"Labour, Globalisation and The New Economy" - rldwl

Third International Congress of the Work & Labour Network
"Labour, Globalisation and The New Economy"
Osnabrück, Germany 22 - 25 May 2002
Organised by the Volkshochschule Osnabrück
in co-operation with VAUST
[Association Work, Environment, Society & Technology] Osnabrück &
the University of Osnabrück, Department of Social Sciences
supported by
the European Commission, the
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living & Working Conditions,
the Hans Böckler Stiftung, the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science & Culture,
the International Labour Office, and the European Trade Union Institute
Venue: Volkshochschule Osnabrück, Bergstraße 8, D-49076 Osnabrück &
University of Osnabrück, Hörsaalgebäude, Kolpingstr. 7 &
Department of Social Sciences, Seminarstr. 33, D-49074 Osnabrück, Germany
14 May 2002

The third Congress will take place in the City of
Osnabrück, in the Northwest of Germany.
Osnabrück is the German environmental capital
and City of Peace (Westphalian Peace Treaty
from 1648; www.osnabrueck.de)
Volkshochschule Osnabrück
Bergstrasse 8, D-49076 Osnabrück/Germany
All communication should be addressed to the
organiser:
György Széll
University of Osnabrück,
Department of Social Sciences,
D-49069 Osnabrück/Germany
Tel. +49-541-969-4614
Fax +49-541-969-4600
gszell@uos.de
and to the Secretariat of the International Network
for Regional & Local Development of Work &
Labour:
Volker Telljohann
Institute for Labour Foundation
Via Marconi, 8
I-40122 Bologna/Italy
Tel. +39.051.6564211
Fax +39.051.6565425
v.telljohann@ipielle.emr.it
For more information on the RLDWL-network
please visit our webpages
http://www.ipielle.emr.it/monolang/rldwl/rldwl.html
http://www.lernenderegionosnabrueck.de
____________________________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
Programme......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Workshop 1 - New Economy And Labour ........................................................................................................ 5
Workshop 2 - New Forms Of Economic Activities........................................................................................... 8
Workshops 3 & 5
The Role Of Institutions In The Process Of Local And Regional Development
Building An Early Warning Business Development Network ..........................................................................9
Workshop 4
Intermediate Structures And Regional Development In Central And Eastern Europe.................................... 12
Workshop 6 - Transnational Social Regulation............................................................................................... 14
Workshop 7 Qualification & Regional Development/ Qualifikation & Regionalentwicklung ....................... 16
The International Network For Regional And Local Development Of Work And Labour (Rldwl) ............... 17
2 - 14 May 2002

Tuesday, 21 May 2002
Arrival of participants
Wednesday, 22 May 2002
From 9.00 hours: Further Arrival & Registration
at the Volkshochschule, Bergstr. 8
9.30 - 12.30 hours - Company visit:
Discussions with management, unions, European
Works Council, Departuire by bus in front of the
Volkshochschule
16.00 – 18.30 hours: Opening Session
(Auditorium of the Volkshochschule, Bergstr. 8)
Chair: Prof. Dr. Gian Primo Cella,
University of Milan, Italy -
Co-chair of RLDWL
Prof. Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering
MEP, Chairman of the Group of the European
People's Party and European Democrats &
University of Osnabrück, Germany
Heinz-Hermann Witte,
Secretary of State, Ministry of Women, Labour
& Social Affairs, Lower Saxony, Hannover,
Germany
Kevin P O'Kelly
Research Manager of the European Foundation
for the Improvement of the Quality of Working
Life, Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Johannes Hartkemeyer,
Director of the Volkshochschule Osnabrück
Opening Lecture: Prof. Dr. György Széll,
Co-chair of RLDWL
Presentation of the Workshops by the Chairs
Discussion
19.00 hours: Reception in the Peace-Hall in the
City-Hall by the Lord Mayor of Osnabrück, Hans-
Jürgen Fip
Thursday, 23 May 2002
From 9.00 hours: Registration & Bookshop at the
University of Osnabrück, Hörsaalgebäude,
Kolpingstr. 7
9.30 – 13.00 hours: Workshops in parallel
Workshops will also take place at the University
of Osnabrück in the Hörsaalgebäude, Kolpingstr.
PROGRAMME
7 & Department of Social Sciences, Seminarstr.
33
11.00 - 11.30 hours: Break
13.00 - 14.30 hours: Lunch
14.30 - 18.00 hours: Workshops in parallel
16.00 - 16.30 hours: Break
19.00 hours: Dinner at the brewery Rampendahl,
Hasestr. 35
Friday, 24 May 2002
9.30 - 11.00 hours:
Chair: Prof. Dr. Dasarath Chetty,
University of Durban-Westville, South Africa &
Vice-President Research Committee
'Participation, Organisational Democracy & Selfmanagement',
International Sociological
Association
Reports from the Workshops
11.00 - 11.30 hours: Break
11.30 - 13.00 hours: Discussion
13.00 - 14.30 hours: Lunch
14.30 - 16.00 hours: Final Panel
Chair: Prof. Dr. György Széll
Prof. Dr. Dasarath Chetty,
University of Durban-Westville, South Africa
Dr. Otto Jacobi,
European Trade Union Institute, Brussels,
Belgium
Dr. Francesco Garibaldo,
Director of the Istituto per il Lavoro, Bologna,
Italy & RLDWL
Dr. Alain Chouraqui,
CNRS/LEST, Aix-en-Provence, France & President
Research Committee 'Participation, Organisational
Democracy & Self-management', International
Sociological Association
16.00 - 16.30 hours: Break
16.30 - 18.00 hours:
General discussion
19.00 hours: Departure of the bus Volks
hochschule, Bergstr. 8 for
3 - 14 May 2002

