'A head with two tales. Trade unions' influence on temporary agency work in Belgian and German workplaces'.
Abstract
Temporary agency work (TAW) in Europe has become an interesting aspect of employment policy. Scholars as Berg (2008) argue that permanent employment contracts and collective agreements regulating and guaranteeing wage equality could improve the situation of agency workers. The importance of permanent employment contracts in the flexibility-security 'trade-off' is also emphasized by Storrie (2007). Bercusson (2008) and Mitlacher (2007) illustrate how different degrees of national regulation affect the deployment of TAW and that little can be done at the organizational level to improve the security of these flexi-workers. Based on comparative case study analysis of four similar Belgian and German workplaces within two multinational companies in manufacturing, this paper argues that union contribution in reducing vulnerability for agency workers is crucial. However, societal differences between systems of workplace representation and the different degree of changes occurring in the structure of collective bargaining influence the modalities and practices used and the degree to which TAW can be favourably deployed. Particularly, in Belgium management's (and trade unions agreement of the) degree of deployment of TAW was limited, and mostly subject to maximizing the guarantees for work security for the flexi-workers through the unions' negotiating practices of training and career prospects with local management. By contrast in Germany, the use of flexi-workers put pressure on the working conditions of "core" workers who had to guarantee (wage) flexibility adequate to gain in competitiveness versus the use of flexi-workers. Societal differences in the systems of collective representation and bargaining explain the diverse union strategic engagement and contribution to reduce worker vulnerability for TAW at the subsidiary level of the same multinationals.