Employmentweb_low

labour Markets and welfare states: a country perspective
standard of living independent of labour market participation
(Esping-andersen, 1990), allows workers to exit from the labour
market at need, and in turn allows them to avoid hazardous work
environments. In other words, higher de-commodification means
more bargaining power for workers. Therefore, the key to
understanding employment relations and their impact on workers'
health is to understand the workers' bargaining power, which gives
them leverage to push for a stronger welfare state and healthier
working conditions.
Figure 4. Model showing the main relations between workers' bargaining power, welfare state, employment
relations and health.
strong
Workers'
Bargaining
power
Healthy
Employment
relations
strong
Welfare
state
Healthy Working
Conditions
High Wages
Effect Modifier
good population
Health
source: prepared by the authors
This process takes place along two different pathways. The first is
related to the physical conditions of the workplace, which has
traditionally been the scope of industrial medicine and occupational
health. The second pathway is an outcome of the labour process that
affects workers' lives outside the workplace, namely wages and benefits
(vacations, pensions, worker’s compensation). Together, we can see how
these two outcomes of employment relations, their ensuing physical and
psychosocial hazards, and the various associated forms of economic
compensation affect the health status of workers. These two pathways
are modified by government-provided welfare services, defining in large
part the health status of the working population.
Extrapolating the welfare state typology and employment
relations
This notion of workers' bargaining power becomes problematic
when we look for indicators (i.e., union density, collective bargaining
coverage) in middle and low-income countries. The most notable
difference is related to the high percentage of workers in the
informal sectors of low- to middle-income countries. although the
existence of an informal sector is not only found there (gërxhani,
53