Dinner at the Cultural Event at the Museum for
Industrial Culture Osnabrück
23.00 & 23.30 hours return of the bus
Saturday, 25 May 2002
9.30 - 12.00 hours Hörsaalgebäude, Kolpingstr. 7,
EZ04
Business meeting
of the International Network Regional &
Local Development of Work & Labour
Or in parallel:
10.00 hours Critical Sightseeing tour of
Osnabrück, meeting point
Volkshochschule, Bergstr. 8
12.30 - 14.00 hours: Lunch at the brewery
Rampendahl, Hasestr. 35
14.30 hours: Visit of the Felix Nussbaum Museum
(Architect Daniel Libeskind)
16.00 hours Coffee break (Restaurant Divan,
Volkshochschule)
16.30 hours Departure of the bus
Volkshochschule
17.00 hours Visit of the Woolmaker Museum,
Bramsche
18.00 hours: Dinner at the “Wüllker Hus”,
Bramsche
21.00 hours return of the bus to Osnabrück
Sunday, 26 May 2002
Departure
Workshop 1 - New economy and Labour
University of Osnabrück, Hörsaalgebäude, Kolpingstr. 7, Room 01/E01
Chair: Dr. Francesco Garibaldo, Director, Istituto per il Lavoro, Bologna, Italy & Director RLDWL
Workshop 2 - New forms of economic activities
University of Osnabrück, Dept. of Social Sciences, Seminarstr. 33, Room 04/E02
Chair: Prof. Dr. Gian Primo Cella, University of Milan, Italy & Co-chair RLDWL
Workshops 3 & 5 - The Role of institutions in the process of local and regional development &
Building an Early Warning Business Development Network
University of Osnabrück, Dept. of Social Sciences, Seminarstr. 33, Room 04/E01
Chair: Prof. Dr. Rainer Zoll, University of Bremen, Germany & Dr. Dan Swinney, Center for Labour &
Community Research, Chicago, USA
Workshop 4 - Intermediate Structures and Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe
University of Osnabrück, Dept. of Social Sciences, Seminarstr. 33, Room 04/113
Chair: Dr. Wolfgang Potratz, Institute for Work & Technology, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Workshop 6 - Transnational social regulation
University of Osnabrück, Dept. of Social Sciences, Seminarstr. 33, Room 04/E51
Chair: Dr. Volker Telljohann, Istituto per il Lavoro, Bologna, Italy & Secretary General RLDWL
Workshop 7 – Qualification & regional development/Qualifikation & Regionalentwicklung
University of Osnabrück, Hörsaalgebäude, Kolpingstr. 7, Room 01/EZ04
Chair: Dr. Carl-Heinrich Bösling, Vice-Director of the Volkshochschule Osnabrück
4 - 14 May 2002

Workshop 1 - New Economy and Labour
Chairman: Francesco Garibaldo
1. Premise
The current year has witnessed the collapse of the ideology known as the New Economy. Indeed, the New
Economy can be seen from two perspectives:
1. a purely denotative one, indicating a new sector of economic activity, ranging from the economy of the
media to that of manufacturing, having ICT - Information and Communication Technology - as its
fundamental technological vehicle, and as its specific object the incorporation/exploitation of such a
technology into the "production" and the redesigning of pre-existing and traditional economic activities
or in its incorporation/exploitation for wholly innovative economic activities;
2. a markedly connotative one, indicating a supposedly new working model of the economy: indeed a
"new" economy, in contrast to the old one. The latter semantic content of the expression New Economy
has been submitted to a serious and fateful empirical evaluation from which nothing is salvaged.
2. The new economy as an effectual reality
The first meaning, the denotative one, maintains all its fullness and we can thus speak, beyond the confines
of any ideology, of a New Economy that has developed enormously and that, notwithstanding the ongoing
radical downsizing which has brought it back down to earth, plays a highly prominent role in the
international economy.
2.1 The interest and the basic objective of the research
This new economic scenario has been explored, albeit badly, in the opinion of this writer, from the
standpoint of the capitalists interested in investing their capital and the savers who, by way of the stock
exchange, seek to get a satisfactory return on their money. Much less attention, if not a complete absence of
attention or even the creation of a mystique, has been centred upon the work processes and the labour
conditions in this new economic scenario. It is worth noting that it would be very interesting to shift the
focus of the research from the business side to the labour side, within an exploratory hypothesis that could
investigate, according to modalities widely tested by international research in other sectors, the reciprocal
links and constraints between:
i. institutional (and non-institutional) regulatory frameworks, at local, national and supranational level
(Laws, Regulations, systems of Contract Industrial relations both in work and environmental matters);
ii. national policies for the valorisation of work and the safeguarding of consumers/uses (for example,
training policies as well as the policies of deregulation and privatisation, and the safeguarding of the
right to access public services linked to communication);
iii. strategic positioning of the companies and the sectors of this new economic situation;
iv. and, lastly, the organisational modalities, the working conditions, etc..
In short, we wish to avoid a purely critical activity, albeit a worthwhile one, in favour of a reading that aims
at understanding the causal links and the scope available to the public policies and the traditional social
actors (unions, employers' associations, companies) and the new ones, such as the various "no global"
movements and the NGOs. Such an important objective can only be achieved by means of a strong
cooperation between an international research network capable of performing a task on the field, also in
agreement with the unions and the NGOs; it also calls for a timescale of several years. The objective of the
first stage, which could be the workshop content, is to select the topic and set ourselves a common
framework.
2.2 Some important issues
2.2.1 Charting
In the first place a map of the New Economy has to be charted: a map able to break down this umbrella
concept into subcategories that can both be sectors (branches of industry) and economic filières; the same
applies to districts, local economies, clusters. A second possibility, in the charting of the maps, is a
5 - 14 May 2002

