What's the point of European Sectoral Social Dialogue? Effectiveness and polycontexturality in the hospital and metal sectors

Larsson, Bengt; Galetto, Manuela; Weber, Sabrina; Bechter, Barbara; Prosser, Thomas

Abstract

Drawing on pragmatism and systems theory, this article analyses how participants in the European Sectoral Social Dialogue in the metal and hospital committees understand its effectiveness. We find that the participants have a broad understanding of effectiveness compared with the European Commission and existing research. Participants do not dismiss the importance of direct effects on working conditions in member states but downplay it in comparison with indirect effects from, and effectiveness in, European Sectoral Social Dialogue. That is, horizontal learning, knowledge sharing and pragmatic bottom‐up work to reach consensus are emphasised as more prominent than top‐down regulatory effectiveness.

Citation

Larsson, B., Galetto, M., Weber, S., Bechter, B., & Prosser, T. (2020). What's the point of European Sectoral Social Dialogue? Effectiveness and polycontexturality in the hospital and metal sectors. Industrial Relations Journal, 51(5), 410-426. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12305

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 28, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Deposit Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Journal: Industrial Relations Journal
• Print ISSN: 0019-8692
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-2338
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 410-426
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12305
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1293778