The post-Fordist era is marked by deteriorating working conditions as evidenced by increasing precarity, low wage work and intensified work pressure. Historically, trade unions served as an instrument for workers to address these challenges. However, the dramatic decline in trade union membership in the last decades indicates that fewer workers are turning to unions for redress. Neoliberalism not only challenged the traditional power of unions, it also ushered in new employment regimes (i.e. the rise of self-employment, agency work, subcontracting etc.) and decentralized or individualized forms of bargaining. In such a context, workers may find it more effective to take individual strategies to achieve better pay or more favorable work conditions. While this trend does not preclude workers’ collective actions, individualisation of bargaining for workers can lead to externalities for other workers, their company, and collective bargaining institutions. Focusing on the healthcare and retail sectors, this research project aims to study individual and collective strategies of workers, the factors that influence and conditions under which these strategies are taken, as well as the outcomes of these strategies for workers, organisations, and collective bargaining institutions.

PhD

Jane Siwa

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Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Supervisor

Prof. Rafael Wittek

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Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Supervisor

Dr. Wike Been

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Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

• Sociology

• Employers’ organizations
• Governmental policymakers
• HR managers
• Sociology
• Trade unions

• Work

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