geographical breakdown aimed at understanding both the concentration processes and the size and the nature
of the intra-corporation exchanges in comparison with the market ones. Charting is an essential activity also
with a view to having a dynamic understanding of the phenomenon. It would be very useful if some papers
were dedicated to this theme, even if only proposing an international research plan to be developed at a later
stage.
2.2.2 Ict as horizontal technology and as branch of industry
Horizontal technology
ICT is at the same time a horizontal technology, which is the modern equivalent of Marx's definition of
autocratic automa in regard to steam as a source of power for industrialisation, and an industrial sector. It is a
matter of empirically exploring and formulating theoretically consistent exploratory hypotheses, to such an
extent that such a new horizontal technology will redefine the organisational, managerial patterns, the
technical and social division of labour into the economic activities that have turned the incorporation/exploitation
of such a technology into the distinguishing feature of their activity, whether traditional or new and
whether alternative or different utilisation modes to it exist. Lastly, it is a matter of documenting the
consequences on the social regulation of work that ensue and, vice-versa, how it redefines and shapes the
utilisation of such technologies. Among these activities particularly important are those linked to the socalled
technological convergence (the world of the old and new media). It would be highly useful to have
some papers that describe situations in the world of the media and/or indicate the conceptual frameworks
necessary and analyse them.
Branch of industry
By now there are economic sectors - not just manufacturing - in which the object of the activity is ICT as
such, in both its hardware and software components. Of these the three most relevant ones, from the social
and economic standpoint, are: a) the production of silicon chips; b) the production of software - the so-called
'software factory'); c) the world of telecommunications and that of the services and computer-based
equipment production, necessary for its working. The working conditions of these activities, for different
reasons, seem to be extremely critical even after a first superficial evaluation. It would be very useful to have
a paper presented on these sectors, both describing the situations analysed and indicating methodological
ideas as to how to organise an international investigation.
2.2.3 The problems of organisation and definition of union policies
Notoriously, the world over, there are sectors with a very low level of unionisation in these areas of activity.
It would be very useful to have papers that analyse the union situation in these activities, that investigated the
causes of the difficulties and presented case studies, both negative and positive. Even in this case, useful
papers should be addressed to defining the criteria for a international review and analysis of the overall
situation (from the factual data to the comparative analysis of the Industrial Relations systems).
2.2.4 The scope for public policies both on local and national scale
In this case, it is a matter of evaluating the problem of the weight of the supranational economic powers-thatbe,
and the effect that they produce upon all the classical work issues. In this context there may even be room
for the themes relating to the initiatives of the NGOs, the "no global" campaigns and more generally the
theme of rights also outside the working ambient.
2.2.5 Do company strategies exist in the field of economic activity inspired by win-win criteria in
regard to the world of work (explicitly including the unions)?
It is a matter of addressing the invitation to the national and supranational entrepreneurial associations
inviting them to present case studies that are inspired by the win - win principle.
3. The new economy as ideology
Without needing to add any particular research to what is already under everybody's eyes, it would be of
great interest to have some papers with a more cultural anthropology slant taking a look at management
6 - 14 May 2002

styles, work ideologies, and other elements making up the framework of this ideology, the offspring of neoliberalism
and so-called 'turbocapitalism'.
4. Workshop organisation
If all the themes mentioned were covered there would be 6 thematic sessions. At that point the organisation
into successive or parallel sessions depends on the number of papers. In any case, the papers must be
delivered in abstract form by January, for an evaluation by the assessment committee, and if accepted, in
their definitive form at least one month prior to the Conference in order to allow a copy to be delivered to all
the workshop participants.
Programme
Co-chair: György Széll
Josè Mario Angeli Universidade Estadual de
Londrina, Brazil: The conflict between the capital
and work into the global capitalism
Mario Bolognani Research into the Software
Factory in Italy
Jan Kees Looise, Jan de Leede, University of
Twente/The Netherlands: Towards a third
contract? Differentiation and Individualisation of
employment
Kevin Doogan Jean Monnet School for Policy
Studies: Insecurity and Long-term Employment:
the European experience
Marcel Erlinghagen, Matthias Knuth, Institut
Arbeit und Technik, Gelsenkirchen/Germany: In
Search of Turbulence
Eskil Ekstedt, Göran Brulin, National Institute
for Working Life, Stockholm/Sweden: Forming
relations and cluster dynamics
Richard L.Harris California State University:
The National and Global Effects of the California
Energy Crisis and the Eron Debacle
H.-P. Wiendahl, J. Worbs, J. Lopitzsch, M.
Hegenscheidt, (Institute of Production Systems
and Logistics IFA, University of Hannover) O.
Mickler, P. Kalkowski (Sociological Research
Institute at the University of Göttingen): Worker
participation in production networks - scenarios
for the year 2015
Ulrich Jürgens Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für
Sozialforschung, Germany: Changes in the
Integration of Labour in the New and Old
Economy
Debi S.Saini, University of Delhi/India: Labour
Power in the New Economy: Perspectives in the
Global and Indian Contexts
Renate Schröder, European Officer:Journalism
in Europe and the Global market
Kea Tijdens & Maarten van Klavern,
University of Amsterdam/The Netherlands:
Employer policies for telework
Lisa Torres, University of California, Santa
Barbara/USA: Parting Company: the Social and
Organizational Processes of Downsizing
Shu-Fen-Tseng, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan:
New Economy, Underemployment, and
Inadequate Employment
Klaus West, University of Freiburg/Germany:
Two kinds of uncertainty - New Work and new
qualifications
Francesco Garibaldo
Istituto per il Lavoro
Via Marconi, 8
I - 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 6564211
Fax +39 051 6565425
f.garibaldo@ipielle.emr.it
7 - 14 May 2002

