Labor unions have been in existence for over two hundred years, initially as craft organizations, and more recently as industrial and service organizations. During their existence they have significantly enhanced the wages and fringe benefits of represented workers through the collective...

International trade unionism faces a major challenge. Historically, Global Union Federations have been small and relatively remote international union secretariats with limited capacity to mobilize and speak on behalf of local members. However, with the changing architecture of international...

Subcontracting — the practice of using intermediaries to contract workers, whether through temp agencies, manpower agencies, franchise, or other multilayered contracting — is an increasingly popular pattern of employment worldwide. Whether justified from a business perspective or not,...

Since the beginning of the transformation in Poland, trade unions have experienced nearly two decades of declining membership numbers and influence. This article shows that not only the restructuring of the economy but also the trade union policies and organizational forms themselves contributed...

This article analyzes how Nordic trade unions cooperate with unions in Europe, and what actors and organizations they cooperate with to influence EU policies. We examine both similarities and differences between the Nordic countries and between unions in different sectors, and make some...

Unlike most of the trade unions in European countries, Belgian unions managed to preserve a high and stable union density, and strong institutional positions. However, their situation is not blissful and the condition of both the workforce and the unions has been worsening for three decades....

Hungarian trade unions face both the direct consequences of economic downturn and the political challenges that are implied by the deterioration in employees’ and unions’ bargaining positions with regard to employers. This article presents the political responses of both militant and...