Shifting Parameters, Divergent Responses: Globalisation and the Trade Unions in Germany and Austria

This two country comparative study examines the effects of globalisation on the room for maneuvre and channels of influence for Austrian and German trade union movements on labour market policy in these countries since the early 1990s. The case selection is informed by the common assessment of these two countries as strongly neocorporatist and " medium " neocorporatist respectively. If the role of trade unions in policy-making is indeed being weakened, as is commonly claimed, then this study can examine whether such change is uniform among similar yet different systems of political-economic governance and whether even the Austrian system with a previously very high degree of formal and informal labour union influence on labour market policy is being affected. In line with the general theme of the workshop, the paper examines the central theme of trade union influence on labour market policy-making in these two countries in the 1990s based on three key questions. Firstly, has economic internationalisation afforded employers with greater bargaining power and, if so, has this improved position translated into a more antagonistic and conflict-prone attitude vis-à-vis trade unions and the existing system of industrial relations? Secondly, is the neocorporatist system of policy concertation indeed waning in importance, as was commonly contested a few years ago or are developments in these two countries mirroring the rebirth of interest intermediation recently observed in other West European countries? Thirdly, are there actual modifications in labour market policy that would bear evidence to a receding position of influence on the part of the unions? The study draws on empirical evidence in the form of analysis of government documents, secondary sources, especially from the media, and interviews with key representatives of trade unions, employers organisations, and relevant government ministries in both countries. Preliminary results indicate that while employers are keen to retract from a system of industrial relations which allots significant influence to the union camp, they do so in different ways, choosing desertion of employers organisations (" voting with their feet ") in Germany and pressure for " organised flexibilisation " in Austria. While national tripartite concertation arrangements seem to have gained a new lease on life in both countries, the reformed role of the Austrian social partners and the tasks of the German " Alliance for Jobs " both point to a markedly different distribution of power between labor and business in the " neo-neocorporatist " pacts of the …