Chapter 9
Industrial Relations
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Chapter Objectives
The focus of the preceding chapters has been on managing
and supporting international assignments, post-assignment
and the issues in subsidiary operations. In this chapter we:
 Discuss key issues in industrial relations and the policies
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and practices of multinationals.
Examine the potential constraints that trade unions may
have on multinationals.
Outline key concerns for trade unions.
Discuss recent trends and issues in the global workforce
context.
Discuss the formation of regional economic zones such as
the European Union.
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Introduction
 Cross-cultural difference in industrial relations (IR)
and collective bargaining
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The concept
Level of negotiations
Objectives
Ideology
Structures
Rules and regulations
 Cross-cultural differences also emerge as to the
enforceability of collective agreements.
(cont.)
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Introduction (cont.)
 Several factors may underlie the historical
differences among nations:
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Mode of technology and industrial organization at
critical stages of union development
Methods of union regulation by government
Ideological divisions within the trade union
movement
Influence of religious organizations on trade union
development
Managerial strategies for labor relations in large
corporations.
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Union Structures
 Union structures differ considerably among
countries, e.g.
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Industrial unions – Represent all grades of employees in
an industry;
Craft unions – Based on skilled occupational groupings
across industries;
Conglomerate unions – Represent members in more than
one industry;
General unions – open to almost all employees in a given
country.
 IR policies must be flexible enough in order to
adapt to local requirements.
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Trade Union Structures in Leading
Western Industrial Societies
Australia
General, craft, industrial, white-collar
Belgium
Industrial, professional, religious, public sector
Canada
Industrial, craft, conglomerate
Denmark
General, craft, white-collar
Finland
General, white-collar, professional and technical enterprise
Japan
Enterprise
Norway
Industrial, craft
Sweden
Industrial, craft, white-collar and professional
Switzerland
Industrial, craft, religious, white-collar
The Netherlands
Religious, conglomerate, white-collar
UK
General, craft, industrial, white-collar, public sector
US
Industrial, craft, conglomerate, white-collar
West Germany
Industrial, white-collar
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Key Issues in International
Industrial Relations
 National differences in economic, political and legal
systems produce markedly different IR systems across
countries
 Multinationals generally delegate the management of
IR to their foreign subsidiaries. However, a policy of
decentralization should not keep corporate
headquarters from exercising some coordination over
IR strategy.
 Generally, corporate headquarters will become
involved in or oversee labor agreements made by
foreign subsidiaries because these agreements may
affect the international plans of the firm and/or create
precedents for negotiations in other countries.
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Factors Influencing International
Industrial Relations
 Degree of inter-subsidiary production integration
 Nationality of ownership of the subsidiary
 IHR management approach
 MNE prior experience in industrial relations
 Subsidiary characteristics
 Characteristics of the home product market
 Management attitudes towards unions
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Degree of Inter-subsidiary
Production Integration
 High degree of integration was found to be the most
important factor leading to the centralization of the IR
function within the firms studied.
 Industrial relations throughout a system become of direct
importance to corporate headquarters when transnational
sourcing patterns have been developed, that is, when a
subsidiary in one country relies on another foreign
subsidiary as a source of components or as a user of its
output.
 In this context, a coordinated industrial relations policy is
one of the key factors in a successful global production
strategy.
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Nationality of Ownership of
the Subsidiary
 US firms tend to exercise greater centralized control over labor
relations than do British or other European firms.
 US firms tend to place greater emphasis on formal management
controls and a close reporting system (particularly within the area of
financial control) to ensure that planning targets are met.
 Foreign-owned multinationals in Britain prefer single-employer
bargaining (rather than involving an employer association), and are
more likely than British firms to assert managerial prerogative on
matters of labor utilization.
 US-owned subsidiaries are much more centralized in labor relations
decision making than the British-owned, attributed to:
 More integrated nature of US firms
 Greater divergence between British and US labor relations
systems than between British and other European systems, and
 More ethnocentric managerial style of US firms
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IHR Management Approach
 An ethnocentric predisposition is more likely to
be associated with various forms of industrial
relations conflict.
