This book presents the results of a research project which sought to understand how the crisis-driven labour policy measures in the EU Member States most affected by the crisis translated into changes in collective bargaining in manufacturing. Drawing on empirical evidence consisting of interviews with policy officials and industrial relations actors as well as of company case studies in seven countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain) the book illustrates how the recent policy measures have resulted in a crisis of collective bargaining at different levels, including not only national but also sectoral and company levels.
In most cases, the structure, process, content and outcomes of collective bargaining have been undermined calling into question the capacity of the industrial relations actors to respond and regulate terms and conditions of employment in the post-crisis period. However, there is also evidence of institutional and organisational resilience and reconfiguration in the process of responding to and accommodating the labour policy measures, most notably in industrial relations systems that were characterized by strong bargaining arrangements in the pre-crisis period.