Labour Standards and Labour Migration in the new Europe: Post-communist legacies and perspectives

International audienceThe post-communist New Member States of Eastern Europe have experienced significant forms of labour exploitation, with deterioration in labour standards and the working environment. This is leading to increasing labour force `exit' on a scale not hitherto anticipated. Migrant workers from the Baltic states, paid lower wages and with poorer working conditions, have been at the centre of a number of high-profile labour disputes in the EU-15. This article uses Latvia as a case study in order to discuss the implications of increasing labour migration for the New Member States and for labour standards in the wider EU

The Swedish model and the future of labour standards after Laval

This article reflects on the European Court of Justice ruling in the case of Laval, involving Latvian posted workers in Sweden. It analyses the implications of the ruling and ensuing debate over the Laval case for the future of the ‘Swedish model’ and labour standards. It suggests that profound dilemmas now face trade unions both at Swedish national and European level as to appropriate strategies to adopt to defend national pay and working conditions in the light of the European Court decision and especially in the Swedish context due to the subsequent ruling by the Swedish Labour Court. Nevertheless, a human rights discourse is emerging in which the European Court of Human Rights may act as a counterbalance to the European Court of Justice, especially in the context of the Lisbon Treaty.This is the pre-reviewed version of the following article:Charles Woolfson, Christer Thörnqvist and Jeffrey Sommers, The Swedish model and the future of labour standards after Laval, 2010, Industrial relations journal, (41), 4, 333-350.which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2338.2010.00572.xCopyright: Blackwell Publishing Ltdhttp://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Brand/id-35.htm

A new mode of European regulation? The implementation of the autonomous framework agreement on telework in five countries:an empirical study of implementing the telework agreement in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Hungary and the UK

International audienceThis article examines the implementation of the first autonomous framework agreement signed by European social partners in a number of member states. Although the telework agreement states that it is to be implemented in accordance with national procedures and practices specific to management and labour, practice is often different. The approach adopted reflects the specific policy character of the telework agreement and the ongoing power struggle between unions, employers and the state