 Conversely, more geocentric firms will bear more
influence on host-country industrial relations
systems, owing to their greater propensity to
participate in local events.
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Prior Experience in Industrial
Relations
 European firms tend to deal with industrial
unions at industry level (frequently via employer
associations) rather than at the firm level.
 The opposite is more typical for U.S. firms
 In the U.S., employer associations have not
played a key role in the industrial relations
system, and firm-based industrial relations
policies are the norm.
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Subsidiary Characteristics
 Subsidiaries formed through acquisition of well-established
indigenous firms tend to be given much more autonomy
over industrial relations than are greenfield sites.
 Greater intervention would be expected when the subsidiary
is of key strategic importance to the firm and the
subsidiary is young.
 Where the parent firm is a significant source of operating or
investment funds for the subsidiary – a subsidiary is more
dependent on headquarters for resources – there will
tend to be increased corporate involvement in industrial
relations and human resource management.
 Poor subsidiary performance tends to be accompanied by
increased corporate involvement in industrial relations.
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Characteristics of the Home Product
Market
 Lack of a large home market is a strong incentive
to adapt to host-country institutions and norms.
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If domestic sales are large relative to overseas operations
(as is the case with many US firms), it is more likely that
overseas operations will be regarded as an extension of
domestic operations.
For European firms, international operations are more like
to represent the major part of their business.
Since the implementation of the Single European Market,
there has been growth in large European-scale companies
(formed via acquisition or joint ventures) that centralize
management organization and strategic decision-making.
However, processes of operational decentralization with
regard to industrial relations are also evident.
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Management Attitudes towards
Unions
 Knowledge of management attitudes or ideology
concerning unions provides a more complete
explanation of multinational industrial relations
behavior than relying solely on a rational economic
model.
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Competitive/confrontational versus cooperative
Codetermination
Works council
 Union density in western industrial societies
 Denmark has the highest level of union membership
 U.S. has the second lowest
 France has the lowest in the western world.
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Industrial Disputes and Strike
Proneness
 Hamill examined strike-proneness of multinational subsidiaries
and indigenous firms in Britain across three industries.
 Strike proneness was measured via three variables:
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Strike frequency
Strike size
Strike duration
 There was no difference across the two groups of firms with
regard to strike frequency.
 But multinational subsidiaries experienced larger and longer
strikes than local firms.
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Foreign-owned firms may be under less financial pressure to
settle a strike quickly than local firms – possibly because they
can switch production out of the country.
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Trade Unions and International
Industrial Relations
 Trade unions may limit the strategic
choices of multinationals in three ways:
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By influencing wage levels to the extent that
cost structures may become uncompetitive;
By constraining the ability of multinationals to
vary employment levels at will; and
By hindering or preventing global integration
of the operations of multinationals.
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Influencing Wage Levels
 Although the importance of labor costs
relative to other costs is decreasing, labor
costs still play an important part in
determining cost competitiveness in most
industries.
 Multinationals that fail to manage their wage
levels successfully will suffer labor cost
disadvantages that may narrow their
strategic options.
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Constraining the Ability to Vary
Employment Levels at Will
 In Western Europe, Japan and Australia, the inability of firms
to vary employment levels at will may be a more serious
problem than wage levels.
 Many countries now have legislation that limits considerably
the ability of firms to carry out plant closure, redundancy or
layoff programs unless it can be shown that structural
conditions make these employment losses unavoidable.
 Plant closure or redundancy legislation in many countries
frequently specifies that firms must compensate redundant
employees through specified formulae such as 2 weeks’ pay
for each year of service.
 In many countries, payments for involuntary terminations are
substantial, especially in comparison with those in the USA.
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Constraining the Ability to Vary
Employment Levels at Will (cont.)
