Employment, Trade Unionism, and Class: The Labour Market in Southern Europe since the Crisis

Description

The economic crisis has brought about a watershed in institutional, political, and social relations, reshaping the labour market and the class structure in southern Europe. This book provides a critical comparative assessment of the dynamics of change in the employment field, focusing on Spain, Greece, and Cyprus. The book assesses how the liberalization and deregulation processes and the promotion of market-enhancing reforms progressed in three different national settings, identifying the forces, agents, contexts, and mechanisms shaping the employment and industrial relations systems. The comparative perspective used deciphers the interplay of external and internal dynamics in the restructuring of the labour field in Southern Europe, examining austerity and its contestation in connection with prevailing societal ideologies and class shifts. The first part of the book sets the theoretical and historical context, the second is comprised of three empirical national case studies, and the third discusses comparatively the handling of the crisis, its impact, and its legacy from the standpoint of a decade later. The book presents differences in industrial relations systems, trade union forms, and class composition dynamics, accounting for the development of the crisis and the reshaping of the employment field after one decade of crisis. It will be of value to researchers, academics, professionals, and students working on issues of employment and industrial relations, labour market and labour law, political economy and class structure, as well as those interested in the contemporary society and economy of southern Europe in general, and Spain, Greece, and Cyprus in particular. Cover Endorsements Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Tables Acknowledgements Note Preface: The Book and its Parts Abbreviations Part I: Southern Europe: The Labour Market and the Crisis 1. The Themes, the Concepts, and the Field Employment in Transition: Flexibility and Precariousness Trade Unionism and Class Composition Mediterranean Industrial Relations Systems and the Labour Market in Spain, Greece, and Cyprus The Onset, Development, and Aftermath of the Crisis A Note on the Method, Analytic Approach, and Historicity of this Book The Focus and Structure of the Book Notes 2. Employment Relations and Crisis Management Neoliberal Globalisation, Migrant Labour, Gender and Class in Southern Europe The Labour Market and EU Policy on Employment Relations The Economic Crisis and its Management via the Troika Rescue Operations Employers, Trade Unions and Labour Force Structure in Southern Europe Societies in Austerity, Poverty, and Political Upheaval Part II: The Changing Context of Employment Relations in Spain, Greece, and Cyprus 3. Spain. Compression and Upheaval Banking Crisis and State Finance Crisis Employment Relations and Trade Unionism, Labour Law and Collective Bargaining Austerity Social Policy without a Troika Support Mechanism The Economic and Political System Crises Trade Unionism and Class Relations Amidst Political Upheaval Note 4. Greece. Suppression, Contestation, and Levelling Recession, the Threat of Collapse and the Troika Support Mechanism Contesting Austerity and the New Political Frames and Narratives The Watershed in Labour Law, Employment Relations and Collective Bargaining Coping in Precarious Conditions Politics, SYRIZA, Class Relations and Trade Unionism in a Crisis-stricken Setting Note 5. Cyprus. Shock and Resilience The Structure of the Labour Market and the Industrial Relations System Recession, Austerity, and the Troika Treatment Economy in Shock, Society Paralyzed, Politics Muted The Decline and Resilience of Trade Unionism Trade Unions and Class Dynamics after the Return of Growth Notes Part III: Beneath and Beyond the Economic Crisis: Development, Contention, and Class Struggle 6. Comparing and Contrasting Experiences and Impact Law and the Politics of Institutional Change Neoliberal Framing: The Media as a Key Pillar of TINA The Undermining and Resilience of Collective Labour Relations Political Restructuring and Political Inertia Precariousness, Vulnerability, and Solidarity at the Societal Level Class Dynamics and Ideological Shifts Note 7. Covid-19 and the New On-going Crisis The Rationale and the Enforcement of Lockdown The Temporary Relief Measures The Shock to the Economy Adjusting to the New Context Notes 8. The World of Labour in Southern Europe from Crisis to Crisis Summing Up: Continuity and Change Projecting Ahead: Ideology, Trade Unionism and the Politics of Class References Interviews cited: Spain (February-May 2020): Greece (March-October 2019): Cyprus (June-September 2020): Secondary sources: Index