IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v46y2025i2p372-396.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unions divided? Trade union attitudes towards the European Union’s Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages

Author

Listed:
  • Eriks Ozols
  • Stefan Ivanov Hristov
  • Thomas Paster

Abstract

In October 2022, the European Union adopted a directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union (AMWD). This directive has sparked considerable controversy. While employers uniformly oppose the AMWD, unions are divided. In many EU countries, unions support the AMWD, while in Denmark and Sweden, they oppose it. This article aims to answer the question: Why do unions in some member states support the AMWD, while unions in other countries oppose it? Drawing on 27 semi-structured interviews with union representatives from 13 EU countries, the article presents a typology of union positions towards AMWD consisting of three types: domestically-oriented opposition, domestically-oriented support, and externally-oriented support. The article proposes an explanation for these three different types that is based on two variables: bargaining coverage, and the role of state institutions in protecting it.

Suggested Citation

  • Eriks Ozols & Stefan Ivanov Hristov & Thomas Paster, 2025. "Unions divided? Trade union attitudes towards the European Union’s Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 46(2), pages 372-396, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:372-396
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X241245007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X241245007
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X241245007?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
    ---><---

    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:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:372-396. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    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.