Kulatý stůl 2Prekarizace práce a důstojná práce
Jan DrahokoupilSenior ResearcherEuropean Trade Union Institute
Konferenz ‚Zukunft der Arbeit‘, 9. Oktober 2015, PragTo facilitate interpretation: slides in English, presentation in Czech.
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Outline
● Some data on labour market developments: Precariarization?
● Two mechanisms in more detail● Outsourcing/value chain fragmentation [boundaries of the
firms]● The ‘micro-transaction’ economy [nature of employment]
● Discussion: What response to these challenges?
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LABOUR MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
Some data on trends
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‘Atypical employment’ on the rise, but differences
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Source: ETUI Benchmarking Working Europe 2015 (available at www.etui.org)
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Temporary/part time often not voluntary
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Source: ETUI Benchmarking Working Europe 2015 (available at www.etui.org)
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Atypical employment contributing to a shortage of demand, lower output and growing inequalities (ILO, 2015)
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permanent temporary part-time full-time employees self-employed0
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10
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2010 2013 change 2010-2013, %
Source: Eurostat (EU-SILC)
In-work risk of poverty, EU28
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The role of labour market regulation?
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Source: Drahokoupil & Myant 2015 in Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research
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Source: Drahokoupil & Myant 2015 in Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research
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BOUNDARIES OF THE FIRM: OUTSOURCING
Mechanism 1
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GVCs good for productivity, but lower wage share, feeding inequality (ILO, 2015)
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A closer look at labour issues involved in subcontracting
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Available at www.etui.org
1. A bird-eye picture on outsourcing/offshoring in Europe
2. Impact on working conditions• WORKS project order-processing in
logistics and food, customer service in public services, IT departments in health)
• Call centres in telecoms• Public services• Construction, meat processing, ship
building (posted work)
3. Establishing worker voice mechanism in fragmented value chains
• Telecoms• Parcel delivery• Construction (posted work)• Automotive (agency work)• Metal (bargaining in MNCs)
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Outsourcing/offshoring and working conditions: Key mechanisms undermining job quality and pay
● Impact on existing worker representation structures and collective bargaining institutions
● Moving jobs outside of the scope of existing firm-level institutions (domestic outsourcing)
● A shift to different regulatory regimes (offshoring)● Concession bargaining● Employing migrant workers in fact similar avoidance effects to offshoring
(labour-market intermediaries)● Institutions and TU strategies may influence outcomes
● Encompassing LM institutions (equal pay/conditions etc.), collective bargaining, and ability to mobilize across production network key
● Targeted TU campaigns, sectoral bargaining● International worker voice institutions (EWCs, EFAs)
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Outcomes country-specific: Crucial role of domestic institutions in shaping also decisions
Source: Kirschner (2015, Figure 1) in Drahokoupil (2015)
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Outsourcing/offshoring and working conditions: Key mechanisms 2
● Restructuring of the labour process to allow decoupling a major factor (negatively) influencing job quality both in sending companies and in outsourcing destinations
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Source: Drahokoupil (2015, Table 2), adapted from Gospel and Sako (2010)
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What should be done?
● Institutions to cover firm and national boundaries lacking● How to address company boundaries
● Agency work regulation (equal conditions), trade union strategy● Subcontractor liability missing in CZ and Eastern Europe● Sectoral level bargaining weak in CZ● Transfer of undertakings provisions?● Labour inspectorate capacity● What else?
● How to address cross-border issues?● EU level: tools to address these issues (e.g. agency work directive,
transfer of undertakings, I&C), but implementation poor in many countries, yet make a difference in some (e.g. ToU in the UK)
● Some sectors call for entirely new institutions: e.g. Danaj & Sippola, 2015: a European construction workers union
● What else?
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NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT: THE ‘MICRO-TRANSACTION’ ECONOMY
Mechanism 2
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Beyond the ‘sharing economy’ misnomer
● In fact very few sharing models a success: renting and micro-transactions dominant
● Much of success unfair competition: avoiding regulation and taxation● Yet, importance not to be discarded: technology enables ‘gig economy’
which undermines standard employment● Fiverr, Task rabbit, etc. not new models, but important that
customer does not have to go through yellow pages and barriers for entry to providers very low
● Facilitating and enabling hollowing out middle/lower-middle jobs● Social polarization, depressing demand, undermining local
economies
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What should be done?
● There is an easy fix for some things: Some regulatory avoidance should be easy to address (technology there)
● E.g. Uber could be extremely efficient in collecting taxes from taxi drivers & can be pressed by authorities
● Some institutions that may be ultimately not viable not essential social value? (e.g. taxi licence fees)
● A need to adapt institutions such as health insurance, income replacement, etc., to the ‘gig economy’
● Can trade unions play a role in the gig economy as e.g. insurance providers?
● Do we need new regulations?● A bigger challenge: hollowing out of middle-income jobs, labour market
polarization, inequality
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Finally, to wrap up
● Two trends discussed account for precariarization only partially● Much thus not a new problem, but the old regulatory failure (e.g.
commercial contracts legislation in PL, Švarc system in CZ)● But two important factors and likely to play a bigger role in the future● Hence for discussion: how to tackle
1. (Cross-border) value chain fragmentation2. ‘Gig’ economy undermining standard employment types3. The bigger challenge of labour-market polarization
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