Workshop 2 - New Forms of Economic Activities
Chairman: Gian Primo Cella
The aim of this work group is to discuss and to analyse how some emerging forms of economic activities
diverge from the canonical categories of market and state intervention, for some aspects pointing out the
persisting validity of the well known Polanyian model of the three forms of exchange (reciprocity,
redistribution, market). We refer for instance to the growth of third (non profit) sector in the production of
goods and services (even financial) both in the North and in the South of the world, in order to support the
creation of new jobs and to improve the quality of services and goods, as well as working conditions in a
framework of sustainable development.
Besides, we are also witnessing that even within the market, new ways of organising the economic activities
are blurring the boundaries between the "world of make" and the "world of buy" (as sketched in the seminal
work of Coase in the 1930s). This is the typical situation created through the widespread practices of
outsourcing, contracting-out, and partnership agreements. Something similar is also happening in connection
with the increasing relevance of atypical or non standard work, since it allows the possibility for companies
to use "autonomous" workers inside their own hierarchical structure, avoiding the transaction costs involved
by contract definition.
Finally, it is often misleading to consider the privatisation process boomed in the two latest decades as a
simple, inevitable and due transition from the state to the market (as usually maintained by the neo-liberist
ideology). In fact, it is rather a process of creation of new forms of regulation, which remain mid-way
between state intervention and market. This is the case, for example, of the privatisation and liberalisation of
public utilities.
All of these three configurations emphasize the importance of institutions, as well as the role of social
networks in the organization of economic activities and often have a regional dimension.
In this work group we expect papers discussing case studies and relevant experiences in different economic
environments but also papers on theoretical issues
Programme
Francesca Degiuli, University of California at
Santa Barbara: The Development of Temporary
Work in Italy (tent.)
Manfred Fuchs, University of Graz/Austria: The
Polarization and Differentiation of Employment
and the Use of Idiosyncratic Knowledge
Roy Green, University of Galway, Ireland:
Structural Reform, Industry Policy and Labour
Markets in Europe
Zemfira Kalugina, Russia: Entrepreneurship as a
New Form of Economic Activities in the Russian
Countryside
Julia M. Rozanova, Gorbatchev Foundation,
Moscow/Russia: Big Russian Corporations:
Sharing the Responsibility for Social
Development and Participation in Social Policy
Pascale Peters (University of Utrecht), Kea
Tijdens (University of Amsterdam), Cécile
Wetzels (TNO, all The Netherlands): Factors in
Employees’ Telecommuting Opportunities,
Preferences and Practices.
Roberto Pedersini, University of Milano/Italy:
Privatisation: Limits and Paradoxes of Changing
Regulation Regimes
Cali Nuur, National Institute of Working Life,
Sweden: An Explanatory Case Study of Call
Centers Firms in Ljusdal
Jochen Tholen, University of Bremen/Germany:
Knowledge and Networks of Young Self-
Employed in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine.
Cultural and Social Capital as a Basis for
Economic Capital
Richard Harris, California State University,
Monterey Bay/USA: The National and Global
Effects of the California Energy Crisis and the
Enron debacle
Diego Coletto, Italy: An Example of Atypical
Economic Activity: Door to Door Sellers in Brazil
Gian Primo Cella
Università degli Studi di Milano
Dipartimento di Sociologia
Via del Conservatorio, 7
I-20122 Milano
Fax +39 02 58358840
gianprimo.cella@unimi.it
8 - 14 May 2002

Workshops 3 & 5
The Role of institutions in the process of local and regional development
& Building an Early Warning Business Development Network
Chairmen: Rainer Zoll & Dan Swinney
That institutions matter is not the question. But how do they implement their role?
The renewed interest for the praxis, structure and problems of institutions leads us to pose the question of the
relationship between local and regional development and all sorts of institutions, mainly intermediate
institutions and institutions which refer to labour in some way. What is the role institutions play in these
processes? It is obvious that institutions can contribute in positive or in negative ways to local and regional
development. The question is only the quality of the intervention.
So the first step is the description of such events, of such interventions in order to discover the factors that
hinder or favour development. The next step is still partly descriptive, partly analytical: who are the involved
institutions, what is their character, what are their aims, their structures, even some historical hints can be
helpful; to know about their strategies for action, their social composition, the role of different actors
involved and so on.
The third step is of course understanding. The hermeneutic task is to try to discover why and how some
institutions play a positive role in development, intervene in creative and innovative ways and others not or
worse, hinder development. This third step is not forcibly the task of the contributors in their papers. Of
course there will be some tentative of understanding in the contributions - it is always difficult to retain
oneself. But the main task of the workshop ( and perhaps of consecutive workshops ) should be just this ( and
not the presentation of the papers ): A collective hermeneutic effort should try to find out what are the factors
in institutions that foster innovation and creativity and what are the factors that hinder them. So what is asked
for from the contributions is a thorough description of the role of institutions in processes of local and
regional development.
A major focus of the Center for Labor and Community Research (CLCR) has been the retention of industrial
jobs. We are typically called by unions, community organizations or city government when a company has
announced its plans to close. We have analyzed hundreds of manufacturing companies, and developed a
variety of strategies to save companies and jobs over the last twenty years. We have found some companies
that needed to close because their product or processes were antiquated. On the other hand, we found most
companies fell victim to a narrow or ineffective business strategy, or a strategy that had other objectives than
sustaining production in a particular site. It was not the “market”or “global competition” or some
insurmountable problem that placed the company in a crisisBbut a problem that could be solved by labor,
business, and government. For example, in a Chicago study of 800 small companies, we found that 40% of
these companies were at risk only because of succession in ownership problemBa problem that could be
solved through identifying a local entrepreneur or perhaps an employee buyout. We also found many larger
companies closing or moving because of narrow, ineffective, or destructive business strategies such as
“milking the cash cow” or a number of strategies that we call “Low Road”. These strategies can be
effectively challenged.
In Chicago, 3,000 out of 7,000 factories closed in the 1980s resulting in a loss of 150,000 basic
manufacturing jobs. This dramatic “de-industrialization” happened in all major US cities and was the
foundation for character of US urban poverty. Based on our experience and research, we are confident that
75% of these companies and jobs could have been saved had labor, business, and local government been
more creative, determined and responsible. Early Warning Networks are an essential first step in retention.
The key factor to save these companies is the availability of timely and accurate information. An Early
Warning Business Development Network gathers information on companies through extensive research and
from its members’ first-hand knowledge. These networks typically are a coalition involving the labor
movement, local government, community-based organizations, local businesses and business organizations,
civic organizations, churches and others. This Network can gather and organize information about a
community’s existing businesses with sufficient lead time to identify those companies at risk of moving or
9 - 14 May 2002

