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Looking for a North Star? Ideological justifications and trade unions’ preferences for a universal basic income

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  • Luca Michele Cigna

Abstract

Trade unions are often said to be hostile to a universal basic income (UBI). Their judgement may be affected by factors such as their work ethic, perceptions of the unemployed and preferences for labour decommodification. Yet, most studies fail to sketch out the reasons for which unions oppose or support a UBI from a normative standpoint. To understand the impact of ideology on unions’ appreciation for a UBI, I integrate results from 62 questionnaires with 27 in-depth qualitative interviews. This study illustrates that unions’ preferences for a UBI are associated with their theoretical understanding of labour, diverging substantially across welfare regimes. Whereas unions from Bismarckian and Nordic countries are generally opposed to a UBI, organizations from Liberal and Mediterranean countries tend to see UBI as a legitimate policy option. However, in some circumstances they set aside the policy for pragmatic reasons, thus disconnecting their normative orientations from perceptions of its concrete viability.

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  • Luca Michele Cigna, 2022. "Looking for a North Star? Ideological justifications and trade unions’ preferences for a universal basic income," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(2), pages 129-146, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eurjou:v:28:y:2022:i:2:p:129-146
    DOI: 10.1177/09596801211043094
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elise Aerts; & Ive Marx; & Gerlinde Verbist;, 2023. "Not That Basic: How Level, Design and Context Matter for the Redistributive Outcomes of Universal Basic Income," Working Papers 2303, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    2. Aerts, Elise & Marx, Ive & Verbist, Gerlinde, 2023. "Not That Basic: How Level, Design and Context Matter for the Redistributive Outcomes of Universal Basic Income," IZA Discussion Papers 15952, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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