The increasing individualization of work and labour

This article examines the new trends in the regulation of work brought about by recent changes in the economy. Contrary to received wisdom, what is taking place in most European economies is not a generalized employers’ attack on negotiation in order to restore unilateral authority. Rather, it is the growth of individual or small-group forms of bargaining on the one hand and of tripartite agreements on the other. These are forms of negotiation different from traditional collective bargaining, that reflect the changing interests of the core sectors of the workforce, as well as the changing role of the state. European trade unions can hope to reverse this de-collectivization of bargaining only if they can show these core workers, as well as employers, that collective action may still be the best solution to their respective problems; and the only way they can do this is by focusing on the positive functions that they can play in economic development.