closing; provide assistance to companies in need of resources or skills; identify opportunities for increasing
corporations’ performance and stability; and identify opportunities for labor and community to increase their
control over the local economy. Early Warning Networks have provided assistance to local companies
including financial, technology, and management assistance. Early Warning Networks have also helped
arrange the purchase of companies by workers and have led to mass activist campaigns against a corporate
decision to close a company. A few campaigns have led to the use of “eminent domain” to force a change in
ownership of a company. Early Warning Networks can provide traditional services to local businesses but
also initiate new, cutting-edge, and sometimes militant popular campaigns against corporate decisions.
CLCR has set up such networks in Chicago and New York. Similar networks have been established in
Pennsylvania and by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union (IAM) on a
national basis.
Such a Network is a key tool in retaining jobs and companies, but it is also an effective entry point for labor
and community organizations into local economic development. But most important is the kind of changes
that take place in a workers consciousness when they and their organization begin to define a broader level
of power and influence in the company. This work is the foundation for local economic democracy.
Discussing Early Warning Networks is a starting point for discussions including:
Building coalitions between labor, community organizations, local businesses, and governments;
Labor union involvement in issues of production, finance, management, and other issues linked to wealth
creation;
Innovative services and assistance to local businesses;
Various approaches to networking in the economy;
High Road and Low Road trends in business and the implications for the local economy;
Tools for blocking Low Road business strategies;
Local strategies for industrial retention;
Employee-ownership of companies and labor “capital strategies;”
Business relations with stakeholders as well as shareholders; and
Innovative and entrepreneurial approaches by local government.
Programme:
Michel de Bernardy, University of
Grenoble/France: Institutions and business
activities at the local level - Virtuous versus
vicious cycles and vice versa
Luis Paolo Bresciani, Nadia Somekh, Jeroen
Klink, Jorge Gouvea, Santo Andr,e Brazil:
Economic Development, Jobs and income
creation - The Ppublic Policies in Santo Andre,
Brazil.
Liana Carleial, Maria Lucia Figueiredo Gomes
Filha, Lafaiete Santos Neves, Faculdades Santa
Cruz e PPGDE/UFPR-Brasil: The role of
institutions in preparing industrial workforce in
the automotive sector in Paraná (Brazil): limits
and possibilities
Anup Kumar Dash, Utkal University, India: The
Social Economy of Self-Help Groups
Werner Fricke, Institute for Regional
Cooperation, Wieren/Germany: A Process of
Institutional Dialogue for Labour Market
Integration of Migrants within Regional
Development
Rainer Greca, Catholic University of
Eichstätt/Germany: Institutions and Isomorphism
in Regional Development
Francesca Odella, University of Trento/Italy:
Training for the next future chance. The diffusion
and social effects of public funded training
projects on Italian SMEs.
Andreas Drinkuth (Zukunftswerkstatt Mensch
Umwelt Technik e.V., Frankfurt/Germany) &
Claudius H. Riegler (DLR Projektträger des
BMBF, Arbeitsgestaltung und Dienstleistung,
Bonn/Germany): Labour unions as learning
organisations and agents of organisational
learning
Fabio Zamberlan & Carmen Perrotta,
Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro/Brazil:
The role of University in projects of vocational
training in the perspective of qualified
intervention of workers in local and regional
development
10 - 14 May 2002

Dan Swinney, Center for Labor and Community
Research, Chicago, IL USA: Swinney will present
the strategic thinking behind and the practical
details of Building Early Warning Business
Development Networks in the American context.
This will include the approach to gathering public
and private information on local companies;
experience in building local networks; various
case studies of efforts to save particular
companies including organizing campaigns and
acquisitions; and the benefits such a network can
offer for the labor movement, community and
civic organizations, and local government.
Stefan Frank, SENEKA, Aachen, Germany: He
will present a paper, “The Service Network for
Training and Continuing Education, Cooperation
in Knowledge Management for Innovation in
Products and Services.” Their project is an
example of creating and strengthening innovative
ability through networking. Basic themes of the
project are knowledge management, network
management, competency development with the
global aim to strengthen the competitive capacity
for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
By improving these three dimensions, the ability
of flexible reactions in the economic market will
be improved as well as the efficient and
systematic use of knowledge encouraging the
trend of innovation.
Rainer Zoll
Universität Bremen
Fax +49 421 2183625
zoll@uni-bremen.de
Dan Swinney
Center for Labor and Community Research
(CLCR)
3411 W. Diversey, Chicago
IL 60647, USA
Phone: +1 773 278 5418, ext. 13;
fax: +1 773 278-5918
dswinney@igc.org
11 - 14 May 2002

Workshop 4
Intermediate Structures and Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe
Chairman: Wolfgang Potratz
Concerning regional development (industrial, labour market, social) CEE-countries find themselves in a
contradictive situation: should they put their stakes on reducing internal regional disparities or should they
better promote the development of regions with a potential for further growth? The second problem is how to
organize this process: with the dissolution of the old system a deep mistrust towards all central and collective
instutions has grown and readily all promises of a "liberalized" economy, deregulation and decentralization
have been taken up; on the other hand (hard) experience has taught of the necessity of some new kind of
organized and structured collective action, institutions and regulation. But what are the adequate structures,
processes and strategies? What is the proper balance of competition and cooperation between (political,
social, economic) actors, between central and regional levels, governmental and non-governmental bodies?
So far, (institutional) reforms in CEE have mostly focused on local self-government and on reforms of
central government, but regional political-administrative bodies in between still have remained something
like a missing link in the reforms of those countries. The situation still is marked by a whole set of problems:
lack of consistent and long-term policy-approaches (unrealistic expectations for quick solutions), weak and
inexperienced regional development 'agents' at national and regional level, lack of experience in
implementing regional development programmes (on the national/regional level), unsatisfactory coordination
between actors and policy fields, insufficient regional and local initiative and activity; shortage of reliable
data and statistics and evaluation procedures etc. - in sum, the task ahead still is to rearrange regional
governance structures with the aim of both regional accountability and efficiency.
The answer of a number of countries has been to set up tripartite structures, very often inspired by German
and Scandinavian examples - however without overcoming the basic problems described above. The
situation is aggravated by the dawn of a "new economy" (or at least "new" forms of economic activities),
which seems to launch just another round of economic and social structural change and adapation.
The workshop shall take up these issues in a comparative manner. The focus shall be on the structural logic
and institutional character of solutions and their respective contribution to regional development. The lesson
to be learned might be a better understanding and assessment of the chances and prerequisites of
decentralized (?) regional development in transition countries surrounded by a globalizing economy.
It is suggested to organize the workshop in three parts with a number of sub-themes, which are given below
in the form of questions, which should be addressed. However, they should not be understood as definitive
and final; additional proposals or variations are welcome.
Themes:
1. State of the art: contradictions adjourned or straightened out?
what is the state of institutions/ institution building in the regions,
how do they relate to central level institutions and to local self-government,
how are they embedded in the economic and societal framework/fabric of the regions,
what is their role/function in regional development and how do they fit in overall governance
structures?
2. Strategies and processes of regional development: intermediate institutions at the interface of
expectations and socio-economic reality
what is the logic of regional development strategies (balance of disparities/growth?),
how do regional (intermediate) bodies fit into these strategies and what is their contribution,
how do they use their room for manoevre, and what for,
what is the relationship between cooperation, competition and conflict, and what about accountability
and efficiency,
how do regional strategies relate to overall national development strategies and how are they
coordinated?
12 - 14 May 2002

