A head with two tales: trade unions' influence on temporary agency work in Belgian and German workplaces

Abstract

This paper investigates local trade union influence on temporary agency work (TAW) in four Belgian and German workplaces. It argues that the union's capacity to influence the job conditions of agency workers is heterogeneous. Societal differences between systems of workplace representation and the different structures of collective bargaining are used to explain the heterogeneity of local union practices and their effect on the working conditions of agency workers. The practices that unions adopt locally in response to human resource management and TAW strategies are also important factors that aid understanding with regard to the labour use of TAW. These societal differences intersect with the socio-economic conditions of the firm to generate local unions' responses to the management's use of agency workers.

Keywords::

• employment relations
• human resource management (HRM)
• temporary agency work
• trade unions
• workplace representation

Acknowledgements

The research was funded by a Bijzonderonderzoekfond Onderzoekstoelage OT/10/015 and FWO ZKC2575/G.0773.11 research grants on ‘Multinationals in Europe between flexibility and security. A comparative company level study’. We thank the editors of the special issue and the anonymous referees for their valuable comments.

Notes

^1. Agency workers in Germany are covered by collective agreements for the TAW sector, no matter in which sector the user firm operates.

^2. According to ACV data, more than 60% of the agency workforce in Belgium is unionised (ACV 2010, p. 13).

^3. Cf. ‘Presentation to the Employees Meeting,’ 8 January 2003.

^4. Cf. Company-level agreement 03/96 on flexible working times (Auto1DE).

^5. Cf. ‘Presentation to the Employees Meeting,’ 8 January 2003.

^6. Two sector-level agreements in the TAW sector in Germany from May 2010 were negotiated with two employer associations: Interessensverband Deutscher Zeitarbeitsunternehmen (iGZ) and Bundesverband Zeitarbeit Personal-Dienstleistungene.V. (BZA).