Trade unions have repeatedly been challenged by neoliberal programmes implemented within Member States of the European Union (EU) and at the European level. The twenty-seven country chapters at the core of this book chart the features of the neoliberal challenge in the EU Member States and the... Find out more

Key points and policy recommendations Despite substantial minimum wage increases, in almost half of the Member States with a statutory minimum wage, these were not sufficient to safeguard the purchasing power of minimum-wage earners in the current cost-of-living crisis. In order to better mitigate... Find out more

Policy recommendations • A critical mass of trade union members, i.e. beyond union activists, are willing to perform less-demanding tasks in support of their union; this is an internal union resource that is currently underutilised. As union tasks differ in terms of effort and time, they should be... Find out more

Multinational companies dominate much of the economies of the new EU member states of central and eastern Europe. They usually claim to respect trade unions at home and many have signed global agreements with international union organisations. It could be hoped that they would play a positive role... Find out more

Key points Social media such as Facebook forces unions to increase communication with members and makes rank-and-file dissent highly visible. Challenges can arise as a result of different emphases on collective and connective logics between online networks and established unions. Union success on... Find out more

Policy implications The risk created by expanding the labour pool to workers based in other countries can, if necessary, be dealt with by EU legislative action, for example, through substantive EU employment law. Furthermore, the risk created by expanding the labour pool to workers based in non-EU... Find out more

Policy considerations EU competition law imposes limits on the scope of collective labour law, as it precludes self-employed workers from collective bargaining . There is a rising number of self-employed workers whose livelihood are characterised by increasing precariousness and whose working... Find out more

Policy implications The Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and the Porto Social Summit have created a momentum for the enhancement of the social dimension of the European Union (EU), but, so far, without much to show by way of innovation. The EU should further expand the... Find out more

In the coming months, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will reach a decision on the case European Public Service Union (EPSU) and Goudriaan v Commission (C-928/19 P), which could be crucial for the future of the EU social dialogue. The EPSU case initially originated from the Commission’s refusal... Find out more

This paper argues that trade unions in Central Eastern European Countries (CEECs) should focus not only on improving formal legislation and its application but also on how the courts are interpreting this formal legislation by engaging in strategic litigation with the aim of fostering a pro-worker... Find out more