Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

How does industrial action influence automation? Literature claims that technology is used to disorganise workers. Employers are thought to introduce new automation technologies to disempower employees and frustrate strike action. However, there is mounting evidence that automation thrives in cooperative industrial relations. This article hypothesises that the connection between strike action and automation is conditioned by industrial relations institutions. It tests this claim using data for 14 European countries between 1992 and 2017. It finds no conclusive evidence that strike action directly predicts robotisation, but strong support to suggest this relationship is institutionally determined. Strike action correlates with automation in liberal industrial relations settings but slows the uptake of automation in more regulated and cooperative contexts. These findings suggest that in an era of accelerated technological change, greater attention to labour relations institutions is essential for understanding the conditions under which automation may unfold.

Social actors face an eco-social-growth trilemma when addressing the ecological transition. This comparative analysis discusses the strategies adopted by metalworkers’ unions to tackle this trilemma in Taranto and IJmuiden. While the transition promises both environmental and public health benefits, it also poses challenges, including job cuts and uncertainties concerning profitability. In the Italian case, the unions prioritise job preservation, with most opposing the transition. In contrast, the Dutch trade unions have adopted an innovative approach, proposing the ‘Groene Staal’ plan that openly accepts redundancies to achieve ecological goals. We explain the difference in terms of socio-economic institutions: IJmuiden’s dynamic economic geography, strong social dialogue mechanisms (for example, the Polder Model) and age-heterogeneous workforce lower the social costs of transition, making ecological benefits more attainable. The article aims to elaborate on the labour market effects of the ecological transition, trade union positions and their determinants, in a dialogue with labour environmentalism.

The European automotive industry is undergoing deep restructuring, shaped by overproduction, market saturation and profitability pressures. All precede but intersect with the electric transition. This article argues that current changes reflect structural dynamics of capitalism rather than a shift driven solely by electrification. Focusing on supply chains in Italy and Poland, we present findings from qualitative research based on interviews with workers, trade unionists and managers. Building on Silver’s framework of ‘fixes’ used by capital to restore profitability, we introduce the concept of the labour fix to capture how firms reorganise and segment the workforce to adapt to global transformations. Our analysis shows how different fixes interact, and how the labour fix becomes central in contexts of uncertainty. We further examine how labour may respond in diverse ways, shaped by workers’ position within supply chains and the industrial relations legacies of specific national contexts.

This article examines labour activism of Polish migrants in the United Kingdom and identifies several strategies they have adopted, including joining UK trade unions and making use of migrant organisations for labour rights advocacy. The research, based on interviews with Polish activists, reveals that mainstream UK trade unions are often unwelcoming to migrant workers because of their traditional class-based structures. This may prompt migrants to seek support elsewhere. The findings indicate that Polish migrants prioritise working conditions over wages and benefits, which affects their preference for grass-roots labour movements over traditional union structures. The article also explores gender-based workplace discrimination and intersectional challenges faced by Polish migrant women. The broader implications suggest a growing politicisation of labour issues and blurring of boundaries between trade unionism and social movements. The research contributes to better understanding migrant labour activism, the evolution of trade unionism and the role of transnational networks in advocating for workers’ rights.

Drawing on a qualitative study conducted in the Netherlands, this article examines how solidarity is shaped in the hospitality sector, in which solo self-employed platform workers and employees work side by side. Our findings show that divergent identities and interests, reinforced by legal frameworks, may undermine solidarity both among self-employed platform workers and between them and regular employees, while also weakening trade union efforts to construct a shared identity along the traditional labour-capital divide. Competition further fragments platform workers and sharpens boundaries with employed staff in their daily interactions. This creates a central challenge for union strategies. Although unions in the Netherlands and elsewhere have successfully pursued lawsuits to have self-employed platform workers reclassified as employees, our study suggests that their organising strategies will fail to engage those who deliberately choose self-employment, without parallel legal reforms.

Global framework agreements (GFAs) have the potential to alter the practice of labour relations in multinational companies (MNCs). Analysis of the launching of GFAs and their negotiations, as well as their role in setting labour standards has already received much attention in the literature. This article extends these analyses by examining how GFAs’ procedural norms shape implementation in practice. Based on qualitative case studies of 12 MNCs, we develop a typology of procedural norms and analyse how they differ in terms of implementation. Our findings show that procedural design – particularly the distinction between event-driven and systematic monitoring and the establishment of distinct transnational arenas – is closely related to how implementation practices are organised. We conclude by discussing what these configurations imply for the potential to institutionalise transnational levels of labour relations in MNCs and further questions related to international industrial relations research and practice.