IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v25y2011i2p292-308.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

National unions and transnational workers: the case of Olkiluoto 3, Finland

Author

Listed:
  • Nathan Lillie

    (University of Groningen, The Netherlands  n.a.lillie@rug.nl)

  • Markku Sippola

    (University of Eastern Finland, FinlandÂ)

Abstract

This article argues, through analysing industrial relations at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant construction site in Finland, that national unionism is inappropriately structured for the transnational construction industry. Olkiluoto 3 is being built by a French/German consortium employing mostly posted migrants via transnational subcontractors from around Europe. Despite the strong Finnish unions, contractors successfully contested the right of Finnish actors to regulate the site, placing labour relations in a deregulated space between national systems. Although the posted migrants eventually self-organized, Finnish unions remained unresponsive, reluctant to act outside the normal Finnish social partnership industrial relations paradigm. The case illustrates how the nationally based structure of the labour movement is ill-suited to represent a pan-European labour force.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan Lillie & Markku Sippola, 2011. "National unions and transnational workers: the case of Olkiluoto 3, Finland," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(2), pages 292-308, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:25:y:2011:i:2:p:292-308
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017011398901
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017011398901
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017011398901?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. Jane Wills, 2008. "Making Class Politics Possible: Organizing Contract Cleaners in London," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 305-323, 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. Ines Wagner, 2015. "EU posted work and transnational action in the German meat industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 21(2), pages 201-213, May.
    2. Gabriella Alberti & Davide Però, 2018. "Migrating Industrial Relations: Migrant Workers’ Initiative Within and Outside Trade Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 693-715, December.
    3. Chris F. Wright, 2016. "Leveraging Reputational Risk: Sustainable Sourcing Campaigns for Improving Labour Standards in Production Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 195-210, August.
    4. Ian Fitzgerald & Jane Hardy, 2010. "‘Thinking Outside the Box’? Trade Union Organizing Strategies and Polish Migrant Workers in the United Kingdom," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 131-150, March.
    5. Philip James & Joanna Karmowska, 2016. "British union renewal: does salvation really lie beyond the workplace?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 102-116, March.
    6. Caroline Murphy & Thomas Turner, 2014. "Organising non-standard workers: union recruitment in the Irish care sector," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 373-388, September.
    7. Jennifer Jihye Chun, 2016. "Organizing across divides: Union challenges to precarious work in Vancouver’s privatized health care sector," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(2), pages 173-188, April.
    8. Ana Lopes & Timothy Hall, 2015. "Organising migrant workers: the living wage campaign at the University of East London," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 208-221, May.
    9. Maite Tapia & Lowell Turner, 2013. "Across Boundaries: The Global Challenges Facing Workers and Employment Research 50th Anniversary Special Issue," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 601-622, September.
    10. Myfanwy Taylor, 2020. "The Role of Traders and Small Businesses in Urban Social Movements: The Case of London's Workspace Struggles," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1041-1056, November.
    11. Jane Hardy, 2015. "Explaining ‘varieties of solidarity’: labour mobility and trade unions in an enlarged Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 21(2), pages 187-200, May.
    12. Nina Martin, 2011. "Toward a New Countermovement: A Framework for Interpreting the Contradictory Interventions of Migrant Civil Society Organizations in Urban Labor Markets," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(12), pages 2934-2952, December.
    13. Peter Prowse & Ray Fells, 2016. "The Living Wage – Policy And Practice," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 144-162, March.
    14. Sikka, Prem, 2015. "The hand of accounting and accountancy firms in deepening income and wealth inequalities and the economic crisis: Some evidence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 46-62.

    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:woemps:v:25:y:2011:i:2:p:292-308. 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: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    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.