Outsourcing of low-skilled services, tensions in collective bargaining and pressures on equality
A comparative analysis in cleaning activity in three EU countries
Marcello Pedaci, University of Teramo
Carmela Guarascio, University of Calabria
Joan Rodriguez Soler, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Maarten Keune, University of Amsterdam
Nöelle Payton, University of Amsterdam
This paper focuses on the widespread outsourcing of industrial cleaning, often considered an emblematic case of «bottom-end service work». Today, the majority of cleaners are employed by specialised providers. The paper analyses the effects of this outsourcing on collective bargaining coverage, earnings, inequality and conflicts. It also discusses the capacity of existing institutions to deal with these phenomena and as well as the strategies deployed by social partners to address them. The paper develops a comparative analysis in three EU countries (Italy, France and the Netherlands), where multi-employer collective bargaining has traditionally been strong, with a view to identify differences and similarities in effects of outsourcing and solutions developed by social partners.
