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EMU and public service trade unionism: between states and markets

Author

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  • Deborah Foster

    (Lecturer, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, UK CF10 3EU: fosterd1@cf.ac.uk)

  • Peter Scott

    (Senior Lecturer, Department of Business and Management, University of Portsmouth, Locksway Road, Milton, Southsea, Hants., UK PO4 8JF: peter.j.scott@port.ac.uk)

Abstract

This article considers the attitudes to the single currency of public service trade unions, illustrating this through a number of nationally based case studies. We examine claims about the impact of EMU on welfare states and public expenditure, and particularly the extent to which the governance of EMU attests a ‘neoliberal', marketising approach towards the public sphere. We find that any such tendency has been offset by the recent resurgence of forms of national-level bipartite or tripartite economic and social coordination, managing the effects of EMU through social dialogue. The subsequent section of the paper develops a categorisation of four main trends evident in European public service trade unions'response to the single currency: enthusiasm, altruism, scepticism and resistance. The dominant attitude to date has been acceptance. We highlight dangers for democratic legitimacy within public sector unions in cases where leadership support for EMU has exceeded that of the membership, and indicate some potential areas for future public service union influence in the EMU.

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah Foster & Peter Scott, 2003. "EMU and public service trade unionism: between states and markets," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 9(4), pages 702-721, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:9:y:2003:i:4:p:702-721
    DOI: 10.1177/102425890300900412
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Streeck, Wolfgang, 1998. "The internationalization of industrial relations in Europe: Prospects and problems," MPIfG Discussion Paper 98/2, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Wolfgang Streeck, 1998. "The Internationalization of Industrial Relations in Europe: Prospects and Problems," Politics & Society, , vol. 26(4), pages 429-459, December.
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