Between Bargaining and Politics

This text provides an overview and concise introduction to labor relations in Europe. The author seeks to transcend nationalism in labor relations by focusing his discussion and analysis on the continent as a whole and on groups of countries. The national focus is to some extent given up, not for a concentration on differences within nations, but in favor of a discussion of common European developments. European labor relations have a number of basic features in common, not only in collective bargaining and conflict, but also in worker participation and in the role of national governments. And, in a number of ways, these features are strikingly different from the labor relations model seen in the United States. The text, therefore, offers an illuminating analysis of commonalities and differences within European labor relations, as well as between the United States and Europe.