Introduction

Globalisation has led to an increase in restructuring in all branches of the economy. The steel industry is a sector that has experienced tremendous change over the last 30 years, with continuous restructuring over that period. It has become highly internationalised and its very high number of job losses is a global issue. In the European Union, the industry has always been deeply politicised, the first to be subject to supranational economic policymaking, which aimed to influence market processes and to intervene in the industry’s development internationally. Restructuring has involved different forms: rationalisation of production; change in work organisation; subcontracting of non-core operations; increased mergers and acquisitions, which not infrequently resulted in the closure of divisions or entire sites; and “workforce adjustments”, which also not infrequently resulted in worsening and poor working conditions or reductions in employment levels. Restructuring is influenced by many factors: corporate culture; ownership structure; industrial relations; labour-market institutions and policies; and management attitudes. To analyse restructuring is to attempt to understand the global change and dynamics of business, and thus this type of analysis is legitimately carried out within many different academic disciplines.