Coordination, employment flexibility, and industrial relations in Western European multinationals: evidence from Poland

Abstract

Despite the significant investment of multinational companies (MNCs) in Central and Eastern Europe, we have limited information about the diffusion of employment practices in this region. This paper aims to fill this gap by conceptualizing and exploring coordination, employment flexibility and industrial relations in a Polish factory of a Western European industrial company. We argue that the MNCs' corporate intention to utilize local conditions and an underdeveloped international coordination of trade unions within MNCs are the main factors explaining the local embeddedness of factory-level employment practices and industrial relations.

Keywords:

• Multinational companies
• coordination
• employment flexibility
• HRM
• industrial relations
• trade unions

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Richard Hyman, David Marsden, Martin Kahanec, Jelle Visser and the participants of the 19th Employment Research Unit Conference (Cardiff Business School, September 2004) for constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper; and to all interview respondents.

Notes

1 Due to confidentiality, we refer to the company, its organizational units, home country and the location of the Polish factory by pseudonyms.

2 Legal regulation applies to working time, recruitment/dismissals and contracts. The law does not regulate work organization but health and safety regulations apply. For an overview see also: Kohl and Platzer (2004).

3 Official figures from the Regional labour market board Wilno (31 March 2004).

4 That is, half-time social security contributions for a full-time employee. Source: authors' observation; EIP union leader.

5 Out of eight Electra sites in Poland, only two sites conclude a collective agreement (interview Electra Poland industrial HR manager, 18 June 2004).

6 Managers prepare work schedules on a monthly basis. Workers are informed one month in advance on which days and which shifts they will work. In case of operational changes or delays in production inputs, changes are adopted even more often (source: EIP shift leader). The union finds that workers are informed about their schedule too late; in some cases just 2 days ahead (source: EIP union leader)

7 Source: international union coordinator, Electra Poland.