3. Evaluation and perspectives: CEE regions in a europeanizing/globa-lizing economy
how do the regions/regional structures perform,
what would they need to perform better, what might be the role of cross-border cooperation,
have internal disparities been overcome, how is the problem of peripheral regions handled,
what lessons have been learnt so far with respect to the organisation of regional development
processes (cooperation, ...) and regional capacity building,
have regions contributed to national economic priorities/cohesion,
which role have regions played so far in the accession policies and processes?
Programme:
In all, we have three types of papers:
one paper on the economic effects of EUassistance
and their relation to local and regional
politico-administrative structures
(Quaisser/Woodward)
4 papers on the "state of the art" in different
countries, which besides national particuliarities
highlights specific problems in organizing a
functioning regional level (Cambalikova,
Paeglite, Matey-Tyrowicz, Lazarenko/Sobolev)
2 papers concerned with important special
aspects of regional development: firms' role in
social policy (Rozanova) and innovation (Inzelt)
Wolfgang Quaisser & Richard Woodward,
Munich/Germany & Warsaw/Poland: European
Union structural and regional assistance to Central
and Eastern Europe: Prospects and Problems
Inta Paeglite, Riga/Lettonia: Aims of Regional
Development and Problems Concerning the
Establishment of Regional Tripartite Institutions
Maria Matey-Tyrowicz, University of
Warsaw/Poland: Tripartite Structures in Poland
Vladimir Lazarenko/Vladimir Sobolev,
Kharkov/Ukraine: Institutional Obstacles in
Overcoming Regional Economic Disproportions:
A Case Study of Ukraine
Julia Rozanova, Lomonossow University,
Moscow/Russia: Big Russian Corporations:
Sharing the Responsibility for Social
Development and Participation in Social Policy
Annamaria Inzelt, Budapest: Innovation in a
Region with SME's: The Case of Hungary
Wolfgang Potratz
Institute for Work and Technology
Wissenschaftzentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen
Munscheidstraße 14
D-45886 Gelsenkirchen
Phone +49 209 1707177; Fax +49 209 1707110
potratz@iatge.de
13 - 14 May 2002

Workshop 6 - Transnational Social Regulation
Chairman: Volker Telljohann
Existing international economic and social rules and structures are unbalanced at global level. Global market
governance has developed more quickly than global social governance. The interface between globalisation,
trade and social development is indeed complex and represents a challenge for a policy of sustainable
development. According to the European Commission, improving social governance and promoting core
labour standards in the context of globalisation and trade liberalisation requires a comprehensive approach.
Over the past 10 years there have been a number of important international developments in the field of
labour rights, labour standards and corporate social responsibility as, for example, the ILO Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the OECD Guidelines on Conduct for Multinationals.
Furthermore, there are a growing number of enterprises developing initiatives on a voluntary basis in the
field of social responsibility, core labour standards and global workers' rights at corporate level. Although
these global agreements represent an important step for trade unions the main problem regards the issue of
compliance. In several agreements we can find provisions regarding the possibility of site inspections in
order to establish a true picture of compliance. It also seems very difficult to ensure that group suppliers
adhere to the terms of the agreements.
As for the European level, the European Commission has issued a Green Paper on promoting a European
framework for corporate social responsibility regarding not only corporate codes of conduct on social rights
but also responsible actions during corporate restructuring. There are indeed a number of studies arguing that
the majority of mergers and acquisitions do not achieve the goal of cutting costs, increasing productivity and
improving quality, as many of these restructuring processes are carried out in such a way as to damage
employees' creativity and productivity. The Green Paper therefore stresses that responsible restructuring
processes have to include the involvement and participation of the workers affected, by means of information
and consultation, the safeguarding of employees' rights and vocational retraining, wherever necessary.
In this context the European social and economic policies, and in particular the European information and
consultation rights, are thought of as a means of improving the internal cohesion of companies operating on a
European scale by the creation of social dialogue focused on the key issues of economic, political and social
development impacting on the company's strategic decisions, their implementation and their consequences
for employees.
The workshop, therefore, will focus on global social governance as well as on corporate social responsibility
at the European level and the relationship between these two levels.
First of all, however, the workshop will have to examine more generally the dimensions of corporate social
responsibility and the implications of this concept at company, local, national, European and worldwide levels.
With regard to the global level, Workshop VI will address the following questions:
1. What is the role of international conventions and global company agreements for transnational social
regulation? Can they really contribute to improving labour rights and labour standards? Do they have an
impact on the competitiveness of less developed States? How can instruments such as Conventions and
Recommendations be more effectively used? Is it possible to interlink the various Conventions and
Recommendations? Where do we meet with resistance to international Conventions and how can this
resistance be overcome?
2. How can the scope and contents of international conventions and global company agreements be
described? Are they limited to the corporate level or do they also include suppliers?
3. What is their impact on the various levels of industrial relations? What are the implementation problems
for global company agreements? How can effective co-operation between social parties at centralised
and decentralised levels be guaranteed? How can EWCs contribute to establishing minimum standards
within transnational groups at global level?
4. Who are the actors at international level? What parties are involved in global agreements? How can trade
union co-operation at international level be deepened? What can the role of European Works Councils be
with regard to creating global networks of employee representatives?
14 - 14 May 2002

