Villkorslös Solidaritet? Om intresseheterogenitet inom Europafacken
Industrial RelationsTrade UnionsEuropean IntegrationPolicy formationETUCEuropean UnionPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
This thesis deals with the supranational organization of European trade unions. The European trade union movement is, via its umbrella organization the ETUC, an institutionalized social partner within the European Union. The ETUC is a very diverse organization with great potential of conflicting interest among its members. This thesis therefore seeks to explore the dynamics and interest heterogeneity of the ETUC. Drawing on previous research and literature it formulates a number of hypothesises to test what variables that influence the member organizations policy preferences (i.e. domestic industrial relations regime, ideology, industrial structure of national economy etc.). The hypothesises stipulates what policy preferences the various member organization ought to have on various issues. The hypothetical policy preferences are then tested empirically by a method of strategically sampled interviews with trade union officials. The main findings are that trade unions with a strong position nationally tend to be less supportive of deeper European integration and a European industrial relations regime. Furthermore trade unions policy preferences are affected by their ideology and the socioeconomic and institutional structure of their national economies. However the domestic structures are not entirely deterministic and there is evidently some actor autonomy to compromise.