European Labour Movements in Crisis: From Indecision to Indifference by Thomas Prosser

Author:Thomas Prosser [Prosser, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Labor, European, Labor & Industrial Relations, Labor & Employment, Comparative Politics, Political Science, World, Business & Economics, Law, General
ISBN: 9781526136664
Google: kHS5DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2018-12-07T08:57:16+00:00

Conclusion: The French exception?

Following the introduction of the euro, the extent to which French labour reacted to integration in a coherent manner was therefore very slight; this was a result of union weakness and meant that the position France obtained within the Eurozone cannot be regarded as the result of labour intent. As in Germany and Spain, external influences were more profound; in France, the role of state incomes policy was critical. The French case demonstrates that, in contexts in which unions are weak, challenges associated with Europeanization can be resolved by external actors. Such a discovery provides additional indication of the importance of structures and this theme is assessed further in chapter 9. Given that unions were involved in tripartite and/or sectoral agreements in most European countries following the launch of EMU, it must be acknowledged that the case of France is rather anomalous. In that developments in France are illustrative of union marginalization, which is an increasingly common phenomenon in Europe, these principles are nonetheless instructive.

The case of the reaction of French labour to the debt crisis is invaluable; it allows theorization of the extent to which an intermediate labour movement is likely to extend solidarity to periphery counterparts. Though the behaviour of French labour cannot be divorced from national peculiarities, the middling reaction which was observed is consistent with an intermediate context. This finding informs my conceptualization of the response of European labour movements to crisis, which I undertake in chapter 9.

Thus far I have examined the cases of core, periphery and intermediate countries; presented data are nearly sufficient for my research question to be answered. This is an endeavour I undertake from chapter 8, yet prior to this it is necessary to consider developments in a country outside of the Eurozone. The case of Poland, which I now present, is such a context and allows the influence of euro membership on labour behaviour to be better isolated.

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