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In this article the question of how transnational organising has become institutionalised in some trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is examined by studying three prominent organising initiatives in the region. It is argued that international union networks, facilitated by European integration, and the meagre resources of unions in the region have affected the development of organising with a transnational dimension. Originally initiated by a few activists, by the early 2020s organising has shown some promising results and has become an accepted strategy for strengthening unions. But local unions still lack sufficient resources of their own to organise properly. This has encouraged the institutionalisation of transnational organising. Although this has provided CEE unions with more resources, it also gives rise to problems of its own, notably the need for CEE unions to adjust their operations in accordance with the funding process and funders' preferences.

This report is based on two focus group interviews with three Finnish Construction Trade Union (Rakennusliitto, RL) representatives and two Industrial Union (Teollisuusliitto, TL) representatives and on individual interviews with Finnish Electrical Workers´ Union (Sähköliitto, SL), and the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (Suomen Yrittäjät, SY) representatives. Interviews were conducted between April and May 2018. It also relies on interviews with Estonian construction workers working in Finland conducted between 2011 and 2017, under other projects: TWES, ERC grant #263782 and Academy of Finland, Industrial Citizenship and Labour Mobility in the EU, a Migrant Centered Study of Estonia-Finland and Albania-Italy Labour Mobility. ; nonPeerReviewed

The dataset consists of summaries of the two social policy laboratory (Sopolab) sessions conducted in Tallinn. The goal of the labs was to engage variety of stakeholders and to trigger a debate on problems, challenges and possible policy solutions related to platform work, including to disseminate PLUS results and to produce shared policy proposals and disseminate best practices. "PLUS_16E_PLUS.WP7 Tallinn Sopolabs_Labour_20220509" gives an overview of the local level SoPo lab on the topic "Labour Rights and organization in Platform Economy" that took place 6 November 2020. Several stakeholders engaged with platform economy were recruited to discuss issues related to labour organization and platform workers' rights in the context of COVID19 pandemic. "PLUS_16E_PLUS.WP7 Tallinn Sopolabs_Welfare_20220509" gives an overview of the local level SoPo lab on the topic "How to innovate Welfare for Platform Workers" that took place in two parts: 16 December 2021 and 29 December 2021. It aimed to identify practical initiatives that can be taken to extend welfare and social security coverage for platform workers.

AbstractTransgovernmental co‐operation is an important European Union (EU) regulatory method, but it imposes transaction costs on the organizations involved. Regulatory requirements under conditions of European free movement drive transgovernmentalism, but transaction costs also shape transgovernmental regulation and regulatory outcomes. We investigate co‐operation around labour standards regulation for posted construction workers, focusing on bilateral co‐operation of labour inspectorates between Estonia and Finland and comparing it with co‐operation efforts between Poland and Finland, and Ukraine via Poland to Finland. The shifting patterns of labour mobility and employer efforts to recruit from less regulated sources mean that investment in bilateral relations can be undermined by the dynamic character of the pan‐European labour market. This article contributes to debates on EU regulatory governance by showing how transaction costs from co‐operation can decrease the effectiveness of transgovernmental network‐based governance; in the case of labour regulation, employers exploit this to undermine the effectiveness of labour inspection co‐operation.

This report gives an overview of the Con3Post project1 research that analyses a new and understudied phenomenon of posting third country nationals (TCNs) in the European construction sector, with a special focus on the posting flow involving workers from Ukraine being posted to Finland and Estonia through Poland. The research highlights severe regulatory challenges related to the phenomenon. These include posted TCNs being exposed to multiple vulnerabilities that are even more extreme than intra-European Union (EU) posted workers are usually exposed to. These are: lack of occupational safety and health training and having no accident insurance coverage, not receiving wages and other employment conditions the workers should be entitled to, not asking for help from authorities/unions and falling through the cracks of social security systems. We argue that, although posting of TCNs happens for a variety of reasons (including labour market disparities between the sending and receiving countries, established migration routes and ever increasing migration industry), there is also clear evidence that some companies are trying to gain competitive advantage by avoiding inspections and by opting out of more expensive and difficult ways of hiring migrants. As with conventional posting, this can stem from the availability of undemanding TCN workers, and the possibility to hire them via complex corporate constructions which shield employers from liability for violations and inspections. TCN posted workers are even more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse than intra-EU posted workers, because of the increased difficulties in monitoring TCN posting, the lower expectations of TCN workers, and their often unclear immigration status. To improve the situation for posted TCNs, and ensure fair functioning of the free movement of labour (and labour as services), we provide multiple recommendations (see Chapter six) at the workplace, sector, country and regional level including extensive cooperation between regulatory actors, more ...

The PROMO project is based around a series of policy workshops and conferences from 2017 and 2018. The project aims to make recommendations to improve: • national labour protection systems for posted workers; • institutions, practices and channels for promoting industrial democracy for posted workers; • the collection of data relevant to making informed posted worker policy decisions. Our method is to take existing research knowledge and improve on it through policy workshop discussions with experts and stakeholders. The first PROMO report (Kall and Lillie 2017), based on an extensive literature review, established that posted workers more often than not are not represented collectively and trade unions in the host countries either lack (effective) strategies focused on posted workers or consider this target group outside their jurisdiction or just too difficult to engage with. There is, however, considerable diversity between unions in different countries and sectors and some unions have taken steps to protect and represent the interests of posted workers as well. Posted workers often lack voice in their working lives and their rights are frequently violated (either accidentally or deliberately) by transnational service providers, making these workers' need for collective representation especially urgent. Based on a literature review and focus group and individual interviews with social partners and other relevant actors in five different national/industrial relations contexts (Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, and Norway), this report aims both to identify weaknesses in the regulatory framework (whether national or European), that might be addressed through legislation or other policy action, and to make recommendations aimed at trade unions, based on best practices. The latter are not intended to be universally applicable: rather they illuminate strategies that some unions have had success with when addressing posted worker representation problems. Obviously, trade unionists must consider for themselves whether these can also be applied (or adapted) in their home context. ; nonPeerReviewed

The proliferation of ride-hailing platforms in the last decade has been challenged by workers' mobilization around the world. In order to complement the existing research on successful organizing, in this article the authors investigate the lack of collective resistance in two cases. By comparing the ride-hailing industry in Berlin (Germany) and Tallinn (Estonia), the authors explain the absence of collective mobilization in these different contexts. While ride-hailing in Berlin is more regulated than in Tallinn, drivers in both cities are structurally located in the weakest position within labour relations. Their isolation presents common features found in the business model and the work process, but also within wider societal structures and ideological landscape.

Das International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) ist ein länderübergreifendes, fortlaufendes Umfrageprogramm, das jährlich Erhebungen zu Themen durchführt, die für die Sozialwissenschaften wichtig sind. Das Programm begann 1984 mit vier Gründungsmitgliedern - Australien, Deutschland, Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten - und ist inzwischen auf fast 50 Mitgliedsländer aus aller Welt angewachsen. Da die Umfragen auf Replikationen ausgelegt sind, können die Daten sowohl für länder- als auch für zeitübergreifende Vergleiche genutzt werden. Jedes ISSP-Modul konzentriert sich auf ein bestimmtes Thema, das in regelmäßigen Zeitabständen wiederholt wird. Details zur Durchführung der nationalen ISSP-Umfragen entnehmen Sie bitte der Dokumentation. Die vorliegende Studie konzentriert sich auf Fragen zur Arbeit, Beschäftigungsverhältnissen und Arbeitsorientierungen.