Industrial relations responses to migration and posting of workers after EU enlargement: Nordic trends and differences

Abstract

EU enlargement has brought changes in the conditions for company strategies and engendered shifts in labour demand that are reshaping patterns of migration and employment conditions in the receiving countries. While the Nordic countries, except Norway, have seen modest inflows of individual jobseekers, they have seen a sharp rise in the posting of workers and low-cost competition, revitalising debates about reforms in labour market governance. The Nordic unions have approached enlargement and the regulation of conditions for posted workers very differently. Their divergent responses must be seen in the light of often overlooked variations in Nordic industrial relations, especially as regards the role of the state, but also rates of organisation among employers and employees, and collective bargaining coverage.