the Umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility? Comparative Evidence from the Italian Metal and Chemical Industries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 445-462, March.
    12. Stephen Mustchin & Miguel Martínez Lucio, 2017. "Transnational Collective Agreements and the Development of New Spaces for Union Action: The Formal and Informal Uses of International and European Framework Agreements in the UK," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(3), pages 577-601, September.
    13. Markus Hertwig, 2016. "Widening the lens: a structuration theory perspective on European works councils and transnational labour relations," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5-6), pages 473-491, November.
    14. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2022. "Understanding global union repertoires of action," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 559-577, November.
    15. Renata Halaskova, 2018. "Structure of General Government Expenditure on Social Protection in the EU Member States Using Differentiation Characteristics," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 14(4), pages 7-21.
    16. Sara Lafuente Hernández, 2018. "Book Review: Firms as Political Entities. Saving Democracy through Economic Bicameralism," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 24(3), pages 356-359, August.
    17. Céline Louche & Lotte Staelens & Marijke D’Haese, 2020. "When Workplace Unionism in Global Value Chains Does Not Function Well: Exploring the Impediments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 379-398, March.
    18. Niklas Egels-Zandén, 2009. "TNC Motives for Signing International Framework Agreements: A Continuous Bargaining Model of Stakeholder Pressure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(4), pages 529-547, February.
    19. Benassi, Chiara & Dorigatti, Lisa & Pannini, Elisa, 2018. "Explaining divergent bargaining outcomes for agency workers: the role of labour divides and labour market reforms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89371, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Hans-Wolfgang Platzer & Stefan Rüb, 2014. "It takes two to tango. Management and European company agreements," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 20(2), pages 255-270, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:24:y:2018:i:4:p:451-465. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.