Segmentation and Social Exclusion in Six Countries and Four Sectors: The Role of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organisations

Growing proportions of employment do not correspond to the traditional industrial type of employment with full-time open-ended contracts, access to social security benefits, and covered by collective agreements. Increasingly, non-standard types of employment (fixed-tem, part-time, temporary agency work, informal work) grow in importance. The individuals in such non-standard employment are often in disadvantage where social rights and employment and working conditions are concerned, leading to labour market segmentation and social exclusion. This group presents a growing challenge to the social partners in the EU. Employers feel compelled to increase flexible employment to deal with competitive pressures. Trade unions want to limit the use of non-standard contracts out of normative concerns or with a view to protect their core constituencies. In this paper we analyse the respective resources, positions and policies of the two parties, the extent to which the two sides cooperate of have conflicts on these issues, and the outcomes of these processes in terms of segmentation and social exclusion. The paper draws on a comparative study covering six countries (the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Slovakia and the UK) and four sectors (construction, industrial cleaning, hospitals and temporary work agencies). We show similarities and differences in segmentation and exclusion in the six countries and four sectors and discuss the role the unions and employers play in producing these similarities and differences.