Liberalisation of public services: Boosting precarious employment in Europe? Jörg Flecker & Christoph Hermann, FORBA Vienna Work, Employment and Society.

Funded under the European Commission’s FP6 (CIT5-2006-028478)

Liberalisation of public services: Boosting precarious employment in Europe?

Jörg Flecker & Christoph Hermann, FORBA Vienna

Work, Employment and Society Conference 2010, Brighton


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Competition, shareholder value restructuring and cost cutting

Fragmentation of bargaining systems

Non-standard work: ‚atypical‘ and ‚very atypical‘ jobs (Eurofound 2010)

Precarious: insecure work with low income and low levels of social protection (falling below societal standards) (ILO 1997, Dörre 2005, IAB 2010).

Public service liberalisation and precarious employment


3

3 year research project (2006-2009)

6 countries: AT, BE, GE, PO, SW, UK

4 sectors: Electricity

Postal services

Local public transport

health services (hospitals)

The PIQUE Project


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Processes of liberalisation and privatisation, ownership and market structures, forms of regulation

Literature and data analysis on impacts on employment, industrial relations and productivity

Company case studies on company reactions and consequences for employment, productivity and quality

Representative survey on users‘ perspective

The PIQUE Project


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Large variety of market structures

Shift towards highly competitive markets only in few sectors and countries

Concentration processes public monopolies are replaced by private oligopolies

Move to private ownership stronger than towards competitive markets

MARKET AND OWNERSHIP STRUCTURES


6Evolution towards more competitive market structures

(2006)

Austria Belgium Germany Poland Sweden UK

Postal services:letter and direct mail market

Limited Limited Rather limited (fully open from 2008 onwards)

Very limited

Moderate Rather limited

Electricity Limited Very limited

Limited (abolition of regional monopolies but concentration of main producers)

Moderate

Moderate (high share of spot-market trading)

Strong in generation; moderate in supply


Limited Very limited Rather limited Limited

Strong but decreasing because of more market concentration

Strong but decreasing because of more market concentration

Hospitals Limited Limited Moderate Limited Very limited Very limited


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Evolution towards private ownership (2006)

Austria Belgium Germany Poland Sweden UK

Postal services (letter market)

Predominantly public **

Predominantly public **

Predominantly private

Predominantly public



Substantial increase


Strong increase

Marginal increase

Limited increase

Limited increase

Electricity








Moderate increase

Substantial increase (Eastern Germany)



Very strong increase







Fully private

Limited increaseVery limited increase

Moderate increase

Limited increase

Strong increase

Very strong increase

Hospitals

Predominantly public*

Predominantly private*

Public equals private*




Limited increaseModerate increase

Strong increase

Limited increase

Very limited increase

Limited increase


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From public to private law companies

Mergers and acquisitions

Private and foreign ownership

Subsidiaries and outsourcing

Internationalisation and diversification

Cost-cutting

COMPANY REACTIONS – Major strategies


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Reorganisation and new technology

Reduction in employment

Intensification of work

Payment of lower wages

Non-standard employment

COMPANY REACTIONS – Cost cutting


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EMPLOYMENT

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

Electricity Post LPT Health

%


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NON-STANDARD EMPLOYMENT

Electricity Increase in part-time (except P), temporary workers (B)

Postal Services Increase in part-time (G, B, UK, A), fixed-term jobs, marginal part-time (Germany), self-employment (G, A), low wage sector (G, A)

Local Public Transport

Increase in part-time (G, A, B), fixed-term employment (P, UK)

Hospitals Increase in part-time (A, B, G), decrease in part-time (UK), self-employment (A, UK, G, P)


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EMPLOYMENT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

German Post AG Competitors Total

Full-time Part-time Marginal part-time

%


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Fragmentation of public sector employment system

Differences between ‘old’ and ‘new’ employees

Differences between incumbents and new competitors

Differences between parent companies, subsidiaries and outsourced services

Emergence of two-tier labour relations systems

Evasion of collective agreements through self-employment

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS


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Cost cutting employment cuts and non-standard employment

Non-standard employment: part-time, fixed-term, temporary, self-employment

Growing diversity of employment conditions (fragmented bargaining systems)

Country differences: more encompassing labour regulation in Sweden and Belgium

In most sectors/countries only some aspects of ‘precarisation’ apply

Widespread shift to precarious employment in postal services in Germany and Austria

Boosting precarious employment?


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THE PIQUE CONSORTIUM

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Forschungs- und Beratungsstelle Arbeitswelt,Vienna, Austria

Instituut voor de Overheid, K.U.Leuven, Belgium

Wirtschaft- und Sozial-wissenschaftliches Institut (WSI) der Hans-Boeckler-Stiftung, Duesseldorf, Germany

Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University, UK

Instytut Socjologii, Universytet Warszawski, Poland

Hoger Instituut voor de Arbeid (HIVA), K.U. Leuven), Belgium

Institutionen för Arbetsvetenskap, Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden

www.pique.at

Liberalisation of public services: Boosting precarious employment in Europe? Jörg Flecker & Christoph Hermann, FORBA Vienna Work, Employment and Society.

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