„De-Regulierung als Konvergenz der Industriellen Beziehungen im Globalisierungsprozess?

Abstract

When referring to the interference between globalisation and industrial relations as the regime of collective regulation of work and employment conditions many scholars hold that globalisation leads to more market oriented and neoliberal J arrangements and thus causes a generalised downgrading of the relative weight of the industrial relations regime as a whole and especially of the part of workers and their interest organisations. This article is based on empirical comparative research in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the USA and Germany and suggests a twofold differentiation of this argument. First, general and universal globalisation driving forces are picked up and forged according to macro-regional and national settings and governance structures. Therefore, globalisation pressures towards the industrial relations regimes could lead to changes in different directions. Second, empirical evidence suggests ambiguous and contradictory changes of the industrial relations: tendencies of downgrading or de-regulation as well as some tendencies of re-regulation and ‘other-regulation’ could be detected. Regimes of Industrial Relations are not only an independent variable of the globalisation process but (could) work as a relatively independent and forging force as well.