5. What are the prospects of global social governance? Is there a need for a regulatory framework at global
level as a prerequisite for a more effective system of transnational social regulation?
6. International Conventions, recommendations and global agreements represent an external pressure for
less developed countries. At the same time it would be necessary to foster endogenous modernisation
processes. Therefore, the question is what are the prerequisites for endogenous modernisation?
With regard to the European level the Workshop will focus on the following topics:
1. How can a European dimension of corporate social responsibility be defined? What kind of legal and
contractual framework is the concept of corporate social responsibility based on?
2. How can the scope and contents of company agreements at European level be described? What is their
impact on the various levels of industrial relations? Which are the prerequisites for an effective
involvement? How can the integration between European and decentralised levels be fostered? What
does corporate social responsibility imply at the level of the local environment?
3. Who are the actors in a system of corporate social responsibility? What problems are there of cooperation
and integration between these actors? What kind of relationship actually exists between Trade
Unions and other stakeholders? How can trade union co-operation at European level be deepened? Can
international trade union co-operation make it possible to set benchmarks based on best practices? What
is the role of EWCs in the context of corporate restructuring?
4. What are the prospects of corporate social responsibility at the European level?
5. Finally, the workshop will discuss more generally the question whether it is possible that the European
social model also becomes a reference model outside of Europe.
Programme:
Rapporteur: Otto Jacobi, European Trade Union
Institute, Bruxelles
Otto Jacobi, European Trade Union Institute,
Bruxelles: Transnational Trade Union
Cooperation – Critical Observations on
International Solidarity
Rainer Dombois, Erhard Hornberger, Jens
Winter, University of Bremen: Transnational
Social Regulation in the NAFTA – a Problem of
Institutional Design?
Veronica Nilsson, TUAC, Paris: OECD
guidelines and Corporate Social Responsibility
Andre Nijhof, Jan Kees Looise, University of
Twente: Inclusive Innovation. The Inclusion of
Social Responsibility
Heiner Köhnen, TIE Network, Offenbach: The
Role of Transnational Workers’ Cooperation in
the Field of Codes of Conduct
Karen Brouwer, FNV, Netherlands Monitoring
of ILO Labour Standards in Brazilian Production
Sites of German and Dutch TNEs
Jos Janssens, Primula France: Global social
governance, and the role of trade unions and nongovernmental
organisations
Stefan Rüb, Torsten Müller, Research Group
European and International Labour Relations,
Fachhochschule Fulda: From European Works
Councils to World Works Councils
Nathan Lillie, Cornell University, Ithaca How to
Catch the Capitalist on the Move: ITF Strategy
and the Development of a Global Bargaining
Agenda in Maritime Shipping
Dauda Yunus, Nigeria: Industrial Relation In a
Changing Globalised World: The Nigeria
Experience.
Kevin O’Kelly, European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions,
Dublin: Experiences with European-wide
Financial Participation and their Impact on Social
Regulation at Corporate Level
Roland Erne, Istituto Universitario Europeo,
Florence: Explaining transnational collective
action. European trade union cooperation in the
ABB-Alstom-Power merger case.
Maria Luisa Cristovam, Universidade
Autonoma de Lisboa: Portuguese re-regulation
and europeanisation on labour relations
Volker Telljohann
Istituto per il Lavoro
Via Marconi 8, I-40122 Bologna
Phone: +39.051.6564.211; Fax: +39.051.6565.425
v.telljohann@ipielle.emr.it
15 - 14 May 2002

The workshop will concentrate on recent
developments and new strategies to overcome
unemployment through qualification. Examples
will be taken in a first part from the Osnabrück
Region and in a second part from other countries.
Workshop in German and English language.
Programme:
Carl-Heinrich Bösling, Volkshochschule
Osnabrück: Regions in transition. New challenges
for the education policy
Gotthard Czekalla, Director Job Centre,
Osnabrück: The job market in change
Reinhard Sliwka, Department Head, City of
Osnabrück: The integration-concept for
immigrants in Osnabrück
Wolfgang Wöstmann, Maria Korte-Rüther,
Project “Learning Region”,Volkshochschule
Osnabrück: The Learning Region
Marion Beier, Volkshochschule Osnabrück: The
EU-supported project STEPS
Gerd Hoofe, Department Head, Osnabrück
District: Osnabrück LearnLand
Juan Monreal, Universidad de Murcia/Spain:
Education & regional development
Antonio Inácio Andrioli, Universidade Regional
do Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul,
Brazil: Collective labour and education. A study on
co-operative experiences with pupils in Brazil
Ondrei Sporka, Akadémia Vzdelávania,
Bratislava, Slovakia: Educational institutions under
the conditions of a postsocialist society
Workshop 7
Qualification & Regional Development/
Qualifikation & Regionalentwicklung
Chairman: Carl-Heinrich Bösling
Der Workshop wird sich insbesondere mit neueren
Entwicklungen und Strategien zur Bewältigung
von Arbeitslosigkeit durch Qualifikation
beschäftigen. Es werden im ersten Teil Beispiele
aus der Osnabrücker Region in einem zweiten Teil
aus anderen Ländern dargestellt. Workshop in
Deutsch und Englisch.
Programm
Carl-Heinrich Bösling, Volkshochschule
Osnabrück: Regionen im Wandel. Neue
Herausforderungen für die Bildungspolitik
Gotthard Czekalla, Direktor des Arbeitsamtes
Osnabrück: Der Arbeitsmarkt im Wandel
Reinhard Sliwka, Dezernent der Stadt Osnabrück:
Das Integrationskonzept für Immigranten in
Osnabrück
Wolfgang Wöstmann, Maria Korte-Rüther,
Projekt „Lernende Region“, Volkshochschule
Osnabrück: Die Lernende Region
Marion Beier, Volkshochschule Osnabrück: Das
EU-geförderte Projekt STEPS
Gerd Hoofe, Dezernent des Landkreises
Osnabrück: Osnabrücker LernLand
Juan Monreal, Universidad de Murcia/Spain:
Erziehung & Regionalentwicklung
Antonio Inácio Andrioli, Universidade Regional
do Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasilien:
Gemeinsame Arbeit und Erziehung. Eine
Studie über genossenschaftliche Erfahrungen mit
Schülern in Brasilien
Ondrej Sporka, Akadémia Vzdelávania,
Bratislava, Slowakei: Bildungseinrichtungen unter
den Bedingungen einer postsozialistischen
Gesellschaft
Carl-Heinrich Bösling
Volkshochschule Osnabrück
Bergstr. 8, D-49076 Osnabrück
Tel. +49-541-323-2197; Fax +49-541-323-4347
boesling@vhs-osnabrueck.de
16 - 14 May 2002

