etui.podcast

To close this season, etui.podcast went a little further afield than usual to take a look at the United States labour relations landscape with Kayla Blado, who recently served as Director of Congressional and Public Affairs at the US National Labor Relations Board.   In our chat she offered some insights from her experience at the federal agency, into the recent, particularly volatile chapter in US politics, and into the country’s industrial relations system more broadly.  Interested in hearing some more of our interviews? Take a look back at this and previous seasons of etui.podcast here [https://www.etui.org/Podcasts].

The European Commission recently launched an evaluation of the 2014 directives which shape the rules around public procurement, the process by which public contracts are put out to tender.  Trade unions have called for a revision that ensures the inclusion of criteria based on quality, rather than only price. In particular, they have argued that these rules can be used as a tool to improve labour conditions and promote collective bargaining, rather than allowing some employers to be undercut by those who show less respect for workers’ rights and trade union engagement.   Discussion with Niklas Bruun, professor of law at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, about his recent paper for the ETUI [https://www.etui.org/publications/promoting-collective-bargaining-public-procurement-0] on how EU public procurement law can be improved.  Stan De Spiegelaere, Director of Policy and Research at UNI Europa, the trade union federation of service workers, lends some further insight into how the current problems play out on the ground.   Further reading Promoting collective bargaining in public procurement | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/promoting-collective-bargaining-public-procurement-0] Collective bargaining and public procurement in Germany | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/collective-bargaining-and-public-procurement-germany-0] Procuring Decent Work - UNI Europa [https://www.uni-europa.org/eu-affairs/procuringdecentwork/]

‘Invest now or deindustrialise’ was the recent, stark warning put to the EU by industrial trade unions. Continued heavy losses in manufacturing jobs over the past decades are now culminating in what has been termed a crisis for European industry and the many workers it employs. But how should this crisis be addressed? Is the European Commission taking the right approach with the recently presented Clean Industrial Deal? And what could a worker-friendly European industrial policy look like today? Discussion with Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of the industrial workers’ federation ⁠industriAll Europe⁠ [https://news.industriall-europe.eu/], and Ludovic Voet, Confederal Secretary at the European Trade Union Confederation [https://www.etuc.org/en]. Further reading Industrial policy for quality jobs and a just transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/industrial-policy-quality-jobs-and-just-transition] Benchmarking Working Europe 2024 | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/benchmarking-working-europe-2024] Green transition and job quality: risks for worker representation | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/green-transition-and-job-quality-risks-worker-representation] Workers and the climate challenge | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/workers-and-climate-challenge] The future of the automotive sector | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/future-automotive-sector] Provisions for social conditionality, employment security and anticipation and management of change in the Clean Industrial Deal  [https://news.industriall-europe.eu/p/policy-brief] ETUC calls for adequate financing and responsible simplification in the Clean Industrial Deal | ETUC [https://www.etuc.org/en/document/etuc-calls-adequate-financing-and-responsible-simplification-clean-industrial-deal]

Amidst all the current debates in Europe about competitiveness, productivity, migration, and economic transitions – both ‘green’ and ‘digital’ - the ongoing issue of labour shortages has emerged as a major policy concern, intrinsically tied to all of the above. But what are the major factors driving these shortages? Where do we see them the most? And what kinds of solutions would be the most effective?   Discussion with ETUI Senior Researcher Wouter Zwysen, author of multiple recent papers on labour shortages, job quality, and workers' bargaining power. Further reading: ⁠Labour shortages, job quality and workers’ bargaining power | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/labour-shortages-job-quality-and-workers-bargaining-power] ⁠Labour shortages – turning away from bad jobs | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/labour-shortages-turning-away-bad-jobs] ⁠Monopsony and non-competitive labour markets | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/monopsony-and-non-competitive-labour-markets] ⁠Benchmarking Working Europe 2024 | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/benchmarking-working-europe-2024] ⁠Wage inequality in Europe | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/wage-inequality-europe] Lowering wage inequality through collectively negotiated minima | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/lowering-wage-inequality-through-collectively-negotiated-minima]⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/wage-inequality-europe] ⁠Green transition and job quality: risks for worker representation | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/green-transition-and-job-quality-risks-worker-representation] Industrial policy for quality jobs and a just transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/industrial-policy-quality-jobs-and-just-transition]⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/green-transition-and-job-quality-risks-worker-representation] ⁠What are governments doing about low-wage employment – and how successful is it? | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/what-are-governments-doing-about-low-wage-employment-and-how-successful-it] ⁠Job quality in turbulent times | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/job-quality-turbulent-times]

Security is the watchword across European politics today. But what is the place for social and environmental policy in a security-conscious, or even security-driven, Europe? And where does the trade union movement fit in? Discussion with ETUI Senior Researcher Christophe Degryse about his recent Foresight Brief, ‘What if? A socio-environmental agenda in a 'security Europe'?’ Further reading    What if? A socio-environmental agenda in a 'security Europe'? | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/what-if-socio-environmental-agenda-security-europe] Rethinking social protection in the green transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/rethinking-social-protection-green-transition] Industrial policy for quality jobs and a just transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/industrial-policy-quality-jobs-and-just-transition] Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2023 | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/social-policy-european-union-state-play-2023]