European labour movements in crisis

In this book Prosser argues that labour movements respond to European integration in a manner which instigates competition between national labour markets. It bases its hypothesis on analysis of four countries - Germany Spain France and Poland - and two processes: the collective bargaining practices of trade unions in the first decade of the Eurozone and the response of trade unions and social-democratic parties to austerity in Southern Europe. In the first process although unions did not intentionally compete there was a drift towards zero-sum outcomes which benefited national workforces in stronger structural positions. In the second process during which a crisis resulting from the earlier actions of labour occurred lack of solidarity reinforced effects of competition.