Trade unions strategies to address inclusion of vulnerable employees in “anchored” services in Europe

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trade unions may address the questions of inclusion of vulnerable employees in low-wage “anchored” sectors in the European Union.

Design/methodology/approach

The findings presented in the paper are mainly results of the analysis of stakeholder policies and strategies on the national level and on the European level, including both desk research and interviews with social partner representatives and other experts in the sectors as well as company case studies carried out in the examined countries in three selected sectors: cleaning, waste collection and catering.

Findings

The main findings of the paper refer to the indirect way in which trade unions try to promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups in the examined sectors. On this basis are formulated policy recommendations.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is based on case study research that does not cover all possible “anchored” services, vulnerable groups and types of countries, according to their employment and social models.

Practical implications

This paper formulates practical recommendations to European trade unions in the services.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper is related to comparative research focused on services sectors and the consequences of the spatial reorganisation of sectors for the trade union actions.

Citation

Kirov, V. and Hohnen, P. (2015), "Trade unions strategies to address inclusion of vulnerable employees in “anchored” services in Europe", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 36 No. 6, pp. 848-873. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-01-2014-0031