Does Labor Matter? Institutions, Labor Unions and Pension Reform in France and the United States

Abstract

This article challenges Paul Pierson's account on the (supposedly declining) role of labor unions in the ‘new politics of the welfare state’. More specifically, the text compares labor's influence on the French and the American politics of pension reform since the 1980s. The analysis of recent reforms undertaken in both countries demonstrates the impact of institutions and managerial settings on labor's political strategies. These institutional variables explain the fact that French unions have a much more direct influence on public pension reform than their American counterparts. In France, labor unions have an ideological ‘veto point’ derived from their integration into the management process. Their strong influence on the ‘new politics of the welfare state’ is undeniable: labor still matters.