 Trade unions may influence this process in two ways:
 Lobbying their own national governments to introduce
redundancy legislation, and
 Encouraging regulation of multinationals by international
organizations such as the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD).
 Multinational managers who do not take these restrictions
into account in their strategic planning may well find their
options severely limited.
 Recent evidence shows that multinationals are beginning
to consider the ability to dismiss employees to be one of
the priorities when making investment location decisions.
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Hindering Global Integration of MNE
Operations
 Many multinationals make a conscious decision not to
integrate and rationalize their operations to the most efficient
degree, because to do so could cause industrial and political
problems.
 One observer of the world auto industry suggested that car
manufacturers were sub-optimizing their manufacturing
networks partly to placate trade unions and partly to provide
redundancy in sources to prevent localized social strife from
paralysing their network, e.g.
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General Motors as an example of this ‘sub-optimization of
integration’. GM was alleged in the early 1980s to have
undertaken substantial investments in Germany at the demand
of the German metalworkers’ union (one of the largest industrial
unions in the Western world) in order to foster good industrial
relations in Germany.
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Trade Unions’ Response to
Multinationals
 Seeing the growth of multinationals as a threat to
the bargaining power of labor because of the
considerable power and influence of large
multinational firms.
 Multinationals are not uniformly anti-union, but their
potential lobbying power and flexibility across
national borders creates difficulties for employees
and trade unions to develop countervailing power.
 There are several ways in which multinationals have
an impact upon trade union and employee interests.
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Seven Characteristics as the Source of
Trade Union Concern about Multinationals
 Formidable financial resources
 Alternative sources of supply
 The ability to move production facilities to other
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countries
A remote locus of authority
Production facilities in many industries
Superior knowledge and expertise in industrial relations
The capacity to stage an ‘investment strike,’ whereby
the multinational refuses to invest any additional funds
in a plant, thus ensuring that the plant will become
obsolete and economically non-competitive.
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The Response of Trade Unions to
Multinationals
 The response of labor unions to multinationals has
been threefold:
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Form international trade secretariats (ITSs)
Lobby for restrictive national legislation, and
Try to achieve regulation of multinationals by
international organizations.
 International trade secretariats (ITSs).
 There are 15 ITSs, which function as loose confederations
to provide worldwide links for the national unions in a
particular trade or industry (e.g. metals, transport and
chemicals).
 The secretariats have mainly operated to facilitate the
exchange of information.
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The Goal of the ITSs
 One of the fastest growing ITSs is European Regional
Organization of the International Federation of
Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical
Employees (Euro-FIET), which is focused on the service
sector.
 The long-term goal of ITSs is to achieve transnational
bargaining through a similar program, involving:
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Research and information
Calling company conferences
Establishing company councils
Company-wide union–management discussions, and
Coordinated bargaining
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Limited Success of ITSs
 Overall, the ITSs have limited success, due
to several reasons:
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Generally good wages and working conditions
offered by multinationals
Strong resistance from multinational firm
management
Conflicts within the labor movement, and
Differing laws and customs in the industrial
relations field
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Lobbying for Restrictive National
Legislation.
 On a political level, trade unions have for many
years lobbied for restrictive national legislation
in the U.S. and Europe.
 The motivation for trade unions to pursue
restrictive national legislation is based on a
desire to prevent the export of jobs via
multinational investment policies.
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Regulation of Multinationals by
International Organizations
 Attempts by trade unions to exert influence over
multinationals via international organizations have
met with some success.
 The International Labor Organization ILO has
identified a number of workplace-related principles
that should be respected by all nations:
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Freedom of association
The right to organize and collectively bargain
Abolition of forced labor, and
Non-discrimination in employment
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Regional Integration: the EU
Social Dimension
 Regional integration such as the development of the EU
has brought significant implications for industrial relations.
 In the Treaty of Rome (1957), some consideration was
given to social policy issues related to the creation of the
European Community.
