AIAS newsletter Autumn 2012 TW.indd

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30 PUBLICATIONS Book review Employers’ organizations and the effects of ‘voluntary’ abstention from collectively negotiated agreements Review by Jan Cremers, published in Transfer 18(3), August 2012, p. 364-365 ‘Why do workers leave unions?’ was the title of an article in Transfer 17(4) in 2011. In it, the authors explored the reasons for workers leaving trade unions or staying on as trade union members. In the book ‘The paradox of employers’ federations’, Martin Behrens of the Hans Böckler Foundation discusses a similar case applying to employers. His in-depth analysis of German employer organizations reveals a range of reasons for employers belonging to such organizations, while at the same time exposing the myth that employers act in conformity. Employer organizations have always been seen as an important building block of the regulatory frame anchoring the ‘Rhineland model’. In the long term an increase in ‘opt-out clauses’ and in companies making use thereof will undermine the principal function of employer organizations. Though their role will not disappear, the conclusion after reading this book is that there is a qualitative change, with new ways of adding value needing to be developed to maintain attractiveness. Martin Behrens. Das Paradox der Arbeitgeberverbände – Von der Schwierigkeit, durchsetzungsstarke Unternehmensinteressen kollektiv zu vertreten [The paradox of employers’ Article Men care revisited By Marianne Grunell, published in Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, no 15, 2012, p 51-56 I discuss the thesis of my Phd on men’s changing contribution to everyday care and the new social appeal made to them (2002). A decade later my conclusions on a major historical change are sceptical. The urgency of the matter has diminished at the authorities and in social organisations. Men themselves – in particular the focusgroup of fathers of young children – remain ambivalent. Although they say that they want to work less to care more, only a few work part-time. This small group of highly educated men, working in the social sector or at the authorities remains a priviledged group, with paid care arrangements and a pro-care culture. Much more widespread are full-time working fathers, who changed their careing attituede in their free time. Their choice fi ts well in the Dutch one-and-a-half-earning model, in which mothers work part-time and men full-time. The interests of both are served well in this model that will also dominate the coming years. federations – the diffi culty of collectively representing assertive company interests], Research series of the German Hans-Böckler-Foundation, Bd. 130, Edition Sigma: Berlin, 2011; 238 pp. In: Transfer 18(3), August 2012, p. 364-365, http://trs.sagepub.com/content/current
PUBLICATIONS PROFESSIONAL Book New edition ‘De juridische organisatie van de onderneming’ A.F.M. Dorresteijn and R.H. van het Kaar On 9 September Kluwer published a new edition of ‘De Juridische organisatie van de onderneming’, a comprehensive book on Dutch company law, written by A.F.M. Dorresteijn en R.H. van het Kaar. After several years of standstill in Dutch company law, in 2012 major changes are about to take place. The book gives an up to date account of these recent changes. In several chapters the interaction between labour and company law is covered. Examples include the works council, employee board level representatives, the right of inquiry and restructuring. Publisher Uitgeverij Kluwer BV www.kluwer.nl Edition 11 Pages 288 ISBN 978-9-01310-291-8 Price € 49 Chapter Publications on applied research for a professional audience The Value of Workers in International CSR Policies Maarten Keune Maarten Keune contributed a chapter to a publication of the FNV titled The Value of Workers in International CSR Policies. His chapter is titled Globalization, Labour Relations and Transnational Agreements. It sketches a number of negative social consequences of globalization, including growing inequalities and insecurities, the loss of democratic control over the economy, and the growing power of capital at the expense of labour. These consequences have become more visible and are aggravating the present economic and fi nancial crisis. As part of this process, workers are confronted with production chains that are constantly subject to restructuring and that are more and more organized across borders, and with the increasing fi nancialization of the global economy. One of the responses of unions to these developments is that they negotiate a variety of agreements at the level of multinational companies or supply chains with employers interested in strengthening their (image of) corporate social responsibility. Such agreements can potentially play an important role in regulating transnational economic activities, improve labour relations in multinationals, as well as complement existing national legal frameworks that are not adjusted to the internationalization of economic activities. At the same time they suffer from a number of weaknesses, related to their voluntarist character and their limited scope and diffusion. To overcome these limitations, balance the power of global corporations and foster more socially responsible behaviour by multinationals, it is argued that changes are required to the governance of multinational companies, including a change from shareholder to stakeholder models, an increased sense of responsibility from company managers, socially responsible investing, limits on the political power of fi rms, strengthening the enforcement of labour law, the further inclusion of social and labour standards in trade agreements, and the further internationalization of the trade union movement. Government policy can play an important role in this respect and may codify voluntarist agreements. If transnational agreements are to become more general instruments to regulate the global economy, changes in these directions would be required. It is up to unions, governments and socially responsible companies to promote such changes. 31
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