The state and industrial relations

From supportive to intrusive? Niklas Bruun, University of Helsinki

Roberto Pedersini, University of Milan

The paper presents an analytical framework based on the different roles and measures that states use to shape the scope and content of industrial relations and collective bargaining based on Bordogna and Cella (1999). After elaborating a typology of styles of state intervention, it applies it to the experience of a number of European Union countries since 2010 in order to investigate whether we are witnessing any relevant change. The analysis points to some evidence about a more interventionist stance and less autonomy of industrial relations, with a mixed outcome in term of the effectiveness of the new measures.