The International Network for
Regional and Local Development of Work and Labour (RLDWL)
History
A workshop was organised on 24 September 1998 by the Istituto per il Lavoro, Bologna, during the 11th
World Congress of Industrial Relations in Bologna, concerning institutions in the field of Work and Labour
research. The meeting was quite successful and, as a result, the participants agreed that it would be useful to
intensify and broaden such kinds of contacts on a regular basis. Although there are already a number of
similar initiatives dealing with work and labour none of them specifically concern regional and local
development.
As a result, the International Network For Regional And Local Development Of Work And Labour was
created in October 1999 on the occasion of the First International Conference on “The Role of Intermediate
Institutions for Social Stability and Democracy”. This event, which was held in Ravello (Italy), was
organised by the Institute for Labour Foundation (IpL) and aimed to stimulate an exchange of experiences
among intermediate institutions.
In November 2000 the Second RLDWL Conference took place in Rio de Janeiro. This time the Conference
was organised by Unitrabalho, the Brazilian Interuniversity Labour Study and Research Network. The main
theme of this event was the relationship between the improvement of working conditions and local and
regional development, and had important consequences for the further development of the Work and Labour
Network. One of the most significant outcomes of the Conference was the official adoption of the Network
Statutes as proposed by the founder members.
Objectives
Intermediate institutions are research institutes that deal with Work and Labour issues, in particular with the
relationships between new forms of work organisation, productivity, innovation, participation and
employment. These institutions promote research aimed at fostering the organisational evolution of
companies and public bodies, as well as adding value to work through it. The main task of these institutes is
the search for a new organisational form of work and a new equilibrium in innovative strategies. In this
context the regional and local dimension is particularly important.
More than sixty researchers, policy-makers and representatives of the social partners from all over the world
took part at this Conference, which was sponsored by the European Commission, the International Labour
Organisation, The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Hans
Böckler Foundation et al. The Conference created a discussion forum on issues such as: employment and
development, the position of the social actors, the role of conflict, the importance of social progress and
participation and the meaning of 'public good'. It evidenced that today Intermediate Institutions play an
important role as actors in the dynamic world of work and labour where the main actors, i.e. trade unions,
employers and policymakers, need to be assisted and encouraged to co-operate, at international level as well.
In this context, one of the purposes of the network is to promote a long-term vision, where work and labour
relations are not merely considered as costs and constraints, but rather as opportunities for fostering
economic growth and welfare.
In response to the need to foster a co-operative framework between these institutions, the International
Network For Regional And Local Development Of Work And Labour has been set up. The institutes and
organisations taking part in the network deal with research, the improvement of labour conditions, the
organisation of work as well as economic questions.
Statutes
The Network Statutes formalise the organisational structure and the aims of the Network. The most
significant aims of the Work and Labour Network are the following:
� the intensification of information exchanges regarding development and initiatives in the respective
countries or regions by intermediate institutions, governments, trade unions, employers associations, etc.;
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� the exchange of researchers;
� the development of joint research;
� the organisation of biannual conferences;
� the promotion of the diffusion of intermediate institutions concerned with work and labour in different
parts of the world;
� the promotion of the humanisation of work, social cohesion and democracy.
The Steering Committee
which governs, administers and represents the
Network currently consists of:
Co-Chairmen:
György Széll, University of Osnabrück,
Gian Primo Cella, University of Milan.
Director:
Francesco Garibaldo, Fondazione Istituto per il
Lavoro, Bologna
Publications
Secretary General:
Volker Telljohann, Fondazione Istituto per il Lavoro,
Bologna
Treasurer:
Paola Cassani, Fondazione Istituto per il Lavoro,
Bologna
Other members:
Maria-Matey Tyrowicz, University of Warsaw,
Thoralf Qvale, Work Research Institute, Oslo,
Alain Chouraqui, University of Aix-Marseille &
CNRS/LEST
In 2000 the Institute for Labour Foundation published a book on Intermediate Institutions. The book is
entitled "The Role of Intermediate Institutions. The case of Research Institutes concerned with Work and
Labour, Milan, Franco Angeli", and contains contributions by researchers from European and non-European
institutes dealing with Work and Labour who discuss their past experiences and future challenges. Both the
role and the prospects of the Work and Labour Network are discussed. This flier contains an order form
which should be filled in and sent to the Network Secretariat.
The next publication, provisionally entitled "Work, Labour and Social Sciences – Research and Trade
Unions", edited by György Széll and Gian Primo Cella, will integrate the most important contributions to the
Rio-Conference, and is due to come out in 2002, published by Peter Lang Publisher, Frankfurt, Berlin, Bern,
Brussels, Paris, New York, Vienna.
Information
Detailed information on the activities of the Work and Labour Network as well as other documentary
materials are available on the RLDWL web site, which is being managed by the Institute for Labour
Foundation: http://www.ipielle.emr.it/monolang/rldwl/rldwl.html
A newsletter with updated information about the Network's activities is sent to the RLDWL members by
email.
For those of you wishing to voice any ideas, a RLDWL mailing list has been set up. You can join the mailing
list by visiting the special web site: www.ipielle.emr.it/monolang/rldwl/rldwl.html
Subscriptions are free.
For any further information please contact the RLDWL-Secretariat (see above).
Membership
Becoming a member of the Work and Labour Network offers you the opportunity to attend the RLDWL
Assemblies, to receive information about the activities of the Network and to have reduced prices for
conferences, workshops and publications (see Registration Form).
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