SIRDIG

Work and Equal Opportunities

Shaping Industrial Relations in a Digitalising Services Industry

Analysing change factors and exploring new approaches for social partners linked to maintaining effective industrial relations systems in a digitalising services industry

Challenges and Opportunities for Social Partners

The project, jointly set up by Zentrum für Soziale Innovation (Centre for Social Innovation) and UNI Europa, and promoted by the European Commission (DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion), aimed to identify and analyse change factors and explore new approaches for social partners on the challenges linked to maintaining effective industrial relations systems in a digitalising services industry. Digitalisation poses challenges regardings securing economic growth, social inclusion and fairness as well as job creation and quality. The project aimed to provide policy advice for trade unions, social partners and policymakers on necessary adaptations of institutional frameworks for industrial relations, collective bargaining, social dialogue and capacity building for social partners. It pursued the following five objectives:

To identify and analyse convergences and differences between Member States and sectors with regard to change factors for the industry and their impact on national industrial relations systems. The research focuses comparatively on five country groups (Anglo-Saxon, Central and Eastern Europe, Continental, Nordic and Southern Europe);
To provide an understanding of current transformation processes in the services industry and their impact on industrial relations at all levels;
To formulate policy advice with regard to the regulatory and institutional frameworks for industrial relations, collective bargaining and social dialogue as well as capacity building for social partners;
To enrich the debate on digitalisation and the future world of work at the national, European and global level;
To develop research activities that improve the knowledge base for industrial relations at EU level.

Research Methodology

Linking expertise from social partner practitioners in Europe and service researchers from social sciences, the project’s research part was structured according to three clusters, namely: 1) service markets, 2) labour markets in services, 3) service company strategies and work organisation. These topics were analysed in the context of Europe’s varied types of industrial relations regimes.

The research consisted of three work packages:

A literature review updating knowledge gathered in the existing UNI Europa report on service research (FORBA study) and identifying a pool of academic experts with whom to discuss the subjects of the project;
A series of expert interviews with approx. 40 trade union and employer experts exploring national and sectoral experiences and policies;
The preparation of five research reports.

The project was one of UNI Europa’s top priorities for 2017-2018 and a key element of its political platform on the future world of service sectors. The project was further connected to UNI Global Union’s activities on the future world of work. In general, the project strived to establish a network of academic experts and trade unions.

Events

Within the framework of this project, three thematic workshops for 40 industrial relations stakeholders were carried out. Each workshop focused on one of the above mentioned-clusters. Furthermore, a dissemination conference was held, gathering 80 industrial relations stakeholders. Towards the end of the project, two reflection workshops took place. Whereas the first one fostered discussion and exchange between trade union practitioners and researchers, the second one brought together the European sectorial social partners.