 The terms ‘social policy’ or ‘social dimension’ are used to
cover a number of issues, such as:
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labor law and working conditions,
Aspects of employment and vocational training
Social security and pensions.
 The social dimension aims to achieve a large labor market
by eliminating the barriers that restrict the freedom of
movement and the right of domicile within the SEM.
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The EU Directorates
 The EU has introduced a range of Directives related to
the social dimension.
 The most contentious Directive is the Seventh
(Vredeling), which requirement of disclosure of
company information to unions.
 Strong opposition led by the then conservative British
government and employer representatives argued that
employee involvement in consultation and decisionmaking should be voluntary.
 The European Works Councils (EWC) Directive was
approved on 22 September 1994 and implemented 2
years later.
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Implications from the EU
 The EU aims to establish minimal standards for
social conditions that will safeguard the
fundamental rights of workers.
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Obviously, all firms operating in the EU need to
become familiar with EU Directives and keep
abreast of changes.
While harmonization of labor laws can be seen as
the ultimate objective, the notion of a European
social community does not mean a unification of all
social conditions and benefits or, for that matter, of
all social systems.
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Pan-European Pensions
 The EU Council of Ministers has approved the pension
funds Directive that sets standards for the prudential
supervision of pension plans in the EU.
 Member States will need to implement the Directive by the
middle of 2005.
 The Directive covers employer-sponsored, separately funded
pension plans. The Directive provides pension funds with a
coherent framework to operate within the internal market and
allows European companies and citizens the opportunity to
benefit from more efficient pan-European pension funds.
 Once implemented, the Directive will ensure a high level of
protection for both members and beneficiaries of pension
funds.
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Difficulty in Implementing the EU
Social Policy
 Taxation differences among Member States
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Many Member countries’ tax laws do not recognize contributions to foreign
pension plans.
This creates unfavourable tax circumstances for employees working outside
their home countries and contributing to pension plans in their host
countries.
 The issue of “social dumping”
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The impact of SEM on jobs – Member States that have relatively low social
security costs would have a competitive edge and that firms would locate in
those Member States that have lower labor costs.
The counter-alarm was that states with low-cost labor would have to
increase their labor costs, to the detriment of their competitiveness.
There are two industrial relations issues here: the movement of work from
one region to another, and its effect on employment levels; and the need for
trade union solidarity to prevent workers in one region from accepting pay
cuts to attract investment, at the expense of workers in another region.
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The Impact of the Digital Economy
 Knowledge acquisition used by MNEs are an
emerging issue in the U.S., where newly trained
professionals from overseas replace their
trainers (expatriates or domestic workers), e.g.
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U.S. non-immigrant visa programme – particularly
the L-1 classification allows companies to transfer
workers from overseas offices to the U.S. for as long
as 7 years.
Importantly, this visa classification allows companies
to pay these workers their home-country wage.
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The Digital Divide
 The International Labor Organization noted that “The
digital divide exists not only between societies but within
societies.”
 Only 15 per cent of the world’s population (living mostly in
industrialized countries) has access to ICT.80
 A majority of the world’s population is technologically
disconnected.
 Internet usage is stratified and is much more common
among
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Younger rather than older people
Men rather than women
Urban rather than rural dwellers, and
People with higher levels of education and income.
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Chapter Summary
 In this chapter, we have reviewed and discussed
differences in industrial relations across borders,
and highlighted the complexity in international IR.
 Combining recognition of the overt segmentation
effects of international business with an
understanding of the dynamics of FDI yields the
conclusion that general multinational collective
bargaining is likely to remain a remote possibility.
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Chapter Summary (cont.)
 Trade unions should opt for less ambitious strategies in
dealing with multinationals, such as
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Strengthening national union involvement in plant-based and
company-based bargaining
Supporting research on the vulnerability of selective
multinationals, and
Consolidating
 With regional economic integrations, it is likely that
trade unions and the ILO will pursue these strategies
and continue to lobby where possible for the regulation
of multinationals via the European Commission and the
United Nations.
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